A Japanese Canadian shone at the Asian Heritage Month Award Gala. The night celebrates members from Ontario’s Asian communities, and among those honoured was writer and journalist Frank Moritsugu.
Celebrating over seventy years of writing, Moritsugu was recognized for being an active member in the Japanese Canadian community participating in groups like the Wynford Seniors and giving talks on his wartime experience.
“I think the greatest part is not so much they awarded me something I love doing and a lot of people in our community are like that,” said Moritsugu. “But being recognized so suddenly is appreciated because I can show off to my family,” he joked.
Moritsugu began his writing career with The New Canadian in Vancouver.
In 1941, Moritsugu and Japanese Canadians were part of an evacuation from Canada’s West Coast. Their property taken and sold, Japanese Canadians found themselves in detention camps and eventually moved East to places like Edmonton and Ontario.
After a brief period spent in the Canadian army during the Second World War and with several years of work under his belt at The New Canadian, Moritsugu moved to Toronto and began writing for Saturday Night Magazine.
Years down the road and several publications and government jobs later, he became a journalism instructor at Centennial college where he taught students the essentials of journalism until he retired.
This was a special night for many of Ontario’s Asian communities, but one especially sweet for writer and journalist Frank Moritsugu.