ASTU Vancouver Project – Nitobe Memorial Garden

For more information on the gardens and the ideas represented here, these are the sources represented in the blog:

Carter, Rodney. “Of Things Said and Unsaid: Power, Archival Silences and Power in Silence.” Archivaria 61 (2006): 215-33. Web. 2 Jan. 2013.

Clifford, Michael. “Historic celebrations need to be inclusive.” Irish Examiner. Examiner Publishing., Saturday, October 27, 2012. Web. 09 February 2013

Goto, Seiko. “Maintenance and restoration of Japanese gardens in North America: a case study of Nitobe Memorial Garden.” Routledge. 29.4 (2010): 302-313. 12 Feb 2013.

Kurahashi, Yukle. “Japanese Canadians Concerned about Future of Nitobe Gardens.” The Ubyssey (Vancouver, BC) 27 Aug. 1992. Web. 25 Jan 2013.

La Fountaine, Eric. “Nitobe Memorial Garden: History and Development” Davidsonia. 15.1 (2005): 34-40. 12 Feb 2013.

Lee, Chris. Asian Canadian Critical Practice as Commemoration.” Cultural grammars of nation, diaspora and indigeneity in  Canada. Ed. Melina Singer, Ed. Christine Kim, Ed. Sophie McCall. Waterloo: Wilfred Laurier University Press, 2012. 117-131. Web. 06 Feb. 2013.

Neill, J. W. 1970. Nitobe Memorial Garden: History and Development. Davidsonia. 1(2):10-15

Stengs, Irene. “Commemorating victims of ‘senseless violence’: Negotiating ethnic inclusion and exclusion.” Reframing Dutch Culture: Between Otherness and Authenticity. (2007): 159-79. Web. 09 February 2013

“Japanese Memorial Added to Campus,” The Ubyssey (Vancouver, BC) 13 Sep. 1960. Web. 9 Feb 2013.

“Japanese Lantern Adorns the Campus.”The Ubyssey (Vancouver, BC) Nov 30. 1934. Web. 9 Feb 2013.

While reasons for why societies choose to memorialize certain events over others can vary widely, the fact remains that each individual society, culture, and person will choose to commemorate, in their own minds, whomever and whatever they want. The act of dedicating a memorial to a certain group or event, by an institution or government, gives great meaning toward what sort of relationship that these actors wish to establish with the commemorated. They are, however, limited in their ability to focus the emotions and memories of the public, and this opens up memorials to participation and inclusion of anyone who wishes to use it.
The Nitobe Gardens, established in order to commemorate a long history of Japanese-Canadian relations, has offered recognition and remembrance of a prominent Japanese scholar, educator and pursuant of a strong Japanese-Canadian relationship across the Pacific. Offering no more words toward the highly controversial, intolerant, historical treatment of Japanese in Canada, the gardens instead highlight a purely positive, potentially inspiring story of one man’s dream. The creation of this garden dedicated solely to Inazo Nitobe may be seen as an exclusion of those Japanese-Canadians who were not mentioned during the establishment of the gardens. Instead I believe that in focusing on the epitome of positive, beneficial relationships between Japan and Canada found within the story of Inazo Nitobe, this memorial has left Vancouver with a peaceful, tranquil setting in which those who wish it may remember all that has led up to this point, and the sacrifices made by everyone who came before us to bring us to this moment.
An article written on the subject of memorializing victims of violence in Holland raised a number of interesting points in reference to the use of memorials by different cultures. Rather than focusing on what a memorial has specifically been stated to be for, different groups will capitalize on the existence of commemorations by dovetailing their own values or memory onto them (Stengs 165-166). In the case of Vancouver’s own Nitobe Gardens, it has been established as an ongoing memorial with which Japanese-Canadians can facilitate further recognition of their own personal history, which is heavily tied into the processes behind it’s establishment in the first place. The time and effort poured into this memorial in order to perfect its existence speaks volumes toward the inspiration behind such an idyllic piece of Japan within Canada, and by keeping it’s meaning simple, yet powerful, they maintain a memorial as pure and authentic as possible– right down to its very roots.
It is helpful to imagine the Nitobe Garden as a gift, highlighted by Chris Lee in his article “Asian Canadian Critical Practice as Commemoration.” The gift, as an abstract concept, cannot exist in its pure form, because calling attention to it immediately causes it to lose its meaning. The gift, given as such, cannot be in response to a debt, or have anything expected in return. It is simply a positive gesture of good relations and meaningful respect. The gardens may have avoided Lee’s inevitable process of the breaking down of gifts by staying as pure and unbiased as they could be. By creating a solely positive environment for reflection and contemplation of all values championed by Nitobe himself, Vancouver has been gifted a place devoid of mourning, of sadness and regret. It has instead created a timeless representation of the mutual respect held between Japan and Canada, aware of how impossible it would be to truly commemorate all those who have come before, and working only to focus on how far we’ve come.

Inazo Nitobe, a student and professor who has engaged with multiple universities across the globe, had a goal to “bridge together the pacific” (Nitobe Memorial Garden). This goal illustrates the disconnect Nitobe felt amongst Western Canada and Japan despite the history amongst the two before World War II.  Nitobe specifically wanted to build stronger interpretations and relationships between the West and Japan (Goto, 305). The Nitobe Memorial Garden was specifically created from this purpose; its incorporation of elements from both Western and Japanese areas illustrate the global integration Nitobe seeks. As the garden is maintained at the University of British Columbia, those hired to take care of the garden are expected to be knowledgeable of the elements of Japanese culture in order to preserve its original purposes of retaining its traditional elements, serving as a connection or insight, to the Japanese culture (Neill, 12). Furthermore, like the idea of archives being preserved presented by Carter in “Of Things Said and Unsaid: Power, Archival Silences, and Power in Silence” the Nitobe Garden influences how we know ourselves as individuals, groups, and societies (221). The Nitobe Garden fills in the knowledge gaps of the Japanese culture in Canadian Society allow audiences to comprehend the significance of placing these garden here; instigating Nitobe message of building interconnections amongst Japan and the West.

