When I see the house on the corner of 4th Avenue and Chatham I recall the story I was told about my Jiichan who once offered to buy my grandmother that particular house which still stands to this day. Perhaps that was a good call on my grandmother’s part because they would have lost it...Continue reading
Tag: Life Before the War
How would you describe your relationship to the 1940s incarceration, dispersal, and dispossession of Japanese Canadians?
My relationship to the 1940’s incarceration, dispersal and dispossession has changed, deepened and evolved over time. My mother spoke about being “evacuated” from the Coast and “interned” for as far back as I can remember in dinner time conversation. I didn’t ask all the questions of my parents that now, I wish I had. Their...Continue reading
Life Before the War
Before the war, Yosh had aspirations to become a pharmacist when he was in high school. First I wanted to be a druggist. In Grade 10 when I was 14 or 15, the teacher said: "You can't get a job like that." He didn't know what to say. By law, you couldn’t be one. Continue reading