日系カナダ人社会は1970年代、多文化主義政策や世代交代を背景に歴史的アイデンティティの再構築を求めていた。その象徴として再発見されたのが永野萬蔵であり、森研三・高見弘人『カナダの萬蔵物語』は、一次資料の乏しさを補う形で彼の生涯を物語化し、1877年上陸説を「日系史の起点」として定着させた。しかし近年の研究では証言の矛盾や記録の欠如が指摘され、物語性が強いと再評価されている。それでも萬蔵像は、百年祭を通じて日系社会の誇りと結束を象徴する存在として現在も重要である。

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In the 1970s, against a backdrop of multiculturalism policies and generational change, the Japanese Canadian community sought to reconstruct its historical identity. Manzo Nagano was rediscovered as a symbol of this movement, and Kenzo Mori and Hiroto Takami’s The Story of Manzo in Canada fictionalized his life to compensate for the scarcity of primary sources, thereby establishing the theory of his arrival in 1877 as the ‘starting point of Japanese Canadian history’. However, recent research has highlighted contradictions in testimonies and gaps in the historical record, prompting a reassessment of the narrative as overly fictionalized. Nevertheless, Manzo's figure remains significant today as a symbol of pride and unity within the Japanese-Canadian community, particularly during the centenary celebrations.