Discrimination against the Japanese, similar to that against the Chinese, was severe in British Columbia. Japanese immigration to B.C. began in 1877 when a sailor named Manzo Nagano jumped ship in New Westminster. In the following years, hundreds of others from Japan migrated to B.C., with many working as miners and fishers in communities along the coast.
To discourage the increasing numbers of non-European immigrants, in 1895 the right to vote in provincial elections was denied to those of Japanese descent through the Provincial Voters' Act Amendment Act, 1895, even if they were Canadian citizens.
Following the Provincial Voters' Act Amendment Act, discriminatory amendments to other provincial legislation quickly followed. However, the federal government rescinded the majority of it, since it violated international agreements between Britain and Japan.
Prior to Manzo Nagano's arrival in 1877, there were several reports of Japanese fishermen being shipwrecked along the B.C. coast. The first recorded wreck occurred in 1833 and many stories exists about survivors settling into nearby Indigenous communities or returning to Japan.
