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The Canadian Encyclopedia:  Introduction to Japanese Internment

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The Canadian Encyclopedia:  Introduction to Japanese Internment

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A brief overview of the internment of Japanese Canadians and Japanese Americans during World War II. Learn about the political and social factors that led to this event.

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(courtesy Library and Archives Canada/C-057250)

Background

By the start of the Second World War, Japanese people had long suffered the sting of racism in Canada. Ever since the first Japanese person, a man named Manzo Nagano, stepped ashore in New Westminster in 1877, White settlers in British Columbia tried to exclude people whom they considered to be "undesirables." They passed laws to keep Japanese people from working in the mines; to prevent them from voting; and to prohibit them from working on any project funded by the province.

Then came the news, on 7 December 1941, of Japan's attacks on Pearl Harbor and Hong Kong, where Canadian troops were stationed. ( See Canada and the Battle of Hong Kong.) With these shocking events, fears of a Japanese invasion were sparked. Their flames were fanned by a sensationalist press. Distrust of Japanese Canadians spread along the Pacific Coast. The RCMP moved quickly to arrest suspected Japanese operatives. The Royal Canadian Navy impounded 1,200 Japanese-owned fishing boats. On the recommendation of the RCMP, Japanese newspapers and schools were voluntarily shut down to avoid racist backlash.

Fishermen's Reserve rounding up Japanese-Canadian fishing vessels in Steveston, BC, 10 December 1941.

"From the army point of view, I cannot see that Japanese Canadians constitute the slightest menace to national security," wrote Major-General Kenneth Stuart. Nevertheless, BC politicians were in a rage. They spoke of the Japanese "in the way that the Nazis would have spoken about Jewish Germans," said Escott Reid, a Canadian diplomat. "When they spoke I felt... the physical presence of evil."

Detained, Dispossessed and Dispersed

On 24 February 1942, the federal Cabinet of Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King issued Order-in-Council P.C. 1486 to remove and detain "any and all persons" from any "protective area" in the country. Those powers were broad enough to apply to anyone. But they were specifically used to target Japanese Canadians along the West Coast. The following week, the British Columbia Security Commission was established. It implemented and carried out Japanese internment.

On 16 March, the first Japanese Canadians were taken from areas 160 km inland from the Pacific coast - deemed a "protected area" - and brought to Hastings Park in Vancouver. ( See Japanese Canadians Held at Hastings Park.) More than 8,000 detainees were processed through Hastings Park. Women and children were housed in the Livestock Building. All property that could not be carried was taken into government custody.

"I was a 22-year-old Japanese Canadian," said Tom Tamagi, "a prisoner of my own country of birth. We were confined inside the high wire fence of Hastings Park just like caged animals."

Trains then carried the Japanese detainees to Slocan, New Denver, Kaslo, Greenwood and Sandon - ghost towns in the Kootenays. Others were offered the option of working on sugar beet farms in Alberta and Manitoba ( see Sugar Industry), where they would be able to keep their families intact.

Though the camps were not surrounded with barbed wire fences, as they were in the United States, conditions were overcrowded and poor. There was no electricity or running water. Those who resisted their internment were sent to prisoner of war camps in Petawawa, Ontario; or to Camp 101 on the northern shore of Lake Superior.

In a further betrayal, an order-in-council signed 19 January 1943 liquidated all Japanese property that had been under the government's "protective custody." Homes, farms, businesses and personal property were sold. The proceeds were used to pay the costs of detaining Japanese Canadians.

Image: Jack Long / National Film Board of Canada/Library and Archives Canada/PA-142853.

Anti-Japanese Racism

Anti-Japanese racism was not confined to British Columbia. Though in need of labour, Albertans did not want Japanese Canadians in their midst. Alberta sugar beet farmers crowded Japanese labourers into tiny shacks, uninsulated granaries and chicken coops; they paid them a pittance for their hard labour.

More than 90 per cent of Japanese Canadians - some 21,000 people - were uprooted during the war. The majority were British subjects by birth. (Before 1947, both people born in Canada and naturalized immigrants were considered British subjects; in other words, they were citizens of the Commonwealth. Canadian citizenship came into effect in January 1947.)

Even after the war, Mackenzie King continued to bow to the most strident demands of the politicians and the citizens he represented. He offered Japanese Canadians two choices: move to Japan; or disperse to provinces east of the Rocky Mountains. He never expressed any regrets for the treatment of Japanese Canadians, during the war or after.

Community kitchen at a Japanese Canadian internment camp in Greenwood BC, 1943.

In 1946, nearly 4,000 former internees chose to leave Canada for bombed-out Japan. About 2,000 were aging first-generation immigrants - 1,300 were children under 16 years of age. The last controls on Japanese Canadians were not lifted until 1948, when they were granted the right to vote. Finally, Canadian society began to open to the Japanese.

Apology and Redress

The military threat cited to justify the detention of Japanese Canadians never existed outside the anxious imaginations of some British Columbians. Not a single Japanese Canadian was charged with any wrongdoing. Still, some people have been uncomfortable judging the acts of our predecessors from the perspective of hindsight. When Japanese Canadians campaigned for compensation on 29 June 1984, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau said, "I do not see how I can apologize for some historic event to which we... were not a party. We can regret that it happened." He went on to ask where such claims for compensation would end. Indeed, other communities in Canada also sought redress and apology from the government for its racially motivated policies of the past: Ukrainian Canadians interned during the First World War; and Chinese Canadians who paid the head tax, among others.

September 1988, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney signs the agreement to compensate the Japanese-Canadians for the expropriation of their property and their internment during World War II.

But as expressed in the April 1947 issue of Saturday Night magazine, "It is the first step which costs; an injustice once performed is fatally easy to repeat." On 22 September 1988, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney rose in the House of Commons to apologize on behalf of the Canadian government for the wrongs it committed against Japanese Canadians during wartime. The apology came with symbolic redress payments to individuals and to community funds.

But the most enduring accomplishment of the Japanese campaign for redress was the abolition of the War Measures Act, which had provided the legal basis for the removal of the Japanese from their homes. Ultimately, the redress campaign was a strong reminder of the poisonous effects of racism in Canada.

