Greater Toronto Chapter of the National Association of Japanese Canadians

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About Greater Toronto Chapter of the National Association of Japanese Canadians

The Greater Toronto Chapter of the National Association of Japanese Canadians (NAJC) is a member of the National Association of Japanese Canadians. The roots of the Toronto NAJC are tied to the founding of the National Japanese Canadian Citizens Association (NJCCA) in Toronto on Labour Day Weekend in 1947. A group of community leaders led by Roger Obata of Toronto gathered representatives from British Columbia to Quebec to form the first national organization of Japanese Canadians. The NJCCA was renamed the NAJC in 1980.

The goal of the NJCC was to establish a national organization to represent Japanese Canadians in their demand for the rights of citizenship and to address the unlawful dispossession of the community through World War Two. With the assistance of Mike Masaoka, of the Japanese American Citizen’s League (JACL), the National Japanese Canadian Citizen’s Association (JCCA) was formed. Later the name was changed to the National Association of Japanese Canadians (NAJC); although some chapters retained the initial JCCA name. Over the years the National organization and its chapters have created a proud legacy of advocating for Japanese Canadian interests.

Objectives
To advance education by providing presentations, workshops, classes, and other learning media to the general public about the history of racial discrimination against Japanese Canadians and the history of Japanese Canadians in the GTA, Ontario and Canada.
To advance education by conducting research regarding racial prejudice and discrimination against Japanese Canadians and disseminating the results of the research to the public.
To promote racial equality by providing workshops to the public about racial prejudice and discrimination, and to promote racial equality and eliminate racial discrimination through positive race relations.