Lethbridge, ab

The Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden opened in Lethbridge in 1966 as a tribute to the friendship between Japan and Canada. Many Japanese immigrants settled here in the early 1900s because of the coal mines. During the Second World War many Japanese-Canadians were relocated to the region from British Columbia and interned on sugar beet farms in southern Alberta. After the war, they were prevented from settling or working in the city of Lethbridge, but many stayed in the surrounding area and moved to the city in the 1960s when the racist policy was revoked.

Lethbridge is Alberta's fourth-largest city by population after Calgary, Edmonton, and Red Deer, and the largest city in southern Alberta. Located in the city is the University of Lethbridge and Lethbridge College, the first public community college in Canada.