See also Internment in Canada; Interned in Canada: An Interview with Pat Adachi; Hide Hyodo Shimizu; Obasan (novel); Joy Kogawa; David Suzuki; Masumi Mitsui; Racial Segregation of Asian Canadians.

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Japanese Canadian Internment: Prisoners in their own Country

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(courtesy Library and Archives Canada/C-057250) By the start of the Second World War, Japanese people had long suffered the sting of racism in Canada. Ever since the first Japanese person, a man named Manzo Nagano, stepped ashore in New Westminster in 1877, White settlers in British Columbia tried to exclude people whom they considered to be "undesirables."

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Lesson plans designed for a range of grade levels that focus on Japanese internment and its implications for civil rights.

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Grade Levels: 9/10, 11/12

Subject Area: Social Studies, History, Geography, ELA, Civics

Lesson Overview

In this lesson students are introduced to the historical thinking concept of Historical Perspectives through an examination of the internment of Japanese-Canadians during the Second World War. Students view the NFB film, Minoru: a Memory of Exile and create a bio-poem reflecting the historical perspective of one of the people in the documentary/memoir.

Time Required

2-3 lessons (75 minute periods)

Historical Thinking Concept(s)

This lesson plan uses the following historical thinking concepts: Use primary source evidence and take historical perspectives.

Learning Outcomes

Student will:

Compare and contrast present-day worldviews and those of the past

Examine and compare the perspectives of Japanese-Canadians on internment

Model historical perspective-taking by avoiding presentism

Demonstrate an understanding of historical perspectives by writing a poem from the point of view of a historical actor (Minoru or his father)

Background Information

During the Second World War, Canada declared war with Japan on December 8, 1941, after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. There were many Japanese-Canadians living on the British Columbia coast, most of whom were fishers and many of whom were second-generation Canadians. Many British Columbia residents were afraid that the Japanese-Canadians were spies, and coupled with longtime racism and resentment, they lobbied the federal government to deport or intern Japanese-Canadians for the duration of the war. Prime Minister Mackenzie King issued the order, and Japanese-Canadians had their assets and properties seized and auctioned to pay for the internment. Families were often separated and they were sent to camps in the BC interior. At the end of the war, internees were given the choice of moving east to Ontario or Manitoba, or deportation to Japan. Some Canadians who were deported to Japan, were recruited in 1950 by the Canadian military to serve in the Korean war, and their citizenship was reinstated. In 1988, the federal government apologized for the camps and paid individuals compensation, and established educational and community funds.

This lesson can be used on its own, or as part of a course introductory overviewof the historical thinking concepts through selected 20 th century events in Canadian history.

The Lesson Activity

Activating:

1. Introducing Historical Perspectives

1. Ask: If you asked a Canadian in 1913 (or some other date in the past) what they think makes a great country, would their answer be the same as your answer today?

2. Show the Historical Thinking Project Poster: Historical Perspectives. Ask: Are these women dressed appropriately? Why or why not? Have students discuss the question in small groups, then share their responses with the class. The purpose of this discussion is for students to uncover the worldviews of the people of the past, and to compare them to today. Students often make insightful connections between corsets and plastic surgery, and other ideas about fashion and social status today.

2. Introducing Internment

1. Tell students that in 1942, the Canadian government forcibly relocated all Japanese-Canadians to internment camps in the BC interior. Ask: Why do you think they would do this?

2. Small groups discuss this question and try to predict some ways that Canada was different in 1942 from today. Ask some groups to share their predictions, all students should write in their journals.

Acquiring:

1. Watch the NFB documentary, Minoru: A Memory of Exile. Tell students to think about the perspectives shown in the film, and to think about how they might be different from today.

2. Hand out the Bio-Poem template and ask students for homework, or in small groups, to complete the Bio-Poem as if they are Minoru or his father. For students who need literacy support, you can limit the number of lines they must complete - e.g. 10 lines only.

3. You will likely need to watch the film again, with groups looking for primary source evidence from the film to include in the poem to support the perspective presented.

4. Ask each group to put their collective best lines on a chart paper and hang in the classroom.

5. Introduce the peer assessment rubric for historical perspectives. Give each student 2 sticky notes in two different colours. Have students put one colour of sticky notes on the best example of historical perspective-taking, and put a code explaining which aspect it demonstrates (worldview, or context). The other colour of sticky note is for constructive criticism on a line that does not demonstrate a consistent worldview, context or is an example of presentism. Lead a class discussion to propose alternate wording to improve those lines, and to have students explain why a particular line is effective. Leave this work posted in the classroom for students to reference as they write their own bio-poems.

Applying:

1. Students write their own bio-poem from the historical perspective of their choice. Use the peer evaluation checklists to ensure quality.

2. Journal reflection: Students respond to the following prompts in their journals:

1. My/our best line from my/our bio-poem and why.

2. One question I have about Japanese Internment

3. Reflect on your/our initial predictions - what was incorrect and why? What presentist assumptions underlie some of our predictions?

Materials/Resources

Historical Perspectives: Examining Japanese Internment - lesson slides and resources

References
The Historical Thinking Project - Historical Perspectives Template
The Big Six Historical Thinking Concepts (Nelson, 2013) - Bio-poem template (p. 167) Guideposts to Historical Thinking (p. 10-11)

Prohibition to Oka (Collishaw, 2013) - links to all resources needed for the unit

Extension Activity

Have some groups write bio-poems from the perspectives of either: Prime Minister Mackenzie King, or a white BC resident. These perspectives require more inferring from the sources presented in the video, but they can also reveal presentist thinking. For example, a white BC resident at the time would not have likely described themselves as "I am a racist." This conflict between students' own presentist views and the views of people in the past can help them to understand the motivations for past events. It's important to emphasize that understanding the motivations is not the same as condoning the past actions.

Assessment

To assess the bio-poem, students should use the peer evaluation checklists to ensure quality. Each line of the poem must be supported by evidence from the film, and should add something new to our understanding of that person.

