Decorated and Interned

Masumi Mitsui

COMING TO CANADA

Masumi Mitsui was born in Tokyo on 7 October 1887. His father was a naval officer who encouraged Masumi to join the Japanese military. However, he failed the entrance examination, and later made the decision to move to Canada. In 1908 he travelled from Fukuoka-Ken, Japan to Vancouver. Once there, he achieved fluency in English, allowing him to secure employment as a waiter at the Union Club in Victoria.

BRAVERY IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR

When the First World War broke out in 1914, Sergeant Mitsui wanted to enlist in the Canadian military to demonstrate his patriotism to Canada. After being rejected for service in Vancouver based on discriminatory recruitment practices in 1915, Mitsui succeeded in enlisting as a private in Calgary, Alberta, on 1 September 1916. He initially joined the 192nd Battalion, transferred to the 9th Reserve Battalion upon arrival in England on 11 November 1916, and finally ended up with Calgary's 10th Battalion at the front in France.

Private Mitsui’s first major taste of action took place during the Arras offensive in April 1917. Mitsui came through the successful seizure of Vimy Ridge unscathed, but was slightly wounded two weeks later during operations nearby. An enemy bullet struck one of his fingers and he spent nine days in hospital recovering. In a letter home, he wrote that he just felt fortunate not to have been more badly injured.

In August 1917, the 10th Battalion assaulted the crest of Hill 70, just north of Vimy. The battle was one of the toughest and costliest of the war for the Canadian Corps. The 35-man platoon in which Private Mitsui served was decimated: only Mitsui and four others survived. For his leadership and bravery at Hill 70 Mitsui was awarded the Military Medal. In December, Mitsui was promoted to lance corporal; after proving a competent and popular non-commissioned officer, he would continue to be promoted, reaching the rank of sergeant in February 1919.

After the war ended in November 1918, Corporal Mitsui served in Cologne, Germany as part of the Allied occupation force. In early 1919, Mitsui wrote of feeling “very depressed” because of the casualties that his unit had suffered. In particular, the death of his good friend and fellow Canadian of Japanese origin, Kumakichi Oura, in October 1918, impacted him deeply.

Sergeant Mitsui was discharged in Calgary on 23 April 1919. He moved to the Vancouver area, where he started a poultry farm. There he met Sugiko; they were married on 2 August 1919. The couple had four children: Harry, George, Lucy, and Amy. He became the president of the all-Japanese Canadian Legion Branch No. 9 in 1931, where he used his position to lobby for Japanese-Canadians’ rights. The next year, the efforts of the Japanese-Canadian lobby paid off, and Japanese-Canadian veterans were granted the right to vote.

Black and white photograph. Two men in full Canadian Expeditionary Force uniforms and kit pose for a photo. One (Mitsui) stands, while the other (Shishido) kneels. Both hold rifles with bayonets attached. — Privates Mitsui and Shishido, 1916

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Black and white portrait photo of Masumi Mitsui. He wears his military uniform and various medals and decorations. — Sgt. Masumi Mitsui

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Colour photograph of three First World War medals: Victory Medal (rainbow ribbon, circular, gold); British war medal (blue/black/white/orange striped ribbon, circular, silver); Military Medal (navy/white/red striped ribbon, circular, silver). — Masumi Mitsui’s Medals

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Black and white photograph. The image shows eleven Japanese-Canadian soldiers dressed in First World War Canadian military uniforms and hats, seated and standing in three rows outside of a light-coloured building. — Japanese-Canadian Battalion, 1916

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Members of the 10th Battalion pose for a portrait. Masumi Mitsui is seated on the far left in the middle row. The man seated on the ground on the right is his friend Kumakichi Oura, who would be killed in action.

Despite efforts early in the war to organize Japanese-Canadian volunteers, Prime Minister Robert Borden would not accept an all-Japanese battalion. Gradually the men were able to enlist individually in Alberta due to low quota numbers and their own perseverance. The 192nd Battalion went to France in November 1916 to reinforce the 10th Battalion. All Japanese volunteers would see action in the Battle of Vimy Ridge.
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INTERNED IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR

As a result of the Japanese attack on the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor as well as attacks against British colonies in the Far East, Canada declared war on Japan on 8 December 1941.

Early in 1942, 22,000 Canadians of Japanese ancestry were deemed enemy aliens and obliged to register with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The Canadian Government stripped Japanese-Canadians (including Canadian citizens) of their possessions and property and organized their forcible evacuation from the west coast into internment camps. The Government acted in response to British Columbians’ suspicions of the Japanese-Canadians’ loyalty and fears of their possible roles as spies and saboteurs. When Sergeant Mitsui reported to the British Columbia Security Commission office to be interned, he threw his First World War medals to the ground in protest. “What good are these?,” he asked the officer. One of his daughters reportedly ran after him to pick the medals up.

Sergeant Mitsui, his wife Sugiko, and their son Harry, spent most of the war in Greenwood internment camp in British Columbia. Like most Japanese Canadians, they were released by 1944. The Mitsui daughters, Lucy and Amy, were sent to school in Alberta. Sergeant Mitsui’s eldest son, George, moved to Ontario and worked as a farm hand.

Black and white photograph. People stand in front and behind a store counter, with shelves full of canned food and other stock. People converse across the counter. — Community Store

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Black and white photograph. Japanese women and children prepare food in a crowded kitchen. A stove covered in kettles is in the foreground, towels hung on a line are visible in the background. — Community Kitchen

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Black and white photograph. Men, women, and children are loaded into the back of an open-bed pick-up truck with their belongings. People reach up to say goodbye. Other families wait their turn. — Loaded Into the Back of a Truck

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Black and white photograph. A women stands with two children, dressed in their Sunday best. Bundles of possessions and suitcases sit nearby. — Awaiting Relocation

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Black and white photograph. A passenger train at a station. A large crowd of stands alongside, some people talk to those already on board the train. — Relocation by Train

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Typed News ad. — Notice to Report

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A black and white hand-drawn map of coastal British Columbia. Arrows indicate the extent of the defence zone from which Japanese Canadians were to be evicted. — Defence Zone Map

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A COMPLICATED LEGACY

After the war, the Mitsuis left British Columbia, moving first to St. Catharines, and then to Hamilton, Ontario. Throughout the remainder of his long life, Sergeant Mitsui marked his service privately: every year on Remembrance Day he would wear his uniform and medals to honour his fellow veterans. However, he never attended official ceremonies. Then, in 1983, the City of Hamilton asked him to be a special guest at the municipal ceremony. Two years later, he was the honoured guest at the rededication of the Japanese-Canadian War Memorial in Vancouver’s Stanley Park, whose eternal flame was finally relit after it had been extinguished in 1942 when Japanese-Canadians were interned.

Masumi Mitsui passed away on 27 April 1987, five months shy of his 100th birthday. According to his last request, his medals were given to his grandson, David Mitsui, who works to preserve his grandfather’s memory, and legacy of service of all Japanese-Canadian veterans.