From 1942-1946, over 22,000 Japanese Canadians were forcibly and unjustly removed from the west coast and sent to internment camps in the interior of BC, or other work camps across Canada. They lost all of their property, including cars and boats, businesses, and many of their personal belongings; and were denied access to education and job opportunities. The archival material that survived those tumultuous years and are preserved at the Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre spans over 140 years of Canadian history. We aim to preserve and make accessible these historically valuable records to educate individuals of all backgrounds about past discriminatory and unjust policies within Canada.

We are home to the largest community-driven repository of Japanese Canadian history in Canada. By acquiring, preserving, and making accessible archival records and personal belongings related to Japanese Canadian heritage, we offer an important resource for all communities to learn about Japanese Canadians’ place in our country’s history. Preserved within our archives storage vault are over 55,500 photographs and digital images, 55 metres of textual records, 650+ oral history records, 157 film reels, and over 3200 artworks and objects that were once the personal belongings of individuals and organizations in our community. The NNMCC currently manages 18TB of digital archives and aims to digitize 2000-4000 records per year growing our digital assets by 1TB per year.