It all started in the 1930’s…

The Japanese youth, men in their teens to early 20’s, formed a group in 1936 called “Shin-Yo-Kai”, ‘Shin’ meaning the heart, ‘Yo’ coming from Taiyo, the sun, containing meaning of warmness and brightness, and ‘Kai’ meaning club. They met weekly to listen to a program on the radio where they were invited to offer their opinion on social, economic and political issues talked about by a panel on the CBC radio program called “Things to Come”. Later, a new group was formed called the “Nisei Club”.

The parents of the Shin Yo Kai group started a men’s club and a women’s club in 1937. The men’s club started with 6 men who met informally in the evenings and the women met in the afternoons. The clubs evolved into a joint social club for people of Japanese ancestry, called the ‘Regina Japanese Citizen Club’. With the changing times, today people of Japanese ancestry, their families, or anyone else interested in Japanese history, culture or heritage are welcome to join our social club.

In the early years, the elder members of the club welcomed Japanese residents to Regina, and helped them to get acquainted with the city and introduced them to other Japanese families. However, the 1930’s, also called the ‘dirty thirties’, was a difficult time for the Japanese people residing in Regina as there was mass unemployment during a world depression. Fortunately, the young Japanese could find employment with their seniors’ workplaces in Regina, such as the Ohashi Tire Exchange, Mikado Tire and Vulcanizing, or the Nippon Silk Store. During this time, there were also feelings of isolation from general society, but they found satisfaction in their new club and its activities.

Shin Yo Kai Club’s first project was to hold a Christmas party for the nisei children and their parents. With about 50 people in the Regina Japanese population, with 15 to 20 young children, the first Christmas party was held in 1936 at one of the member’s home where they sang carols, had refreshments, and got a visit from Santa who had gifts for the children.

Their second project was to hold a summer picnic, which took place on the first Sunday in July at Buena-Vista Beach in 1937. There were outdoor games, and food, and much enjoyment of the day long outing.

The events were successful and held every year until the beginning of the War against Japan in December of 1941, when all club activities voluntarily ceased and the Shin Yo Kai disbanded to avoid harassment towards the Japanese community. Furthermore, Nippon Silk changed their name to Silk-O-Lina and Mikado Tire Shop changed its name to O’hash Tire Shop. After the war broke out, some of the people who were evacuated from BC came out to Regina. Some stayed, but many moved out to Eastern Canada after the war.

The Japanese people of Regina could keep their possessions and properties during the war, but they were obligated to report the whereabouts of their residence once a month to the R.C.M.P. local station. Furthermore, they needed to register and carry a special Japanese-Canadian or Naturalization registration card that was issued from the RCMP that acted as an identification record with their picture and thumbprint.

Following the war, the club was formed once again to celebrate and take part in old and new activities together, but were now looked after by the Nisei group. The club activities resumed around 1946. when the Nisei group was established, including both Japanese men and women of Regina. A Christmas Fund was set up for the club to buy Christmas presents for the children, which followed the typical Japanese value of the importance of children.

Today…

We still celebrate with the same activities of the Christmas get together and the summer picnic, but we have added a few more events for our club like our New Year’s celebrtion, Hakamairi, Keirokai, a spring potluck, and perhaps a Japanese Canadian movie night or a Japanese cooking class.

Like in the past, our club represents a small but close knit community of people of Japanese descent, but with the addition of anyone else who wants to celebrate the Japanese culture with us.

Usually we ask all members to help out where they can with setup and cleanup at all events, and we reach out to our members for assistance in carrying out activities in the events we have planned.

We have two Annual General Meetings, one in May and one in November, to keep the membership informed of what the executive is planning and to vote on necessary motions.

Membership fees are due yearly and run from May 1 to April 30 of the following year. An email will be sent out for each event, so make sure your email is up to date! Guests are also welcome to join us at our events with a guest fee.

Please don’t hesitate to ask any questions! Send us an email at: rjcc.info@gmail.com