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kayak: canada’s history magazine for kids

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Grade Levels: 9/10, 11/12 Subject Area: Social Studies, History, Geography, ELA, Civics In this lesson students are introduced to the historical thinking concept of Historical Perspectives through an examination of the internment of Japanese-Canadians during the Second World War.

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A teacher resource, produced by The University of Victoria, specifically designed for elementary teachers with lesson plans and resources to support the instruction of the Canadian Japanese internment and dispossession.  The lesson plans are connected to the Big Ideas of the curriculum, and through hands-on, minds-on and hearts-on activities, such as simulations, these lessons seek to provide learners with inclusive learning opportunities.

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1939-1952

THe Elementary
Teacher Resources

During the 1940s, Canada displaced and dispossessed thousands of Japanese Canadians on racial grounds. They lost their homes, farms, businesses, as well as personal, family, and communal possessions. Landscapes of Injustice is dedicated to recovering and grappling with this difficult past.

This site shares lessons and resources designed to help teachers in elementary classrooms teach about this important issue in Canadian history.

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Who is this website for?

Elementary/intermediate teachers
who want to teach about:

human rights

the use of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

the "Historical Thinking thinking Concepts"

the internment and dispossession of Japanese Canadians

This website uses the internment and dispossession of Japanese Canadians as a means to help students learn about the world by seeking answers to big questions

What is fair?

How do we deal with unfairness?

What is home? Community?

What is the difference between belonging and belongings?

Teaching Method

1. Hands-on:

Students create things, theymake things, and theydo things.

Students find this a fun way to learn and the issues are easier to understand when they get involved through creating.

The learning is made real throughsimulations.

2. Minds-on:

The activities are meant to develop critical thinking skills.

We stimulate students' curiosity through engaging in intriguing activities and using primary sources.

We directly target the Historical Thinking Concepts

3. Hearts-on:

For intermediate-age students, everything is filtered through an emotional lens.

Students feel the issues. As they learn, they ask themselves, "What does this mean, tome?"

This emotional connection creates a deeper understanding and a greater level of engagement. It also creates a greater chance of action, a desire to make things better.

1. Students make a simulated community of a Japanese Canadian neighbourhood, 1940s Powell Street, on a classroom bulletin board. They populate their properties with people and possessions which they pin into their properties. (Hands-on Learning)

2. Because of the work students put into their simulated community, the people and the belongings, students become emotionally attached to their work. (Hearts-on Learning)

3. Then, over time, after students have built up sufficient possessions, Canada and Japan go to war with each other, and the Japanese Canadian avatars/characters from the Powell Street displays are moved to an internment camp bulletin board. Then, as their incarceration continues, the possessions left in the Powell Street display start to disappear.

4. As a class, throughout the simulation, the students process how this happened, why this happened, and what the repercussions were. (Minds-on Learning)

The Lessons

Powell Street Simulation

Students make a simulated community of a Japanese Canadian neighbourhood on a classroom bulletin board to begin a simulation of internment and dispossession. Start with the Main Dispossession Activity: the Powell Street simulation. Do the 8 Supporting Lessons concurrently so that you are ready to take away the students' simulated possessions and property by Lesson 3 Intro to Internment.

Learn more

Testimonials

"My son has really enjoyed this socials unit. We have had many discussions, and I saw his empathy and understanding of this misjustice that occurred. Learning about something that happened locally and being able to drive to the area and the fact it happened in recent history made a huge impact on him and how he views the world and what he wants to see it like in his time."

Janine
Parent

"I think the government was being very racist because they basically only rounded up Japanese Canadians ... I am also quite shocked Canada would do such a thing because we are known for our diversity and our kind people ... I just think that putting Japanese Canadians in the internment camps was not right."

Grade 5 student
Port Moody, BC

"It is a fantastic resource and easy to follow. Teachers may say that the subject of the Japanese-Canadian Internment is a minor suggestion in the new BC curriculum and there isn't enough time to cover the event in detail. What's important to note is that the whole module doesn't cover only one Social Studies' concept. It is truly a multi-disciplinary unit that touches a huge range of competencies (skills). In our unit, I added in all the big ideas and competencies that we touched from almost every subject."

Laura de la Salle
Teacher
North Vancouver, BC

"The history of how the Japanese Canadians during WW II were unfairly treated and discriminated by the people and the government of Canada and the sufferings at the internment camps made me realize how lucky I am today living in 'more civilised' multicultural society."

Ambrose
Grade 5 student

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1939-1952 During the 1940s, Canada displaced and dispossessed thousands of Japanese Canadians on racial grounds. They lost their homes, farms, businesses, as well as personal, family, and communal possessions. Landscapes of Injustice is dedicated to recovering and grappling with this difficult past.

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A curated list of books and scholarly articles that delve into various aspects of Japanese internment, from historical analysis to personal memoirs.

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"But when a community comes together to demand more, when we do not let trauma stay obscured but bring it up to the surface and remember it together, we can make sure it is not repeated."
― Kiku Hughes, Displacement

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Books shelved as japanese-internment: Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford, Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson, When the Emperor W...

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Gr. 5/6 Teacher Resource Guide on Hastings Park 1942

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Gr. 5/6 Teacher Resource Guide on Hastings Park 1942

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Contains curriculum-anchored lessons, activities, archival photos and footage of the PNE fairgrounds then and now.

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Research Skills Guide: Features background, lessons, activities and assessments to teach a host of research and information processing skills.

*Requires SD35 Login

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Welcome to the BC Digital Classroom remote access page, enter the (case sensitive) username and password provided by your teacher, librarian or BC Digital Classroom contact person.

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This webpage offers a comprehensive and easy-to-follow historical timeline of Japanese Canadian experiences in Canada, beginning in 1877 with Manzo Nagano sailing into New Westminster, the first known Japanese person to land and settle in Canada.

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Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre

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1877
Manzo Nagano lands in New Westminster, the first Japanese person known to land and settle in Canada.

