The warrior's code, and one man's battle against Canadian racism
Canadian Samurai: One Man's Battle for Acceptance By Russ Crawford Agrinomics Publishing (Calgary, 2020) $19.95 | 264pp.
More than 200 Japanese Canadian soldiers fought and died for this country in the trenches of the First World War, but when the survivors returned to Canada they faced hatred and exclusion.
This despite the fact that the Japanese Canadian troops suffered heavy casualties — 54 deaths and 92 wounded, and brought home 11 military medals of bravery. The Japanese volunteers fought and died at Vimy Ridge, Hill 70, the Somme and Passchendaele.
Some of these betrayed veterans went on to campaign for an extension of the franchise to Japanese immigrants and for formal recognition of what they had contributed to Canada. Later, many of them were interned along with their families and had their property stolen during Canada's shameful episode of racist paranoia in the Second World War.
Masami Mitsui, the hero of Russ Crawford's new book, was one of
those remarkable men. Crawford's book is an exciting adventure story, a nuanced and respectful portrait of psychological growth and family love, as well as a necessary reminder to all Canadians that our reckoning with racism remains unfinished.
Mitsui, descended from a long line of samurai ancestors, came to B.C. in 1908. Despite the many insults and injuries he and his fellow Japanese community members suffered, he felt impelled by the warrior's code he had learned from his samurai grandfather to volunteer to fight when Canada entered the First World War. Going to war for Canada was a way to honour his ancestors' warrior tradition and to earn respect from white Canadians for himself and other Japanese Canadians, he thought.
Volunteers like Mitsui had to fight just to be allowed to fight. Organized and trained at Japanese community expense, they were turned away when they tried to enlist in B.C., a province long associated with anti-asian racism. They were allowed to enlist in Alberta and arrived at the European front in time to take heavy casualties at Vimy Ridge.
After the war, Mitsui and his returned comrades were denied membership in white Canadian Legion branches and were excluded from voting in provincial and federal elections. They formed their own Legion branch and lobbied hard to get veterans enrolled as voters, scoring a significant, if partial, win in 1931 when B.C. changed its election laws to allow the returned veterans to vote.
Then came internment, a blow that understandably embittered Mitsui for the rest of his life.
Recommended.