¹ In this essay I use the term Japanese Canadians as a broad category that includes all Canadians of Japanese ancestry. “Canadians” here does not necessarily mean holders of Canadian citizenship, but more broadly, citizens or residents of Canada. It is estimated that about two-thirds of Japanese Canadians have English as their primary language and many of the older generation are survivors of the wartime internment and the younger generations are their descendants. The remaining approximately one-third have Japanese as a primary language (though they do use Canada's official languages in daily life) and they include post-war immigrants, what some call shin-issei, and those who have come to call Canada home after business, work, study, marriage, etc. brought them to the country. The vast majority of local participants of the opposition against the “Comfort Women” statue and the Nanjing Massacre Commemorative Day belong to the latter category.

² “カナダ慰安婦像問題 外務省、昨年９月から情報収集 「設置阻止へ積極的働きかけ」も,” Sankei Shimbun, Aril 2, 2015. https://www.sankei.com/politics/news/150402/plt1504020032-n1.html

³ “京畿道華城市、カナダ姉妹都市のバーナビー市に慰安婦少女像建立へ,” Hankyoreh Newspaper, March 6, 2015. http://japan.hani.co.kr/arti/politics/19877.html ⁴ Mayor Derek Corrigan; Comfort Women, Not a statue of peace, a magnet for conflicts. 慰安婦、平和の像あらず、軋轢を引寄せる磁石 Comfort Women, Not a statue of peace, a magnet for conflicts. カナダBC州バーナビー市慰安婦像設置反対 カナダBC州バーナビー市慰安婦像設置反対,“ https://www.change.org/p/comfort-women-not-a-statue-of-peace-a-magnet-for-conflicts-カナダバーナービー市慰安婦像設置反対 This petition page eventually closed with a little over 14,000 signatures.

⁵ “【 署名/メール】カナダ バーナビー市 慰安婦像反対！ご協力を！”, Nadeshiko Action, repeatedly updated from March to June, 2015. http://nadesiko-action.org/?page_id=7927 ⁶ Otaka Miki 【魔都見聞録】カナダ・バーナビー市 慰安婦像反対！ご協力を！[桜H27/3/16] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDoLjkdyT3o&feature=emb_logo

⁷ “慰安婦像 カナダで提案 韓国の姉妹都市 邦人ら反対運動,” Sankei Shimbun, April 1, 2015. https://www.sankei.com/world/news/150402/wor1504020004-n1.html

⁸ “Comfort women statue proposal riles group of Japanese Canadians in Burnaby,” Burnaby Now, March 19, 2015. https://www.burnabynow.com/news/comfort-women-statue-proposal-riles-group-of-japanese-c anadians-in-burnaby-1.1798189

⁹ The full name of the group is 「バーナビー市慰安婦像設置反対期成同盟会」. It is unknown whether any official English name for the group exists. A literal translation of the group name is the “Alliance Group Established for the Purpose of Opposing the Erection of a Comfort Women Statue in Burnaby City.”

¹⁰ “日本の名誉と信頼を回復するための提言,” The Liberal Democratic Party of Japan, July 28, 2015. https://www.jimin.jp/news/policy/128434.html

¹¹ “カナダ慰安婦像問題 外務省、昨年９月から情報収集 「設置阻止へ積極的働きかけ」も,” Sankei Shimbun, April 2, 2015. https://www.sankei.com/politics/news/150402/plt1504020032-n1.html

¹² Gordon Kadota passed away on July 31, 2019.

¹³ As Tomomi Yamaguchi describes in her paper, Japanese American veteran Robert Wada wrote a letter of opposition to Mayor Derek Corrigan of Burnaby City. Wada's letter also circulated among the Japanese Canadian community.

¹⁴ “バーナビー市長に聞く 慰安婦像建立は未定,” Vancouver Shinpo website (date unknown)http://www.v-shinpo.com/local/1488-110-16247615

¹⁵ “慰安婦像設置検討を保留,” Vancouver Shinpo, April 23, 2015.

¹⁶ “慰安婦像設置は「当面保留」 カナダ西部バーナビー市 日系住民の反対奏功,” Sankei Shimbun, April 18, 2015. https://www.sankei.com/world/news/150418/wor1504180012-n1.html

¹⁷ Japan-U.S. Feminist Network for Decolonization is a useful English-language guide to Japanese history revisionists' activities in the United States and beyond. Its Encyclopedia has an entry on “SHIRO TAKAHASHI”(http://fendnow.org/encyclopedia/shiro-takahashi/) and “TORONTO SEIRON” (http://fendnow.org/encyclopedia/toronto-seiron/).

