Most of what I learned of the internment was briefly taught in school, and from the MJCCA. The suffering and loss was not described in a personal level in my family. I learned much of my family’s involvement as an adult, but we had always held on to things, and loathed to waste, keeping careful...Continue reading
Tag: Intergenerational Trauma
Intergenerational Trauma
I can’t pinpoint any specific ways I feel intergenerational trauma has presented itself in my family; however, I think that’s probably a sign that the concept of intergenerational trauma is still often not discussed or taken seriously in the present day. Maybe if I had grown up with intergenerational trauma in my conceptual toolkit, I...Continue reading
Intergenerational trauma
Certainly, I think the treatment of Japanese Canadians had an effect on families. We knew we were expected to be better, to excel in what we were doing and try to fit in as much as possible, which we tried to do. Schooling was very important. Raising our own children, we probably expected more from...Continue reading
Child rearing
Question: We hear nisei quite often tell their children: You have to be better and you have to do your best. Do you feel that you passed those kinds of values on to your children? Jean: I hope I did. Certainly their education was very important to them as well as to us. I don’t...Continue reading
Do you see trauma showing up in your family, if at all? How?
I don’t feel that I can speak on behalf of other family members about any trauma that they may or may not have or experienced. But I will speak about my own, including how it relates to ancestral trauma. The first time I was a target of racist remarks was when I was old enough...Continue reading
“War is war.”
I think it’s because of my parents, that we don’t have too much—trauma, as you call it. Because whenever anybody asked my father, Wasn’t it a terrible war? And you were incarcerated?, he would say: War is war. And left it at that. So, I think we adopted that, um, feeling, or whatever you call...Continue reading
Intergenerational trauma
I am not sure if I can classify anything that can be considered “intergenerational trauma” but I do think being incarcerated impacted on one’s thinking and actions. In some people it may have manifested in one’s feeling of self-worth as it was oftentimes reinforced that Japanese Canadians were less equal than others through the restrictions...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
Story about Intergenerational Trauma
In 2019 I went to a pan-American conference of JC communities. It was held in San Francisco, and featured a youth panel which presented discussions and topics from young delegates. We discussed virtual obon, and other ways to connect with each other over distances. An older local attendee criticized the youth representatives about the focus...Continue reading
Thoughts on Intergenerational Trauma
This is not exactly a fresh take, but I think JC communities and families carry a lot of intergenerational trauma. It is common for those who experienced internment, to not discuss it, or brush it off. I don’t blame them one bit for this, many people don’t want to relive memories of pain, of sadness,...Continue reading
Impact of the incarceration on current views
[There was] that camp at Oppenheimer Park in front of temple. When we were going to have the Powell Street Festival, older people said: we understand what it’s like to be moved. So, they understood why they would leave them alone. [Regarding the treatment of Indigenous people.] We weren’t taken away from our home to...Continue reading
Is there intergeneratonal trauma in your family?
No. My grandparents were not in the picture. My parents were raised and schooled in our public schools and so were very conventional Canadian parents. Both my parents were very fluent in English. We grew up speaking English at home. My parents were of course bilingual so they were very fluent in Japanese, too. But...Continue reading