#MyBaachan 10. The First Japanese in Canada February 27, 2018 Raymond Nakamura, Ph.D. Before my Baachan came to Canada, many others came from Japan. Manzo Nagano came to Canada in 1877. Others may have arrived before him, but he stayed and established himself, becoming an important member of Japanese society in Canada. We even have a mountain named after him now, so we will stick with him being the first Japanese immigrant to Canada, even though he went back to Japan in the 1920s.This drawing of Manzo Nagano is based on a photograph of him as a successful older man at a fancy family gathering taken in 1910 (NNM 1994.85.1).