¹⁸ “JASON MORGAN,” Encyclopedia, Japan-U.S. Feminist Network for Decolonization. http://fendnow.org/encyclopedia/jason-morgan/

¹⁹ These talks are available on the Toronto Seiron YouTube channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4x4kumw2UcmYjiTOwZ0OkA

²⁰ For details about the controversy, see, for example, “Japanese magazine to close after Abe ally's ‘homophobic’ article,” The Guardian, September 28, 2018. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/26/shincho-45-japan-magazine-homophobia-mio-sugita-shinzo-abe

²¹ Film screening and director talk by John Junkerman, Okinawa: The Afterburn, sponsored by Simon Fraser University's Institute for Transpacific Cultural Research, VanCity Office of Community Engagement and the School of Communication along with the Peace Philosophy Centre, November 17, 2016, at Simon Fraser University Downtown Campus. http://www.sfu.ca/itcr/events/past-events/okinawa-afterburn.html

²² 杉田水脈のなでしこレポート（２３）沖縄の基地反対運動を美化したドキュメンタリー映画…私には見るにたえない作品でした,“ Sankei News, December 18, 2016. https://www.sankei.com/premium/news/161218/prm1612180015-n1.html

²³ “歴史戦は政治が動かなければ勝てない オンタリオ州議会が南京大虐殺記念日制定へ,” Genron Terebi, February 10, 2017. https://www.genron.tv/ch/sakura-live/archives/live?id=367

²⁴ “Bill 79, Nanjing Massacre Commemorative Day Act, 2016,” Legislative Assembly of Ontario. https://www.ola.org/en/legislative-business/bills/parliament-41/session-2/bill-79

²⁵ David R. Mitsui, “Bill 79 Day to Commemorate the Nanjing Massacre,” National Association of Japanese Canadians, December 7, 2016. http://najc.ca/bill-79-day-to-commemorate-the-nanjing-massacre/

²⁶ “Withdraw NAJC Opposition to Bill 79,” https://docs.google.com/document/d/1v4ecwv3jdaKAUwn_aZqXwIka4in0upn060nwPNg5Lgo/pub

²⁷ Yusuke Tanaka 田中裕介, “日系人の試練の日々の恩人たちに感謝を捧げる集い,“ article series 滄海一粟 Sokai no ichizoku, The Bulletin 月報, February 2020, P44.

²⁸ 1988: Government apologizes to Japanese Canadians, CBC Digital Archives. https://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/1988-government-apologizes-to-japanese-canadians

²⁹ “Criticism from within Japanese Canadian communities against Japanese Canadian groups' opposition to Ontario's Bill 79, An Act to Proclaim the Nanjing Massacre Commemorative Day,” Peace Philosophy Centre, https://peacephilosophy.blogspot.com/2017/02/japanese-canadians-oppose-japanese.html

³⁰ “Letter to the Premier: Japanese Canadians for Bill 79” https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xvuNylgt_HxDkZLjqUx1WeF_3SzaQFAQ6Ih2rSsEdcc/pub

³¹ Joy Kogawa, “Why I Support the Nanjing Massacre Commemorative Day Act,” The Star, September 15, 2017. https://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2017/09/15/why-i-support-the-nanjing-massacre-commemorative-day-act-joy-kogawa.html

³² “南京大虐殺巡りカナダ州議会に意見書 自民有志14人,” Nikkei Shimbun, August 20, 2017. https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXLASFS20H15_Q7A820C1000000/

³³ “MPPs unanimously pass motion to commemorate victims of Nanjing massacre,” The Toronto Star, October 27, 2017. https://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2017/10/27/mpps-unanimously-pass-motion-to-commemorate-victims-of-nanjing-massacre.html

“Canada's Ontario legislature passes motion on Nanjing Massacre Commemorative Day,” New China, October 27, 2017. http://www.xinhuanet.com//english/2017-10/27/c_136708560.htm

³⁴ Nanjing Massacre day bill reintroduced,“ China Daily, April 14, 2018. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201804/14/WS5ad121fea3105cdcf65183d7.html

³⁵ “Petition to the Government of Canada to Establish Nanjing Massacre Commemorative Day,” Jenny Kwan, MP. https://www.jennykwanndp.ca/recognize_nanjing_massacre_commemorative_day

³⁶ Vancouver Shinpo had a special page dedicated to opposition against Nanjing Massacre Commemorative Day. “「南京虐殺記念日」制定反対特設ページ,” Vancouver Shinpo. http://www.v-shinpo.com/local/5087-tokusetsu-kinenbihantai

³⁷ “「南京大虐殺記念日」制定運動始まる メトロバンクーバー日系社会に衝撃,” Vancouver Shinpo, May 24, 2018. http://www.v-shinpo.com/local/5058-local180524-1

³⁸ See “Galleries” page of the Canadian Museums for Human Rights website. https://humanrights.ca/exhibition/galleries

³⁹ Japanese weekly Shukan Kinyobi reported this rally. “「南京大虐殺否定集会」に杉田水脈氏ら登壇,” Shukan Kinyobi, October 26, 2018.

⁴⁰ “Q6: What is the view of the Government of Japan on the incident known as the ‘Nanjing Incident‘?”, History Issues Q & A, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, April 6, 2018. https://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/q_a/faq16.html

⁴¹ For example, Ogiue Chiki's interview with Harada Yoshiaki, TBS Radio, October 19, 2015. https://www.tbsradio.jp/298756

⁴² 42nd Parliament, 1st Session, Edited Hansard, Number 360, House of Commons, November 28, 2018. https://www.ourcommons.ca/DocumentViewer/en/42-1/house/sitting-360/hansard