The First Japanese Immigrant
Manzo Nagano was born in 1855, a time when Japan remained locked in self-imposed isolation from the outside world. By the time he had reached working age, working as a carpenter's apprentice in his hometown, Nagasaki, Japan had opened its doors and was facing the challenge of creating a modern nation. At the age of 22, Nagano became involved in boat refitting and repair, and around that time decided that someday he would set out for Canada. Stowing away aboard a British ship leaving the port of Yokohama, Nagano landed in New Westminster, BC, in May 1877.

He fished for salmon on the Fraser River for three years before moving to Vancouver, where he loaded timber on outbound ships. In 1884, Manzo Nagano returned to Japan, worked his way to Shanghai, crossed the Pacific once again and settled in Seattle, where he set up a tobacco and restaurant business.

In 1892, he moved to Victoria, where he operated a small hotel and a store. He later was connected with other enterprises, including the exporting of salted humpback salmon to Japan. He became a man of property and an influential member of the Japanese community in Canada. Later Manzo Nagano consolidated his holdings into one location on Government Street in Victoria. In 1922, suffering from tuberculosis, he lost all his possessions when the building was gutted by fire. Dejected, he returned with his family to Japan where he died soon after at the age of 68. Several of his descendants are living in Canada today.

In 1977, as part of the Japanese Canadian Centennial, a mountain in British Columbia was named after the first settler, Manzo Nagano. The official naming took place October 7 in Alberta, at the meeting of the Canadian Permanent Committee on Geographical Names. Mount Manzo Nagano (approximately 1,950 metres high) overlooks Owikeno Lake in the Coast Mountains, about 400 kilometres northwest of Vancouver. It is in the region of Rivers Inlet where Japanese Canadians pioneered in the commercial fishing industry along the Pacific coast.

1889
The first nisei, Katsuji, is born to Yo and Washiji Oya.
The first Japanese consulate opens in Vancouver.

1897
The Japanese Fishermen's Association is organized in Steveston, BC, with Tomekichi Homma as President.

1906
The first Japanese language school, the Vancouver Kyoritsu Nippon Kokumin Gakko (currently the Vancouver Japanese Language School and Japanese Hall), is established at 439 Alexander Street. At Lord Strathcona School in Vancouver, Japanese Canadian students are enrolled in a public school alongside white students for the first time.

1907
On September 9th a mob of white supremacists gathers in Vancouver and inflicts severe damage to Japanese and Chinese immigrant quarters. Powell Street receives extensive damage. The riot is immediately followed by a general strike of Vancouver's Asian workers.

1912
The Asahi baseball team is formed. The team quickly becomes famous for its sacrificing, base-stealing and fielding. They become the most popular team in the Lower Mainland with a legion of non-Nikkei fans.

World War I, 1916-1917
Hoping to prove their loyalty to Canada, over 200 Nikkei volunteers attempt to enlist in the Canadian Army. After being rejected in British Columbia, 195 issei volunteers, and one nisei-Private George Uyehara-travel to Alberta to join Canadian battalions of the British army and are shipped to Europe. 54 are killed and 92 wounded.

1920
The Japanese Canadian War Memorial cenotaph is officially unveiled in Stanley Park near Lumberman's Arch on the third anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge. Sitting atop the sandstone column is a marble lantern containing an eternal flame. Says Sergeant Yasuzo Shoji, veteran of the 52nd Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, "We don't forget what we owe to Canada and we were proud to fight when Britain declared war on the common enemy."

1922
Lord Byng annex in Steveston, a school attended by both Japanese and non-Japanese students, becomes the first and only school in BC to hire a Japanese Canadian teacher. However the teacher, Hide Hyodo, is only permitted to teach the Japanese Canadian students.

1926 The Asahi baseball team wins the Terminal League Championship-the first of several league championships over the next 15 years.

1928
Japan and Canada agree to establish diplomatic relations. Based on their agreement, Japan opens a legation in Ottawa on July 20.

1929
Canada opens its first diplomatic office in Tokyo.

1930
Shige Yoshida of Chemainus on Vancouver Island forms the first Japanese Canadian boy scout troop in the British Empire. Barred from joining a local troop five years earlier, he studied on his own by correspondence, earning the highest possible rank and a warrant from the Boy Scouts of America granting him the right to form his own troop.

1938
The New Canadian is established as the first English-language Nikkei newspaper with its motto, "The Voice of the Second Generation".

The War Years
Of the 23,303 persons of Japanese origin in Canada, 75.5% are Canadian citizens (60.2% Canadian-born and 14.6% naturalized citizens).

1941
Japan attacks Pearl Harbor. Canada declares war on Japan. Under the War Measures Act, Order-in-Council P.C. 9591 requires all Japanese nationals to register by February 7 with the Registrar of Enemy Aliens.

1200 Japanese fishing boats rounded up by the Canadian Navy. Japanese language schools close. Insurance policies are cancelled. All three Japanese-language newspapers closed down by R.C.M.P. The New Canadian becomes the sole paper allowed to publish. It turns into a bilingual publication and is the main source of community news, and government policy directives.

The light atop the Japanese Canadian War Memorial is extinguished.

After Canada declared war on Japan in 1941, Japanese Canadians on the west coast were given five options.
1) Some were allowed to move to certain self-supporting areas.
2) Men were assigned to work in road camps, a short-lived experiment since the men, were too worried about their women and children to put their heart into roadwork.
3) Women and children who had no support could opt to move to detainment camps in the BC Interior. They were joined later by men from the road camps.
4) Japanese Canadians were urged to move to eastern Canada in the face of hostility in most of the country. A number took this route.
5) Families could stay together if they would contract to work in the sugar beet farms in Alberta and Manitoba. 3,700 people made this choice.

The exodus to the camps was organized by the British Columbia Security Commission (BCSC) and carried out by the RCMP. Most of the camps, were located in ghost towns in the Kootenays. Camps were improvised or built from the ground up by Japanese Canadian carpenters and other tradesmen working under foremen appointed by the BCSC.
The people in the camps, left on their own in makeshift lodgings, developed their own community organizations, schools, recreation and production of food.