The act of preservation affects society’s memory as traces of the past are kept within the documents, institutions, locations etc. (Carter 220). However, the intentions of the garden are not to commemorate the lives of the Japanese Canadians as this further marginalizes the minority. While the garden may unintentionally do so, its initial purpose is to memorialize the life of Inazo Nitobe, signifying his purposes of building connections across the Pacific. The garden represents opportunities for forming relationships; the formation, maintenance and overall progress of the garden show the collaboration of members from Japan and Western Canada. Taking Lee’s ideas of ethics of commemorations in his article “Asian Canadian Critical Practice as Commemoration,” from the consumer perspective, this memorial symbolizes the needed effort by society to examine and understand our responsibilities of advocating an interconnected world and not celebrating the “justice” Japanese Canadian received post World War II.

Memorials and commemoration, like archives, preserve a sort of memory. Their purpose is in fact very similar, except that the documents that compose archives are not necessarily created with the intent of memory in mind, whereas that tends to be the main goal of memorials. Rodney Carter discusses the gaps and silences that are present within the archives, stating silence is the “absence of sound, speech, text, or other sign” (Carter 219). The Nitobe Memorial Garden at the University of British Columbia was instituted to commemorate Dr. Inazo Nitobe and the work he did to improve Japanese-Canadian relations. It was logical to commemorate him when the memorial was first instituted following his death in the 1930s; because of the positive work he did to improve relations (“Japanese Lantern Adorns The Campus”).

After the memorial was destroyed during the Second World War due to anti-Japanese sentiments, it was rebuilt under the same name in 1960. At this point, circumstances had changed. Japanese Canadians were poorly treated during the Second World War.  The gardens built at this time were called the Nitobe Memorial Garden, but were understood by some to be for Japanese Canadians in general.  According to an article published in UBC’s Ubyssey newspaper in 1993 when the gardens were being reconstructed once again, “the garden is to many Japanese Canadians a symbol of their recovering from the horrors of internment by the Canadian government and of their reacceptance by Canadian society” (Kurahashi 3). But while they may be interpreted as preserving collective memory for Japanese Canadians in general following World War II, that is not the official nature of the gardens.  In this sense, the Japanese-Canadian minority group could be seen as silenced. The gardens were not created to commemorate the hardships that Japanese Canadians faced during their internment. Studying the Nitobe Memorial Garden can be used to read “against the grain,” a technique Carter implements when studying archives (Carter 224). The presence of the Nitobe Memorial Garden and the circumstances surrounding its recreation illuminate the lack of a commemoration for Japanese Canadians in general.
Even though it was not the initial intent of the gardens, they are still often interpreted in regards to Japanese Canadians. The garden is named after a man “who sought to unite Japan and the West by showing each culture how to reach out to meet the other” (“Japanese Memorial Added to Campus”). In some sense, it is inconsequential whether or not the garden directly acknowledges Japanese Canadians, because of the feelings represented by Nitobe himself. In addition, the presence of the gardens following the unfortunate treatment of Japanese Canadians throughout the Second World War indicates a more accepting community.

Culture can be represented in many ways; it can take forms in order to facilitate a desired relation and to foster a refinement of particular societies. The Nitobe Gardens, Vancouver BC, at the University of British Columbia, is a memorial garden created in the 1960’s. The Nitobe garden can be seen as a form of art created in order to intentionally represent the Japanese culture, in order to commemorate Dr. Inazo Nitobe, this authentic Japanese garden expresses much more than just the Japanese value of nature (La Fountaine 34).  The Japanese Professor Mori -selected by the government of Japan- and John Neill designed this memorial with the aim to engage with the authenticity of a Japanese garden –to respect Japanese identity and values- as well as to acknowledge the memorial as an, “academic objective,” to illustrate the importance of the international relations between Canada- the West- and Japan (La Fountaine 34). The importance of the memorial to strictly represent only a Japanese culture and be integrated within the university community was to properly memorialize Dr. Nitobe as a symbol for international cultures merging together supporting the peaceful relations between nations that suffered from the atrocities of that can been see after the world wars (La Fountaine 35).  Racial barriers were overcome with Nitobe’s work with fostering peace; therefore, the memorial for Nitobe was to promote his international intentions of concord between nations (Goto 304).

The Nitobe Garden’s intentional representation to the public is the commemoration of Nitobe’s identity of peace between nations (Goto 304). The memorial clearly offers a representation of Japanese culture through the garden expressing an authentic Japanese outline (La Fountaine 36). Therefore, the location and the carefully depicted Japanese cultural aspects identified in this garden consequently bring together the Japanese and Canadian cultures. By doing so, the memorial is evidently supporting a collective identity in regards to understanding and recognizing the importance of peaceful international relations (Goto 304).  The intended memorial representation can be further seen through the Nitobe memorial landscaping with, “one island,” that was, “in the lake, later to be connected with the mainland by a bridge,” symbolizing a bridge between Japanese-Canadian relations forming a prospective strengthening bond (La Fountaine 36).

This memorial was seen as taking a step forward in Japanese- Canadian relations –for being a memorial built in the 1960’s- where there were still lingering racial prejudices towards Japanese-Canadians (Goto 304). Even with prejudicial perspectives in Western societies towards the Japanese, the memorial continued on to be built; therefore, representing the intentions of Japan and Canada progressively moving past racial differences in order to uphold stronger international relations  (Goto 304).

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