Vancouver’s Powell Street Festival is marking a milestone anniversary this year. The annual celebration of the city’s historic Japanese Canadian community is turning 50 with a new retrospective exhibition and a companion book, both called Return to Paueru Gai.
Powell Street or Paueru Gai was home to Vancouver’s Japanese Canadian community before their members were dispossessed and interned during World War II. Return to Paeuru Gai is a collection of essays about the festival that first took shape 50 years ago amid a push to right this historical wrong.
“It was a long learning curve, and it was very rewarding to work on this project, and I was able to share many lessons,” said editor Emiko Morita, who is also the curator of the exhibition. She served as the executive director of the festival from 2015 to 2024.
“I started thinking about [the book] when Powell Street Festival hit 40 years. And I got to a point where I really wanted to share all these little bits of information and the legends with the community at large.”
The festival was first proposed in 1976 to mark the coming Japanese Canadian centennial, 100 years since the arrival of the first Japanese immigrant to Canada.
“Decades before [in 1833], there was a shipwreck, and there’s documentation of somebody from Japan landing on the West Coast,” said Morita.
“But in 1877, Manzo Nagano is considered the first Japanese person to settle in Canada, [though] that’s been disputed. And so, I think it’s a remarkable thing that all this energy, right across the country, was spent in 1977 toward honouring that first immigrant to Canada, [even though] it might have been [based] on erroneous information.”
“Kisuke Mikuni landed in Victoria in 1884, and it’s argued he was the first person to really settle and establish businesses and a family here.”
By 1901, the number of Japanese migrants in Canada had increased to almost 5,000, most of them here in British Columbia. But there was a rising tide of anti-Asian sentiment as well. In 1907, a rally organized by the Asiatic Exclusion League turned violent, with a mob attacking businesses in Chinatown and Paueru Gai.
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Morita says the Powell Street Festival started amid the growing Japanese Redress Movement, seeking compensation for the treatment of Japanese Canadians during World War II.
In 1942, more than 22,000 Japanese Canadians were forcibly removed from the West Coast under the War Measures Act following Japan’s bombing of Pearl Harbor. Two years later, the federal government announced a program to disperse Japanese Canadians to east of the Rocky Mountains or to “repatriate” them to Japan. It wasn’t until 1949, four years after the war ended, that all restrictions under the War Measures Act were lifted, granting Japanese Canadians full rights of citizenship, including the right to vote.
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Ultimately, the Redress Movement succeeded, culminating in an apology from the federal government and a $300 million-dollar compensation package in 1988.
“They were very successful,” said Morita. “Ultimately, the federal government acknowledged wrongdoings.”
“But I think the remarkable thing is that the energy that gathered in 1977 and led to the annual festival is that it really marks the beginning of true community building and ultimately the rediscovering and redefining of Japanese Canadian identity and culture.”
The first Powell Street Festival took place on June 12 and 13 in 1977. From year three onward, it has been held on the BC Day long weekend. The 50th anniversary edition is set for August 1 and 2, once again in Oppenheimer Park, featuring dancers, workshops, theatre, crafts, and a range of food trucks and booths.
For some, that first festival marked the first time they had been back in Paueru Gai since World War II.
“There are many founders who are still alive, and I can’t speak for them,” said Morita.
“But I would argue that the emotion and the power of reconnecting to that place, gathering to acknowledge and honour our ancestors and be together, that emotional power remains today.”
What also remains is the event’s commitment to social justice, not just for Japanese Canadians, but for the Downtown Eastside as a whole. That is why organizers have remained steadfast in not relocating the festival despite the neighbourhood’s many challenges.
In 1999, there was talk of relocating the festival because of the issues facing the neighbourhood. But the directors of the event voted to stay. Then, in 2014 and again in 2019, organizers sent letters to the city asking it not to disband the homeless encampment in Oppenheimer Park.
Morita says the festival has never strayed far from those roots.
“Absolutely. Social justice is at the heart of the festival. It is the core value that guides us in every decision that we make. We were once forcibly removed from Paueru Gai, and we stand in solidarity with vulnerable populations who are in the neighbourhood today.”
The festival was forced to pivot during the COVID-19 pandemic, going all virtual in 2020 and partially virtual in 2021 before making a full return in 2022. Morita was executive director of the festival at the time and says she learned a lot from the experience.
“I learned how very important it is to be able to come together on the BC Day long weekend to honour our ancestors and hold space in any way,” she said.
“So, when we look into the future, it really doesn’t matter how big or small the festival is, just coming to the neighbourhood and remembering our history there and making connections with people who are there and working toward a strong future for everybody is what’s important.”
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Morita hopes the book serves as a reference for future generations.
“It’s all in the book,” she said.
“So even when our founders aren’t around anymore, our longtime volunteers aren’t around to tell those stories, in 50 years, 100 years from now, they’ll still be documented and hopefully keep the culture of the festival alive.”
Return to Paueru Gai: Fifty Years of Vancouver’s Powell Street Festival is published by Arsenal Pulp Press. The Return to Paueru Gai exhibition runs at the Nikkei National Museum and Cultural Centre in Burnaby until Sept. 5.