Mori, Kenzo

Identity area

Type of entity

Person

Authorized form of name

Mori, Kenzo

Parallel form(s) of name

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      Other form(s) of name

      • Mori, Ken

      Identifiers for corporate bodies

      Description area

      Dates of existence

      1914-2007

      History

      Kenzo Mori was born January 25, 1914 in Vancouver B.C. He stayed in the city only briefly as a child, as he returned with his family to Japan in 1918. Mori came back to Canada at the age of 16, and graduated high school in British Columbia. He went on to attend UBC, earning an arts degree. As a young man he worked at the Canada Daily News until WWII where he was interned with his brother George in Kelowna, B.C. Having grown up in both Canada and Japan, Mori was bilingual in both English and Japanese, and became the point person for many Japanese speaking internees as he helped them advocate for themselves to the Canadian government. He worked as a farm hand in Kelowna, then moved to Summerville (Mississauga), Ontario in 1946, then later to Toronto. He married Isao (1915-2008), and they lived together in Toronto for over 50 years.

      With a background in publishing, Mori went on to be the President, publisher, and editor of the Japanese section of The New Canadian, starting as assistant Japanese editor in the late 1940s. His involvement with the publishing community includes being an active member of the Advisory Committee of Multiculturalism of Ontario and a founding member of the Board of the Canada Ethnic Press Federation.

      Mori’s acts of service and positive impact on the Japanese Canadian and broader community has been recognized through receiving the Queen's Jubilee Award for public service. He also received a Fifth Class Order of the Rising Sun from Japan's emperor for promoting relations between Canada and Japan in 1986. In 1977, he co-wrote with Hiroto Takami Kanada no Manzo Monogatari: The First Immigrant to Canada, telling the story of Manzo Nagano, the first Japanese immigrant to Canada. Mori passed away in 2007, just shy of his 93rd birthday.

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      Authority record identifier

      http://viaf.org/viaf/252575379

      Maintained by

      Cheng Yu Tung East Asian Library

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      Status

      Level of detail

      Dates of creation, revision and deletion

      Created January 9, 2024 by E. Carroll.

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          Sources

          Cordileone, Elvira. "An Impact on Two Shores." Toronto Star, January 22, 2007. http://myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/login?qurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.proquest.com%2Fnewspapers%2Fimpact-on-two-shores%2Fdocview%2F439133856%2Fse-2%3Faccountid%3D14771.

          "Japan Tightens Security as Hirohito Celebrates 60 Years on the Throne." The Montreal Gazette, April 29, 1986. http://myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/login?qurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.proquest.com%2Fnewspapers%2Fjapan-tightens-security-as-hirohito-celebrates-60%2Fdocview%2F431332505%2Fse-2%3Faccountid%3D14771.

          Nishimura, Sakuya. “Kenzo Mori.” Nikkei Images 12, no. 1 (Spring 2007): 23. https://centre.nikkeiplace.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/2007-Volume-12-No.-1.pdf

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