DCHP-2

Nisei nisei, nissei DCHP-2 (October 2016)

• n. & adj. — Ethnicities

  a Canadian whose parents are Japanese.

  Type: 4. Culturally Significant — Nisei is a lexical transfer from Japanese "nisei", meaning second generation. The term appears to have been first used in English in the US, and is used in many locations to refer to persons of Japanese descent living in the Americas (see OED-3, s.v. "nisei"). In Canada, the term has acquired cultural significance due to the history of Canadians of Japanese descent in Canada. In 1942, shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the Canadian government used the War Measures Act to forcibly remove all Japanese persons and Canadians of Japanese descent living within 160 km of the Pacific Coast. Thousands of people were placed in internment camps, while the Canadian government sold their personal property, including homes and boats.
  Canadians of Japanese descent then faced discrimination and deportation after the war. Groups fought for redress and compensation and in 1988 the Canadian government acknowledged wartime wrongdoing and began to provide compensation for those who were interned and whose property was sold by the government (see Canadian Encylopedia reference).
  Many of those interned were Nisei - in fact 75% of internees held Canadian citizenship. Many Nisei attempted to enlist in the Canadian military, but almost all were denied entry into service (see Canadian Encyclopedia reference). The experience of the Nisei engendered debates about the relationship between citizenship and ethnicity, as the Canadian government believed Nisei might feel loyalty to Japan rather than to Canada due to their ethnicity (see, e.g. the 1983 quotation).
  Nisei is most prevalent in Canada (see Chart 1), although alternate spellings exist in other locations, making frequency more challenging to ascertain.
  COD-2 marks the term as "N Amer.", of which Chart 1 shows the Canadian dimension in terms of frequency, apart from cultural significance for the country, especially the West.

  See also: War Measures Act  

  • 1939  In an ambitious effort to counteract prejudice and present the Japanese-Canadian point of view, local "Nisei" are publishing their own newspaper "The New Canadian." Nisei (pronounced Nee-seh) are second generation Japanese born in Canada. 
  • 1945  As they climbed down the sides of the transports which brought them back to Japan, the liner Matsonia lay anchored close by. On board her were 1,100 NISEI from the United States, who had renounced their American citizenship.
  • 1967  There will be displays of art objects from Japan and representative works by Nisei artists. 
  • 1978  The Ubyssey was editorially in favor of allowing Nisei (native born Japanese citizens) to continue studying at UBC and even printed a front page photo of a Japanese Canadian in Military uniform on campus. 
  • 1983  Yet Mr. Enomoto, who was born in 1944 at the Minto internment camp and is a leader of the Japanese-Canadian Centennial Project Redress Committee, says much of the disaffection was brought on by the Canadian Government itself. Ethnic Japanese were refused permission to fight for Canada, although many had proved themselves during the First World War. Then, in clear violation of their rights as citizens, they were herded into camps like criminals. Who wouldn't feel bitter, asks Mr. Enomoto, when treated so callously by their own country? "If you question their loyalty," he says, "you also have to realize that they were simply denied the opportunity to prove their loyalty. The Nisei... well, we're talking about people who made a decision to be in Canada, to be loyal to Canada. People who, in fact, petitioned to join the armed forces and fight on Canada's behalf." 
  • 1999  Hide Shimizu, who has died aged 91, was among the first Japanese- Canadians born in this country, a "nisei" who was at the forefront of her people's struggle for full citizenship in a nation that, for much of her life, was needlessly suspicious of their loyalty. 
  • 2007  The meeting consisted of a mix of new immigrants and three generations of arrivals: Issei, the first generation of Japanese immigrants; Nisei, the children of immigrants; and Sansei, the children of Nisei. 
  • 2011  In the hysteria after Pearl Harbor, here and in the U.S. the Japanese were rounded up to be placed in internment camps. This was not only a terrible injustice but also a horribly stupid decision. There were literally thousands of young Nisei (those born in Canada) ready and willing to join the Canadian army. (The Nisei had already done so in WWI.) The Americans did somewhat better in this respect. The 442nd U.S. Nisei Division was one of the most if not the most decorated units in the U.S. Army! 
  • 2016  There are signs that curling can have an increased multicultural composition. At the Richmond Curling Club in Metro Vancouver, for example, the Nisei League is for people of Japanese descent.