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“Guilt by Association”: Japanese Canadians and the Nanjing Massacre Commemorative Day

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2025

Jane Komori
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Abstract

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In 2016 and 2017, members of Ontario Provincial Parliament and the Parliament of Canada submitted bills to declare commemorative days for the Nanjing Massacre. In response, the National Association of Japanese Canadians mounted a campaign against the commemorative days, arguing that memorialization of the Nanjing Massacre would make Japanese Canadians vulnerable to racial persecution akin to the animus that led to mass incarceration during the Second World War. This paper investigates the transnational political forces that have shaped the controversy around the commemorative days, illuminating the conflicted racial, ethnic, and national affiliations that structure Japanese Canadian community, and Canadian politics more broadly.

Keywords

Japanese CanadiansNanjing Massacre“History Wars”National Association of Japanese Canadians
Type
Research Article
Information
Asia-Pacific Journal , Volume 20 , Issue 16 , September 2022 , e1
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2022

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