On March 16, the first group of Japanese Canadians from the coastal area entered Hastings Park Manning Pool on the Pacific National Exhibition (PNE) grounds in Vancouver.
By March 25, 1,593 persons were confined there. "At the peak of its habitation, on September 1, 3,866 persons were living there and over 8,000 passed through the Park at one time or another."
The Enemy That Never Was

1942
Order-in-Council P.C. 365 creates a 100-mile 'protected area' on the coast of British Columbia from which male enemy aliens are excluded.

Mass evacuation of Japanese Canadians begins. Some are given only 24 hours notice. Cars, cameras and radios confiscated for "protective measures". Curfew imposed.

By the end of the year, approximately 12,029 persons are in detention camps in the interior of British Columbia, 945 men are in enforced labour camps, 3,991 are placed as labourers on sugar beet farms in the Prairie provinces, 1,161 are in voluntary self-supporting sites outside the 'protected area', 1,359 are given special work permits, 699 are interned in prisoner-of-war camps in Ontario, 42 are repatriated to Japan, 111 are in detention in Vancouver and 105 are in hospital in Hastings Park, approximately 2,000 were living outside the 'protected area' and allowed to remain in place but required to register and give up prohibited items, and subject to restriction of activities.

British Columbia Security Commission Report: October 31, 1942
Road camp projects 986
Sugar Beets, Alberta 2,585
Manitoba 1,053
Ontario (males) 350
Slocan Valley 4,764
(Slocan City, Bay Farm, Popoff, Lemon Creek)
Tashme 2,624
New Denver/Roseberry 1,701
Greenwood 1,203
Kaslo 965
Sandon 920
Self-Supporting Projects 1,164
Independent Projects 431
Special Permits 1,337
Repatriated to Japan 42
Evacuated voluntarily 579
Internment camps 699
In detention, Vancouver 57
Hastings Park, Hospital 105

There were 94 who were partners in mixed marriages, with 100 off-spring, who were allowed to remain on the coast.

1944
The Government announces a program to disperse Japanese Canadians throughout the country, to separate those who are "loyal" from those who are "disloyal", and to "repatriate" the disloyal to Japan.

1945
At the request of the British government, Japanese Canadians are allowed to enlist. Those remaining in the camps are canvassed for "loyalty", and told to choose between "repatriation" to Japan and immediate movement east of the Rocky Mountains.

The New Canadian moves to Winnipeg. Editor Tom Shoyama volunteers for the Canadian Army and Kasey Oyama takes over the editorship.

150 Japanese Canadians volunteer for service with the Canadian army in the Far East.

"When I first hit Toronto I went to the artillery regiment recruiting station on Bay Street and I put my name in as a volunteer but they wouldn't take me. This must have been in 1942, I guess, when we were forced out. I spent some time in a road camp, about a month or so, until the black flies came. And then I volunteered to work at a sugar beet farm and then we were sent to a mushroom farm near Toronto. We were more or less prisoners there. They wouldn't let us look for any other work in Toronto. They wanted to use Toronto as a bait for the people still in the internment camps.
A couple of Mounties came up and asked me if I still wanted to join the army. So I said yeah, and they said the British were looking for some interpreters and I said, hell, I don't know the Japanese language, I want to get into the artillery! So they said, well, maybe you can transfer once you get into the army. But I was in Brantford for about a month at training camp-learning how to march and take orders-and then four of us got pulled out and got put in with the prairie group-Alberta and Manitoba-and then the next thing you know I was going overseas to India."
Frank Takayesu

Lemon Creek School Song
In Lemon Creek our fame goes before
Cause we're the school with esprit de corps
Proud are we of white and blue
For reasons we have, you see it too
Nothing can daunt us, we are the kind
Who work together, we're of one mind
Yes our school is loyal true
Hurrah for the white and blue

New Denver is a toy-town, resting gently in the middle of all these mountains. Two grocery stores, a butcher shop, a hardware store, a drugstore, the rest are houses, all neat in a row, not new, not old, just houses of wood with neat picket fences and kept gardens. Yuki and I see some villagers. They stare. We do not speak. Later, I learn they were amazed we could speak English so well, and even wore shoes.
A Child in a Prison Camp

The least isolated of the camps was Tashme, 14 miles southeast of the village of Hope and less than three hours drive from Vancouver. Three main rail lines, as well as the Cariboo Highway passed through Hope, which was adjacent to the boundary of the 100-mile "protected" coastal strip. Tashme itself, surrounded on all sides by the mountains of the Cascade Range, was situated on the A.B. Trites Farm, whose 600 acres were leased for $500 a month for the duration of the war. The name of the camp was derived by combining the first two letters of the last names of the Security Commissioners, Taylor, Shirras and Mead.
The Enemy That Never Was

1945
August 15 Japan surrenders after atomic bombs are dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Post War
1949
Restrictions imposed under the War Measures Act are lifted. Japanese Canadians gain full rights of citizenship and are free to move anywhere in Canada.

1952
The Vancouver Japanese Language School re-opens on Alexander Street, the only building to be returned to the community following the war.

1955
Japanese trading companies open their offices in Canada, marking the beginning of a mass business relationship between Canada and Japan.

1958
The first issue of The Bulletin is published by the Greater Vancouver Japanese Canadian Citizens' Association. The bilingual publication serves the Japanese Canadians who have returned to the coast.

1964
Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre opens in Toronto.

1967
Canadian Government announces new immigration regulation-a point system for selection. It no longer uses race as a category. As a result, a wave of new immigrants from Japan start arriving in Canada.

1976
Ken Adachi's book, The Enemy That Never Was: a History of the Japanese Canadians, is published by McClelland & Stewart, the first book to document the Japanese Canadian experience.

1977
Japanese Canadians renew national community ties by celebrating the centennial of the arrival of Nagano Manzo, the first known Issei in Canada. The centennial celebrations are closely followed by the organization of informal groups to discuss seeking redress.

The first Powell Street Festival takes place at Oppenheimer Park in Vancouver's downtown eastside, the pre-war home of the Japanese Canadian community.

The Japanese Canadian Centennial Project publishes A Dream of Riches, a photographic history of the Japanese Canadian community. The photographs are also gathered together as a traveling exhibit that tours the country.

