- Home
- Welcome to From the West Coast to the Western Front
- Contents
- From Our Listeners
- About
- Using From the West Coast to the Western Front
- A Message from the Canadian Letters and Images Project
- For Further Reading
- Acknowledgements
Sergeant Major Masumi Mitsui, MM—Hero of the 10th Battalion
Told by David Mitsui, his grandson
While I was growing up in Hamilton, my grandpa never spoke of being wounded in action on April 28, 1917, or being awarded the Military Medal for Bravery for his “conspicuous bravery and distinguished conduct in action” on August 16, 1917. He also didn’t speak of his family’s experience of having his Port Coquitlam farm being confiscated, or of being interned during World War I. In fact, he never spoke to the grandchildren about this part of his life at all.
At the age of twenty-one, Masumi Mitsui, of samurai ancestry, emigrated from Japan in 1908 and began his new life in Victoria, BC, as a dishwasher, waiter and chauffeur.
When World War I commenced, a group of Issei in Vancouver, wanting to show their patriotism to Canada, tried to enlist in the Canadian Expeditionary Forces. However, the government of British Columbia refused to allow them to enlist because of the prejudicial and racist attitudes against Orientals at that time. The government especially did not want to give them the right to vote.
Undaunted by this discriminatory policy, 222 Japanese Canadians from British Columbia travelled to Calgary, Alberta, where they were permitted to enlist. Masumi Mitsui voluntarily enlisted on September 1, 1916, with the 192nd Overseas Battalion, Calgary, and was posted with the 9th Reserve Battalion and then proceeded to France for active duty with the 10th Battalion, 2nd Infantry Brigade, 1st Canadian Division, on March 5, 1917. After the Battle of Vimy Ridge, both Masumi Mitsui and Tokutaro Iwamoto were awarded the Military Medal for Bravery on Hill 70.
In September 2003, I was fortunate to visit many World War I battle sites in northern France, including Vimy Ridge, Passchendaele and Ypres. I walked up Hill 70, following the 10th Battalion’s advance. On Hill 70, the German concrete machine-gun bunkers are still there. From the chalky soil, I picked up British and German bullet casings, shards of barbed wire, and an intact shell casing from a British eighteen-pounder. It was a moving experience walking on the chalky ground that was once a major battlefield and knowing that my grandfather, as part of the 10th Battalion, played a role in overtaking Vimy Ridge and Hill 70.
I recall my dad telling me about my grandfather’s war experience. I certainly cannot imagine the horror of war, the smell of death and sulphur and blood, the endless mud and water-filled trenches and shell holes, the gunfire and bomb blasts and gas attacks. During the mustard gas attacks, the soldiers were told to remove their underwear, urinate into it and breathe through it, hoping that the uric acid would neutralize the gas. And finally the tremendous loss of watching their comrades die and so many get injured. It was through these unimaginable conditions that my grandfather led his thirty-five men into battle and found a way to keep his men moving forward in spite of the tremendous casualties and unrelenting gunfire. Whenever they found shelter in a farmhouse or village, he would look for whatever alcohol he could find and fill his canteens. After a successful attack or gaining some ground, he would lift their spirits with a drink from his canteen. It was during the battle of Hill 70 that he was awarded the Military Medal of Bravery as he “showed marked ability and efficiency in leading 35 Japanese Canadians in the battle…he salvaged the Lewis gun when his gun crew became casualties and then caused the enemy many casualties…and afterwards, he did excellent work in mopping up and assisting the wounded.”
Like so many other Canadian soldiers, the Japanese Canadian soldiers demonstrated their courage through difficult battles and their bravery many times over in the face of a difficult foe. In spite of the anti-Asian prejudices of other soldiers and the field commanders’ perceptions that they were unfit for battle, the Japanese Canadian soldiers demonstrated their fortitude throughout the campaign. For their courageous efforts during combat, they, like all other Canadian soldiers, received the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. My grandfather was honourably discharged on April 23, 1919.
After the war, the Japanese Canadian community in BC raised money for, constructed and dedicated the Japanese Canadian War Memorial in April 1920 in Stanley Park. It has become the centrepiece for remembrance and commemoration of the Japanese Canadian soldiers who fought for our freedom. The memorial includes a Japanese lantern at the top with an eternal flame.
