The Japanese diaspora in Canada, according to the Statistics Committee of Canada, has about 100 thousand people (more than 62 thousand of them are Japanese of mixed ancestry1), who mainly live in the metropolitan areas of Vancouver and Toronto and in their environs. Interest in Japanese culture was encouraged by the adoption in Canada in 1971 of the state policy of multiculturalism, on the one hand, and on the other - the economic interests of the Canadian government, which relied on Japan as its main economic and strategic partner in the Asia-Pacific region. At the same time, 4 centers for the study of Japan and China were established in Canada - at the universities of Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, and the Center of Canada - at the Sofia University of Tokyo. CANADIAN MULTICULTURALISM AND ASIA-PACIFIC COUNTRIES The concept of "multiculturalism" in Canada is interpreted very broadly, not limited to the policy of cultural integration of new immigrants into Canadian society. The policy of multiculturalism, established by law in 1971, implies the desire of the authorities and society to "preserve and develop the multinational heritage of Canadians in the economic, social, cultural and political life of Canada"2. In the context of this State policy and a number of government programs to expand the study of languages and cultures of Asian countries and monitor their implementation, there is a growing interest in ethnic cultures. Canada established diplomatic relations with Japan in 1928, opening its own consular office in Tokyo at the same time. Canada's first representatives to Japan were Hugh Kinsliside and Russell Kirkwood, who each authored monographs on the history and culture of Japan. Canadian-Japanese relations were quite friendly until the outbreak of World War II, when the Canadian government, fearing sabotage by Japanese immigrants, began to evict them from the country. In the 1960s and 1970s, a series of diplomatic, domestic political, and cultural eve ... Read more