1985
This is My Own: Letters to Wes and other Writings on Japanese Canadians, 1941 - 1948 is published. Based on a series of letters between Muriel Kitagawa and her brother Wes Fujiwara and edited by Roy Miki, the book is an eloquent portrait of a turbulent time in Canadian history. Muriel Kitagawa died in 1974 and Wes Fujiwara died on November 6, 2000.

1988
April 14 500 Japanese Canadians rally on Parliament Hill in support of redress. Many prominent Canadians come out to support their cause and the new Minister of State for Multiculturalism, Gerry Weiner, makes a statement that opens up dialogue with the community.

On August 3, the light atop the Japanese Canadian War Memorial is relit during a special ceremony, almost 45 years after it was extinguished. The guest of honour is Sergeant Masumi Mitsui, one of the last surviving World War I veteran.

July 21 The War Measures Act is repealed.

The Japanese Canadian Redress Foundation is established to administer the community funds. Over the next ten years, projects initiated across Canada include community centres and other facilities, cultural and artistic projects, and educational projects.
Redress and Beyond
1988 September 22 Prime Minister Brian Mulroney announces a Redress Settlement negotiated between the National Association of Japanese Canadians and the federal government, to acknowledge injustices against Japanese Canadians during and after World War II, provide a payment of $21,000 to all Japanese Canadians affected by the provisions of the War Measures Act, expunge criminal records of those charged with offenses stemming from violation of provisions of the War Measures Act, re-instate citizenship of those exiled to Japan, establish a $12million community fund to help rebuild community infrastructure, and provide $24million, half in the name of the NAJC and half in the name of the government, to establish the Canadian Race Relations Foundation.

1997
To mark the 120th anniversary of the first Japanese to settle in Canada, a group of climbers led by NAJC President Randy Enomoto climb Mt. Manzo Nagano and leave a time capsule at the summit on August 24. Of the 11 expedition members, four are direct descendants of Manzo Nagano.

1998
July 4 Opening ceremony of New Sakura-so seniors housing complex, the first component of Nikkei Place, at Kingsway and Sperling in Burnaby.
The first ever Canadian team attends the PANA American Nikkei Olympics in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The four-member team returns with three gold medals, three silver, and one bronze.
Keiko Miki becomes the first woman president of the NAJC.

1999
March 26 Groundbreaking ceremony for the National Nikkei Heritage Centre at Kingsway and Sperling in Burnaby.

August 15 a monument is unveiled at Ross Bay Cemetery in Victoria by the Kakehashi Group. The common monument honours the 150 Japanese Canadians buried at the cemetery. The first Is Yoshitaro Muneyama, age 26, January 11, 1887. Included among the dead are Manzo Nagano's first wife, Tsuya, and their infant daughter.
A New Century
Hapa (hä'pä) 1. Slang. of mixed racial heritage with partial roots in Asian or Pacific Islander ancestry.
2. Slang. a person of such heritage.
[ der. Hawaiian: hapa haole. (half white)]

2000
June 25 Grand opening of the new Vancouver Japanese Language School and Japanese Hall at 475 Alexander Street. The old building is designated a historic site by the city of Vancouver.
Team 2000, a hockey team made up of young players of Japanese descent, heads to Japan to attend a National Midget Camp and play against Japanese teams. The group returns with two wins and three losses and vows to return in a couple of years.
September 22 - The National Nikkei Heritage Centre officially opens in Burnaby, BC. The occasion also marks the opening of the Japanese Canadian National Museum and its inaugural exhibit, Reshaping memory, Owning History, Through the Lens of Japanese Canadian Redress. The Centre houses the National Nikkei Heritage Centre Society, the Japanese Canadian National Museum, the Japanese Canadian Citizens' Association, the Nikkei Seniors Health Care and Housing Society, ICAS Nikkei TV, the Gladstone Japanese Language School, and the Japanese Immigrants Association.

2002
September Nikkei Week 125 celebrates 125th Anniversary of the Nikkei in Canada.
Grand Opening of Nikkei Home , the final component of the Nikkei Place vision. The assisted living seniors residence is a place for seniors to maintain independence within a supportive environment.

2003
The 75th Anniversary of diplomatic relations with Japan.
NHK Nodojiman in Vancouver is held at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre.
Of the approximately 40,000 Nikkei living in the Greater Vancouver area, approximately ½ are pre-war immigrants or descendents, while the other half are post war immigrants.

Timeline is based on information gathered by Toyo Takata
Toyo Takata was born on Vancouver Island in 1920 and brought up in Esquimalt. His research uncovered the adventures of Manzo Nagano, pinpointing him as the first Japanese immigrant to set foot on Canadian soil in 1877. As a result of his publication and publicity of this discovery and at his urging, Japanese Canadian communities across Canada celebrated a Centennial Year in 1977. His research also culminated in the publication of Nikkei Legacy in which he chronicled many of the interesting adventures and trials of the early pioneers. Toyo Takata passed away on March 12, 2002, in Toronto.

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Japanese Canadian Timeline - Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre

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Major historical events from 1877 to 2003, based on information gathered by Toyo Takata.

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Gr. 5 Teacher Resource Guide on Japanese Canadian History

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Gr. 5 Teacher Resource Guide on Japanese Canadian History

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Comprehensive teaching resource containing historical context, key information to note for teachers, Lesson Plans, teaching supports, etc. Also contains a number of digitized photos documenting the internment in Hastings Park, as well as the relocation to other internment camps in BC’s interior.

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A collection of photographs taken inside the internment camps, showing daily life, work, and community events.

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Historical Art Exhibition/Website: The Suitcase Project

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Historical Art Exhibition/Website: The Suitcase Project

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A multimedia exhibition focuses on the narratives of fourth- and fifth-generation Japanese Canadians and Americans reflecting on the experience of internment and incarceration more than 75 years later.

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"Beautiful and haunting to see and experience."

The Suitcase Project asks yonsei and gosei (fourth and fifth generation) Japanese Canadians and Americans what they would pack if uprooted from their homes in a moment's notice.

