Ito, Roy Ryoichi

Roy Ryoichi Ito was born in British Columbia in 1922. He was relocated to southern Alberta with his family in 1942, when the federal government moved Japanese Canadians from the British Columbia coast to locations inland. Shortly afterward he returned to British Columbia, to the Kaslo detention camp, to work on the Japanese Canadian newspaper The New Canadian. In September 1943, Ito moved to Hamilton to begin his post-secondary education. During his second year at McMaster University, he was recruited by Captain Don Mollison of the Indian Army on behalf of the Allied war effort. Ito completed the language course at S-20, the Canadian Army Japanese Language School, before going overseas to serve with the Canadian Intelligence Corps in India and Southeast Asia. He worked as a translator during war crimes trials in Japan.

After the war, Ito completed his university degree and went to teacher's college. His career as a teacher spanned more than 30 years with the Hamilton Board of Education, 25 of them as an elementary school principal. Ito retired in June 1984, but continued his involvement with the Canadian Teachers Federation Project Overseas, in which he instructed teachers. He served as a team leader for the project on trips to Africa and Grenada, to help teachers upgrade their skills.

Married and the father of four children, Ito lived in Hamilton, Ontario. His book, We went to war : the story of the Japanese Canadians who served during the First and Second World Wars, was his fifth published book, the other four being social science books prepared for use in schools. He was also the author of Stories of my people : a Japanese Canadian journal, published in 1994. He died in Hamilton, Ontario on July 7, 1999.

Created by Alston So, March 2026.

Roy Ito Fonds, Library and Archives Canada https://recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/home/record?app=fonandcol&idnumber=160235&ecopy=