In 1931, Masumi Mitsui was president of the newly formed Canadian Legion Branch No. 9. The contingent, including Corporal Saisonuke Kobuta, businessman Saburo Shinbone, Naburo Murakami, Rikuzo Hoita, Nobuhei Watanabe and Legion Provincial Secretary Robert Macnicol, travelled to Victoria to lobby the BC legislaturein an effort for all persons of Japanese ancestry to win the right to vote. By a single vote, their efforts were partially successful: only the Japanese Canadian veterans of World War I were given the right to vote in British Columbia.
After the vote and upon their return to Vancouver, they did not immediately celebrate their accomplishment. Their thoughts were with their fellow soldiers as they gathered at the memorial in Stanley Park to honour their fallen comrades.
After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the Canadian federal government determined that all persons of Japanese ancestry were enemy aliens and the entire Japanese Canadian community living along coastal BC was a security risk. Nisei (born in Canada) and Issei (a new immigrant) alike were to be sent to an internment camp in the BC Interior, or they could choose to be put on a boat to Japan, even if they were Canadian born.
My grandfather, a decorated World War I Canadian soldier, was told to report to Hastings Park. So outraged was he by the government’s actions, he threw down his medals on the floor with disgust and exclaimed, “What good are these?”
At some point in 1942, the eternal flame in the lantern atop the Japanese Canadian War Memorial in Stanley Park was extinguished. Some thought it was extinguished because of the blackouts resulting from air raid threats.
The Mitsui family was interned in the Greenwood Internment Camp and my mother’s family, Kawamura, was interned in New Denver, the current site of the Nikkei Internment Memorial Centre National Historic Site of Canada.
The prejudicial policies and decisions, the confiscation and loss of property, the internment, the separation of families and the relocation of families after the war ended were recognized on August 2, 1985. From the very beginning, my grandfather participated in the redress effort to lobby the federal government to make a public apology and for financial compensation.
It took the effort of many leaders in the Japanese Canadian community and the National Association of Japanese Canadians (NAJC), led by Art Miki, and specifically the formation of the National Coalition for Japanese Canadian Redress, for the federal government and specifically the Honourable Brian Mulroney to finally initiate discussions for redress with the NAJC for the injustices experienced during and after World War II.
As part of this acknowledgement, my grandfather, one of the last surviving Japanese Canadian soldiers of World War I in Canada, at the age of ninety-six, was invited to Vancouver to participate in the rededication ceremony and to relight the eternal flame atop the Japanese Canadian War Memorial in Stanley Park. He remarked, “I’ve done my last duty to my comrades. They are gone but not forgotten.”
My grandfather was a very proud veteran. Growing up, I recall that every Remembrance Day, he would put on his uniform, his Legion beret and his World War I medals. My dad told me that when I was about five years old, while visiting him on Remembrance Day, I asked my grandfather for his shiny medals. He said that one day I would receive them. Upon his death, I received them in his will.
My grandfather did not attend a public Remembrance Day service after World War I until November 11, 1983. He felt honoured to serve with his comrades in Europe and he continued to have great respect for the military throughout his entire life. However, he never forgave the government for its decision to intern the Japanese Canadians during World War II and for what it did to his family. He died in April 22, 1987, six months before his hundredth birthday and a year before the federal government announced the signing of the redress agreement. It would make financial compensation of twenty-one thousand dollars to those who were interned, but only to those who were still alive.
Unfortunately, the internment of the Japanese Canadians during World War II and the participation of Canadians of Japanese ancestry during both world wars and the Korean War continue to be an unfamiliar part of Canadian history for many Canadians.
The exhibit highlighting the role of the 10th Battalion in the Calgary Military Museum (formerly the Museum of Regiments) and the display on the internment of the Japanese Canadians during World War II in the Canadian War Museum goes a long way in recognizing this piece of Canadian history for the education of future generations.
As a lasting legacy to the Japanese Canadian veterans of World War I, the Honourable Peter Kent wrote me a letter, dated July 21, 2011, saying that he approved my proposal to declare the “Japanese Canadian Soldiers of World War I Winning the Right to Vote” as a national historic event, as the first persons of Asian ancestry to gain the right to vote in BC and Canada. However, it was not until 1949 that all Canadians of Japanese ancestry were given the right to vote in Canada. A process is now in place to create a plaque recognizing this event. The plaque will be installed at the site of the Japanese Canadian War Memorial Cenotaph in Stanley Park, Vancouver.
David Mitsui would like to recognize the assistance of authors Barry Broadfoot, Ken Adachi, Roy Ito and Lyle Dick (retired national park historian), who took a personal and professional interest in his family’s history. As well, his father, George, and his sisters, Amy Kuwabara and Lucy Ishii, shared stories.
[To Top]