While these descendants of the internment and incarceration may never have to endure the same forced uprooting as their ancestors, Kayla Isomura's work examines how they, and those descended from families who experienced other forms of discrimination, remain affected by this history today through a series of photographs, short films and interviews.

Over the course of nearly three months, more than 80 subjects ranging in age and background shared their stories from cities in British Columbia, Canada and Washington, USA.

June 16, 2018 marked its debut at the Nikkei National Museum in Burnaby, British Columbia.

"The Suitcase Project personalizes history of Japanese internment." Huffington Post. May 12, 2019
"If only they knew what we know now." Briarpatch Magazine. February 27, 2019 (web). March/April 2019 (print)
"Eighth annual Writing in the Margins winners." Briarpatch Magazine. February 19, 2019
"2018 Writing in the Margins shortlist." Briarpatch Magazine. January 5, 2019
"Looking back at 2018: 10 people who made an impact in the arts in Burnaby." Burnaby Now. December 27, 2018
The Bulletin. September 2018
The Bulletin. August 2018
The International Examiner. July 2018
"A people's history of this land, through the travel trunks families carried on the move." Star Vancouver. June 29, 2018
"It could happen today. These photos imagine Japanese internment in 2018." CBC. June 28, 2018
"The Suitcase Project immerses portrait subjects in contemporary Japanese Canadian internment predicament." Georgia Straight. June 15, 2018
"Yonseis and goseis pack for unknown journeys." Nikkei Voice. June 13, 2018
"A suitcase and a story." The Source. Volume 19, Issue 01. June 12-26, 2018
"Vancouver actress explores legacy of family's internment." Vancouver Courier. June 5, 2018
"The Suitcase Project explores Japanese Canadian internment through the eyes of new generations." Burnaby Now. June 5, 2018
"The Suitcase Project by Kayla Isomura." Ricepaper. June 1, 2018
The Bulletin. June 2018
"The Suitcase Project: What would you bring?" Densho Blog. May 16, 2018
The Bulletin. January 2018

I never knew what my grandparents and great grandparents packed with them during the internment and incarceration of Japanese Canadians in 1942. They died before I could hear their own accounts of this history, yet the premise of The Suitcase Project began with my curiosity about this part of their lives. What challenges did they face when assembling their baggage? What were they forced to leave behind?

In early 2018, I took these questions to members of the younger generations of Japanese Canadians and Americans. More than 80 individuals were photographed and interviewed across Greater Vancouver, Vancouver Island, and Western Washington, the majority identifying as yonsei or gosei (fourth or fifth generation).

Each participant was given 24 to 48 hours notice to prepare their belongings, receiving instructions based on original documents distributed to Japanese Canadians and Americans during the Second World War. I wanted to discover how each participant would interpret the document they received. This process quickly turned into a conversation about the family narratives and life experiences of these individuals, and how this history continues to prevail more than 75 years later.

Listening to each participant share their stories has been a powerful experience. Many of us share similar narratives, but some cast contrasting perspectives on how this history has played a role in their lives. Regardless, our stories are complex and layered, and there is no one way to define those of us who belong to these generations.

I am beyond thankful for these stories and to these individuals for allowing me into their homes and spaces. Organizing and producing this project was exhausting, but the end product has been invaluable.

Since learning of my family's internment, I have spent the last few years constructing my own identity as a yonsei, and each encounter I have with this history continues to contribute to that. As I open this exhibit and close the chapter of discovery that coincided with its creation, I look forward to carrying these conversations forward into our immediate and broader communities.

To those who have supported and continue to support this work, thank you.

Kayla Isomura
Photographer, curator

April Alayon | graphic design
Garin Fahlman | music composition
Mark Yuen | videography

RESOURCES

Densho
Erin Shigaki
Hieu Nguyen (The Lab)
John Endo Greenaway
Kiku Hughes
University of Victoria's Students of Colour Collective

Deanna Cheng
Denise Isomura
Erica Isomura
Kendall Yamagishi
Kevin Isomura
Jane Shi
Joseph Shōji Lachman
Michael Nguyen
Naomi Harrington & the Woodland House Collective
Ren Ito
Sophie Yamauchi
Sue Louie
Will Flowers

"I cannot help but think of my obaachan who lived this life. Thank you for your work."

↑ Back to Top

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"Beautiful and haunting to see and experience." The Suitcase Project asks yonsei and gosei (fourth and fifth generation) Japanese Canadians and Americans what they would pack if uprooted from their homes in a moment's notice.

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Video of Syvie Hana Shiosake responding to the question: What would you pack if forcibly removed from your home today? This experience offers a provocation for students to try to put themselves in the shoes of interned Japanese Canadians. Possible extension activity: for students to participate in their own Suitcase Project.

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What would you pack if forcibly removed from your home today? The Suitcase Project asks this question to yonsei and gosei (fourth and fifth generation) Japanese Canadians and Americans, while reflecting on the impact of internment and incarceration more than 75 years later.

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Searchable database featuring articles with age-appropriate factual account of the events and implications of the Japanese Canadian internment and relocation.

Also features the Encyclopedia of British Columbia, with entries describing the Japanese Canadian internment and Relocation.

https://www-knowbc-com.bc.idm.oclc.org/books/Encyclopedia-of-BC/J/Japanese-Relocation-of

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Local Newspaper articles and Historical Newspaper articles featuring stories about the Japanese Canadian internment, dislocation and incarceration.

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As a Canadian outlet, Curio.ca features a series of both historical and present day videos of institutional racism towards Japanese Canadians that are tailored towards student audiences of different age levels.

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Contains multiple articles giving overview of Japanese Canadian Internment, including the use of the PNE barns and expulsion of Japanese-Canadian UBC students.

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Features documentaries presenting the Japanese Canadian internment and relocation from different perspectives.

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Documentary:  Sleeping Tigers: The Asahi Baseball Story

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Documentary:  Sleeping Tigers: The Asahi Baseball Story

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Tells the story of the Asahi baseball team, a Japanese Canadian team situated in Vancouver, and the struggles they faced due to the Japanese internment, dispossession and relocation.

