Within days of the Pearl Harbor attack, Canadian Pacific Railways fired all its Japanese workers, and most other Canadian industries followed suit. Japanese fishermen in British Columbia were ordered to stay in port, and 1,200 fishing boats were seized by the Canadian navy. Manzo Nagano, the first known immigrant from Japan, arrived in Canada in 1877. Like other minorities, Japanese Canadians since that time struggled against prejudice and won a respected place in the Canadian mosaic through hard work and perseverance.
Most of the issei (first generation or immigrants) arrived during the first decade of the 20th century. They came from fishing villages and farms in Japan and settled in Vancouver, Victoria and in the surrounding towns. Others settled on farms in the Fraser Valley and in the fishing villages, mining, sawmill and pulp mill towns scattered along the Pacific coast.
The first migrants were single males but were soon joined by young women and families were started. the first transcontinental railroad was built by the Western Pacific, Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroad Companies and officially opened on May 10, 1869 with the driving of the last spike in a ceremony at Promontory Point, Utah. Meanwhile, as the completion of the transcontinental railway was drawing near, political and economic sanctions in Japan coupled with America’s need for labor, influenced many young Japanese men to go overseas to seek their fortunes and new lives in “the land of opportunity”.
Most were young single men who went to Hawaii first, before heading to the mainland for better job opportunities, some with intentions of going back to Japan after making their fortunes and some intending to make the United States their new home. Labor agents, or “bosses” made arrangements to find jobs, housing, food and clothing for these men in exchange for a fee and percentage of their earned wages. After working on a section gang himself, Edward Daigoro Hashimoto found his way to Salt Lake City and established the E.D. Hashimoto Company in 1902. Nicknamed “The Mikado”, he furnished section gangs for the Western Pacific and Denver Rio Grande Railroads, along with miners for Bingham and Carbon County. By 1906, over 13,000 Japanese immigrants worked for the railroads. A few years later, at the urging of anti-Asian groups in the west, Japan was pressured and agreed to stop labor immigration to the United States under the Gentleman’s Agreement of 1908. Working on the section gangs was a harsh life, especially for those who now had families. Once they settled into communities, many left their jobs at the railroad to work at other trades such as farming or saved up enough money to start businesses of their own. Japantowns began to emerge in cities like Ogden and Salt Lake City where railroad stations were located.