Step inside one of Vancouver’s oldest Japanese Canadian heritage sites during this special milestone Powell Street Festival weekend. 

For 120 years, the Vancouver Japanese Language School & Japanese Hall (VJLS-JH) has been a gathering place for learning, culture, and community. 

That it still exists is a remarkable story. During the Second World War, Japanese Canadians were forcibly uprooted and relocated to internment camps outside of coastal British Columbia. VJLS-JH’s board members worked from internment camps and distant cities to protect the school, trusting that the community would one day gather here again. Their determination paid off, and they successfully retained the land titles to 437 and 475 Alexander Street. Today, it stands as one of the few surviving pre-war Japanese Canadian institutions still operated by the community it was built to serve and has been designated by the federal government as a National Historic Site. 

During the festival, visitors will have the rare opportunity to explore the heritage wing at 475 Alexander Street – originally built in 1928 as a space for after-school Japanese language classes and community gatherings. Guests of all ages are invited to experience place-based history in an immersive 30-minute journey that blends past and present Japanese Canadian culture. 

While visiting, guests will enjoy a short presentation on the school and local history, view exclusive photographs and archival materials that illustrate decades of Powell Street memories, and participate in old-school Japanese-language activities in an early-20th-century classroom. They may even take home some unique souvenirs inspired by their experience. 

Attendance at this ticketed event is free, but space is limited. As a charitable organization, VJLS-JH greatly appreciates donations, which support its diverse programming and community services. 

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