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Sleeping Tigers: The Asahi Baseball Story

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This feature-length documentary tells the story of the Asahi baseball team. In pre-World War II Vancouver, the team was unbeatable, winning the Pacific Northwest Championship for five straight ...

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Video documenting the Asahi baseball team with Historical Footage of Vancouver, WW2 and effects on Japanese Canadians.

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Video documenting the Asahi baseball team with Historical Footage of Vancouver, WW2 and effects on Japanese Canadians.

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In the 1930s the Asahi baseball team was the pride of Vancouver’s Little Tokyo. In a David vs. Goliath triumph over bigger Caucasian teams, the upstart Japanese-Canadian players became unbeatable, winning the prestigious Pacific Northwest Championship for five consecutive years. But by 1942 Canada was at war with Japan and soon everyone of Japanese descent, whether born in Canada or not, was sent to internment camps. The CBC’s Duncan McCue profiles how one team member faced up to hardship, racism and isolation, and survived to see his team inducted into Canada’s Baseball Hall of Fame.

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In the 1930s the Asahi baseball team was the pride of Vancouver’s Little Tokyo. In a David vs. Goliath triumph over bigger Caucasian teams, the upstart Japanese-Canadian players became unbeatable, winning the prestigious Pacific Northwest Championship for five consecutive years. But by 1942 Canada was at war with Japan and …

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Immersive Experience:  Augmented Reality Story App - by Joy Kogawa

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Immersive Experience:  Augmented Reality Story App - by Joy Kogawa

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East of the Rockies  – (App) an experimental augmented reality story written by Joy Kogawa, one of Canada’s most acclaimed and celebrated literary figures. The story is told from the perspective of Yuki, a 17-year old girl forced from her home and made to live in the Slocan internment camp during the 2nd WW.

Users follow the story by tapping, swiping, inspecting and zooming in on key elements within each scene. Every interaction activates a piece of scripted narrative voiced by Joy’s own granddaughter. Spoken in the first person, each line illuminates a different aspect of life in the camp, as documented in Yuki’s journal.

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East of the Rockies is an interactive narrative AR experience written by acclaimed Canadian author Joy Kogawa and told from the perspective of Yuki, a 17-year-old girl forced from her home and made to live in BC's Slocan Japanese internment camp during th

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Historical context narrated by David Suzuki

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Japanese Canadian Internment | Narrated by David Suzuki

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Illustrated Website:  Landscapes of Injustice

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Illustrated Website:  Landscapes of Injustice

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Authorship: Produced by The Centre for Asia-Pacific Initiatives, University of Victoria

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Interview Videos with Key Figures connected to the Japanese Internment

-Mary Kitigawa – Japanese Canadian Internment Survivor

-Jordan Stanger-Ross -Historian, teaching children the concept of dispossession.

-Art Miki – Survivor and Advocate participating in the Redress Movement

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Layered GIF Maps that show a living timeline of property ownership in the Japanese-Canadian community in the Powell Street neighbourhood. Provides visual evidence of the impacts of WWII and institutionalized racism on the Japanese Canadian community.

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Scroll down

The Powell Street neighbourhood or Pauergai was not limited to Powell Street but included the adjacent blocks as well. It was a true community in that people lived and worked there. In the 1930s, there was a Japanese Language school on Alexander Street (it is still there today), a Buddhist church, the park in the centre of the neighbourhood where the Asahi baseball team played, and of course, many shops and services.

The maps below are layered gif images that show colour-coded changes over time. These images were created by the GIS cluster of Landscapes of Injustice.

Japanese Canadian-owned properties

This map displays the real estate Japanese Canadians owned in the Powell Street neighbourhood in the 1930s and 1940s. If you watch the changes over time, you will notice how the Japanese Canadian presence in the neighbourhood increases from 1930 and then sharply drops off by 1949. The number of Japanese Canadian residents dropped off in 1942 due to the forced removal. The number of Japanese Canadian owners reduce only, however, when the government forcibly sold their properties.

Building Use

Here are two maps that show the changes in building use over time.
The top one is 2-D and the bottom 3-D.

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Scroll down The Powell Street neighbourhood or Pauergai was not limited to Powell Street but included the adjacent blocks as well. It was a true community in that people lived and worked there.

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Comprehensive multimedia website presenting historical accounts of what life was like for interned Japanese Canadians at Hastings Park. Presents primary sources of evidence in the form of original photos and archival documents.

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Personal Accounts:  Hastings Park Stories

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Personal Accounts:  Hastings Park Stories

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Personal accounts of Japanese Canadians who had been incarcerated at Hastings Park. Powerful source presenting different perspectives and lived experiences.

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Ellen Crows There were a lot of different kind of logistics that had to happen to move all these people. So they just took women and children first. They put my mum on the first boat and at this ti...

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Students in SD35 have free access to these databases at school and at home, with a login. I will teach students how to access these databases so they can make use of the wealth of resources available on the Japanese Canadian internment through a number of these databases.

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Students and staff have automatic access to the following resources when accessing from a school site. For off-campus access, contact your Teacher Librarian for username and password.

Click the logo for access to each site.

Grades K-12
Digital reading app for students to discover age-appropriate eBooks, audiobooks and more from our district library. District Microsoft login required.
Click here for the Sora Application Guide.

Grades K-12
KnowBC is a set of encyclopedia and non-fiction publications focused on the history
and natural history of British Columbia.

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Students and staff have automatic access to the following resources when accessing from a school site. For off-campus access, contact your Teacher Librarian for username and password. Click the logo for access to each site. Grades K-12 Digital reading app for students to discover age-appropriate eBooks, audiobooks and more from our district library.

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Podcast Series:  Sounds Japanese Canadian to Me

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Podcast Series:  Sounds Japanese Canadian to Me

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The Nikkei National Museum and Cultural Centre presents a series of podcasts featuring the voices and stories of Nikkei Women, a group of Japanese Canadian women who survived the Japanese internment and are willing to share their narratives.

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Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre

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Podcasts – Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre

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During the run of the “Iron Willed: Women in STEM” exhibition, we will be sharing stories of Nikkei Women. Lives of remarkable Japanese Canadian women who have survived through the […]