Manzo Nagano

Manzo Nagano (永野 万蔵, Nagano Manzō; 1855–1923) was the first Japanese person to officially immigrate to Canada.^[1]

Biography

Manzo Nagano emigrated from Japan to Canada in 1877, arriving in New Westminster, British Columbia. He initially worked as a salmon fisherman in the Fraser River and later moved to Vancouver, where he loaded timber onto ships. In 1884, he returned to Japan briefly but then moved to the American city of Seattle, Washington, to open a tobacco and restaurant business. He returned to Canada in 1892 to open a hotel and store, among other businesses. Unfortunately, in 1992, he lost all his possessions in a fire and moved back to Japan, where he died a year later.

In his honour, the Canadian Mount Manzo Nagano, located near Owikeno Lake, BC, was officially named to commemorate the arrival of Japanese immigrants to Canada.^[2]

The figure skater Keegan Messing is his great-great-grandson.^[3]