Every time I think about my family history, I come to realise just how much I’m missing. What I do know comes largely from questions put to my grandmother when I was an adult, and so much of my grandfather’s life remains a mystery. My grandmother was born in Vancouver, where her parents owned a...Continue reading
Tag: Post War Relocation
Post war life
When the war ended, my family was already east of the Rockies in Winnipeg. The Japanese community was not large in Winnipeg. We all knew each other. After a while, many of my mother’s former neighbours from Mount Lehman and her very good friends left Winnipeg to go to Ontario where opportunities for work were...Continue reading
We are still lost
I don’t speak Japanese. The war took the urge from my grandparents to pass it down to my father, and to me. I am mixed-race. The war discouraged my father’s parents from settling in neighbourhoods with other Japanese. His stories of internalized racism are not mine to tell. But they are no less real. We...Continue reading
Pre-war, war and post-war
My father’s family were fisherman before the war. They had several boats and owned property on River Road on Lulu Island when they were forced from the west coast. They spent the war years from 1942-1945 in Taylor Lake, a self-supporting community close to 100 Mile House. They cut jack pine in the winter for...Continue reading
Affect of the war years and racism
Above photos of my grandparents: Left is Matsunosuke and Haru Komori newly married around 1913. Right is Nisa and Kin Mochizuki taken in Japan in the late 1950’s/early 1960’s. I never met my grandfathers who likely were the most impacted by the racist treatment in Canada. For my grandmothers, this history seemed like just one...Continue reading
Post War Life
The Komori’s did not move after the war when the orders to relocate yet again came down. They stayed in the Cariboo rebuilding their lives. I find it interesting that the government did not seem to worry about the many Japanese Canadians who did not comply with official orders as long as they remained outside...Continue reading
The hard work to build back
Landscapes of Injustice provided amazing documentation of the Komori properties. The files were hundreds of pages long. They owned two pieces of property on Lulu Island in Eburne: acerage for their house which included a small vegetable garden and fruit trees and the other for a boathouse with rudimentary accommodation for a few renters. They...Continue reading
Life after the war
[One day] when I went home from school to get my snack, I heard my father saying to my mom: “Nihon senso ni maketa.” Japan lost the war. But at that time it didn’t ding on me what it meant. Later, my mom signed to go back to Japan. And my dad said, “No.” He...Continue reading
Education was important
I remember, I wanted to be a nurse. I applied to VGH. My mom didn’t say anything then. But Mr George, the principal, called me in and said: “Nursing is three years. It takes three years to be a nurse. This is the last year they are going to offer one year teacher training. Why...Continue reading
After the War
The Arai family remained in Grand Forks until 1949. When the government finally allowed Japanese Canadians to move back to the west coast, they purchased a dry-cleaning business on West 10th and Alma with financial help from their friend Mr. Reid.Continue reading
Dispossession
Before the war the Arai family owned a dry cleaning business at 10th and Main in Vancouver. A good friend, John Reid, lived and rented at the Main and 10th property initially. The dry-cleaning business was also rented to several different people who didn’t last very long at the business. At first, Mr. Reid collected...Continue reading
Long-term affect of internment
The internment experience affected my outlook in that for many years after we returned to Vancouver I had this sense of not belonging. In 1951, the Japanese were not welcome. As a teenager, I experienced my share of discrimination, mostly name calling but nothing uglier than that. In Alberta, there was some discrimination, but the...Continue reading
Post-war move
My parents were clear on their decision to remain in Canada and chose to move to AB until the restrictions on moving back to the coast were lifted. We as children were not involved in these family decisions. I was eight years old at the end of the internment. My brother was five years younger, so...Continue reading
Queen’s, Niagara Falls, back to Steveston
After the war ended, I went to Toronto to earn enough money to go to university. I was hoping to become a doctor because my uncle was a doctor. I wanted to go into medicine but missed the application deadline so would have had to apply the following year. I didn’t want to waste another...Continue reading
Return to BC
My family came back to B.C. in 1951. They decided to come back instead of staying in Alberta because there were a lot of Japanese who moved back to Vancouver as well as Steveston and they wanted a Buddhist minister. The Buddhist congregation in Kelowna had an established temple as Japanese in the interior did...Continue reading