Donate to the Collection

Who We Are

The Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre is home to the largest community-driven repository of Japanese Canadian history in Canada. By acquiring, preserving, and making accessible archival records and personal belongings related to Japanese Canadian heritage, we offer an important resource for all communities to learn about Japanese Canadians’ place in our country’s history. Preserved within our archives storage vault are thousands of photographs and digital images, oral history records, textual records, cartographic records, moving images, artwork, and objects that were once the personal belongings of individuals in our community. We also have a reference library and we accept books that help explore Japanese Canadian history and heritage, and Japanese diaspora communities in the USA & Hawaii, Brazil, Australia, and more. 

Who Uses Our Resources

Community members, researchers, students, and the general public from around the world access the incredible collections in our archives online through our database www.nikkeimuseum.org, in person, or through publications and exhibits.

What We Accept

We are interested in donations that may include archival materials, objects, and publications such as:

  • Photographs and negatives
  • Textual records, e.g. documents, letters, association records, business records, government records (e.g. registration cards, wedding, citizenship, birth, death, and other certificates), autograph albums, etc.
  • Oral histories, memoirs, diaries, journals, family history publications, etc.
  • Audio and video recordings, e.g. home movies, audio/video by or about Japanese Canadians
  • Artwork by Japanese Canadians
  • Objects with a story, e.g. items that relate to the experiences of our community before, during, and after the forced and unjust uprooting and dispossession during the Second World War; industry items; household items; handmade items; clothing and kimono; 
  • Publications by Japanese Canadian authors. 
  • Publications about Japanese Canadian history, heritage, arts, culture.
  • Publications about Japanese diaspora communities.

Contact Us

If you have items you wish to donate we would like to hear from you. Please send a detailed description and reference photographs (where possible) of the items to Lisa Uyeda, Collections Manager at [email protected] or call to inquire at 604.777.7000 ext 140. 

Please note, offers of donation must be approved by staff before we receive your donation. Items dropped off or mailed to us without approval may not be accepted. A completed Deed of Gift form is required for all donations. Download the form by clicking here.