Recalling Through Belonging at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre

The Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre (JCCC) exemplifies how museums are becoming increasingly important nexuses for negotiating belonging and shaping social change. Instead of merely telling the history of Canadian Japanese immigration stories within the narrative of the Canadian nation, in its new permanent exhibition, Maru: Immigration Stories, the JCCC goes beyond nationalistic boundaries and showcases Japanese Canadians feeling a sense of belonging to the Japanese diaspora across the Americas. Through an analysis of Maru: Immigration Stories and an interview with the Heritage Manager of Archives, Collections, and Programming at the JCCC, this paper argues that the strong community the JCCC has fostered makes it a space for Japanese Canadians to claim cosmopolitan identities that transcend the limitations imposed on immigrant communities by narratives of nation.