America Mura “Canadian Museum”

Mio District in Mihama Town, Hidaka County is located between Wakayama City and Tanabe City. This is an emigrant town which sent out many Japanese to Canada beginning In 1888. Emigrants went to a port city called Steveston near Vancouver. At its peak, about 2000 Japanese were living there.

Emigrants from Mio District worked in fishing and forestry. After they came back, they built western-style homes, spoke with English words in their conversations, and brought Canadian lifestyles. In time, Mio became a village with America (correctly Canada)-like culture and earned the name “American Village.”

Today, Mio hardly reflects those days, but the former Noda Family’s residence built in early Showa Period in western-Japanese style is open to the public as Canada Museum. You can see how the emigrants were living in those days and visit the neighboring Canada Garden with the totem pole gifted from Canada as a token of friendship, which is now the symbol of the town.