With the arrival of COVID-19, we heard from the media of anti-Asian violence in Canada and the United States. According to the media, the problem was even worse here in Canada. I can understand that when people feel disenfranchised they want to lash-out at the closest or most visible example of their perception of the...Continue reading
Author: Dona Nabata
Intermarriage
I did not marry outside of the Japanese race. I instinctively felt the taboo. When I was about 8 years old, one of my aunts married a Caucasian person, and my grandfather did not attend the wedding. I remember the feeling in the air, and it was a rather solemn occasion. I’m not even sure...Continue reading
Growing up, Parenting, & Family
My father Frank Egami, though born in Canada, lived in Japan until the age of 15 or 16. He already knew who he was when he came back to Canada. He was hard working, gregarious, generous, empathetic, and in spite of being stripped down to nothing due to the War, just by brute-force hard labour...Continue reading
Intergenerational Trauma
There are many instances of trauma in my family and friends, and I put the root of it on the incarceration of the Second World War. When we were growing up, we were told to ignore the past, and just get-on-with-it and assimilate into the mainstream. In fact, our parents told us to work harder...Continue reading
Port Alberni to Hastings Park
My Mother’s family were from Port Alberni, and had to get rid of their stuff in order to be shipped-off to Hastings Park. The adults built a huge bonfire, and burned books and possessions deemed ‘too Japanese’. Though she could feel the fear from the adults, she just took all the uncertainty in her stride....Continue reading
Family History
The exact dates are not clear to me, but my Mother was born in 1929, so that seems like an accurate date to start. My Grandmother, would always joke that my Mom was made-in-Japan, but born in Canada. In the Sixties, anything made in Japan was looked down upon, as an inferior product. It was...Continue reading