WEEK 7: NIKKEI INCARCERATION ABROAD

week seven schedule

FILMS OF THE WEEK

SUNDAY - july 26, 2020

japanese canadian incarceration during wwii

Courtesy of Landscapes of Injustice and the Nikkei National Museum

In the 1940s, the Canadian government permanently dispossessed residents and citizens of Japanese descent. Once Japanese Canadians were uprooted from their homes, the government seized and sold all of the property that they were forced to leave behind. Because of the dispossession, they had no homes to return to when restrictions were finally lifted in 1949. Because of the dispossession, there is no historic Japanese Canadian neighbourhood in Vancouver or anywhere in Canada. It transformed individual lives and the broader landscapes of Canadian life. Former property owners and their descendants still feel the shock of the forced sales, the destruction of their neighbourhoods, and the betrayal of the promise that the Canadian government would “protect and preserve” their land and possessions. 

Listen to the stories of two prominent elders in the Japanese Canadian community as they recall the forcible uprooting and incarceration of Japanese Canadians. Over 22,000 Japanese Canadians within 100 miles of the west coast were forced to move to internment camps, self supporting, prisoner of war camps, road work camps, sugar beet farms and other sites far from the homes and lives that they had worked hard to build and become part of the Canadian fabric. Keiko Mary Kitagawa’s family was incarcerated in virtually all of these locales and conditions and Dr. Akira Horii’s family was confined to a self supporting site. 

They welcome questions and discussion about their experience and how this education can help build a more just society today.

Sunday Supper: Cooking in Camp with Emily Anderson, JANM curator

Courtesy of Friends of Minidoka and the Japanese American National Museum

"Going to have company tonight? How about serving them delicious pie?" These were the written words of columnist Evelyn Teiko Kirimura who often featured recipes in her Food Fancies column of the Topaz Times. Join Emily Anderson as she shares a variety of recipes from the Topaz concentration camp newspaper. She also attempts to make a chocolate pudding pie following Evelyn's recipe step by step. From the graham cracker crust to the faux whipped cream topping, you'll learn how camp inmates used ingenuity and perseverance to bring some normalcy to their lives.

Emily Anderson, PhD is a curator at the Japanese American National Museum. She is working on a new exhibition that explores the experiences of young people who were incarcerated in American concentration camps by focusing on the many different kinds of clubs and organizations they created and participated in.

monday - july 27, 2020

japanese canadian dispossession

Courtesy of Landscapes of Injustice

Did you know that Canada also uprooted people of Japanese descent from the Pacific Coast? That, once Japanese Canadians were gone, the government seized and sold all of their property and personal belongings? Did you know that they were barred from returning to the coast until 1949?

Landscapes of Injustice, a major research project from the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada is working in partnership with institutions across the country to research and examine the dispossession of Japanese Canadians in the 1940s. The project asks how and why this dispossession happened, who benefitted from it, and how has it been remembered and forgotten, in the decades since. 

Learn about the multi-sector approach telling this history, including a travelling museum exhibit that will open at the Nikkei National Museum in Burnaby later this summer. See the impact that the research is having in elementary and secondary school classrooms across Canada as students tackle contemporary issues of social justice through learning this history. 

Also, in a second presentation, you can hear the incredible impact our research is having on members of the Japanese Canadian community as the research opens new possibilities for exploring their family history.

Powell street festival

In 1977, the Japanese Canadian centennial year, PSF was initiated by a member of the Japanese Canadian Volunteers Association (Tonari Gumi). PSF celebrates the history of Japanese Canadians in the area through an event similar to the festivals, or matsuri, of Japan. In the spirit of the neighbourhood, PSF has something for everyone. In addition to being a platform for Japanese Canadian arts performers to showcase their talents, the festival engages the broader community through fun cultural activities, volunteer opportunities, and of course, delicious food.

As a part of the Powell Street Festival Society’s (PSFS) mandate, society volunteers are deeply engaged in the DTES. Year-round community events are attended and supported by PSFS, in addition to the festival weekend that involves local residents as volunteers in various capacities. With our partners, PSFS has also contributed to the commemoration of Paueru Gai through creative, multidimensional projects such as the Japantown Historic Map Guide and the Open Doors Project. PSFS also shares a seat with the Vancouver Japanese Language School on the DTES Local Area Planning Committee that is collaborating with the City of Vancouver to produce a shared vision for future neighbourhood growth. Since the removal of Japanese Canadian residents from the Powell St. area, various titles have been attributed to the distinctly Japanese neighbourhood of the past. Paueru Gai, literally translated as Powell Street, was commonly used by area residents in pre-internment years. Since the war, various groups have used names such as Japantown and its literal Japanese translation, Nihonmachi, to describe the historical neighbourhood though those terms were rarely used by residents themselves.

Here is a link to the Facebook page for the Powell Street Festival: https://www.facebook.com/powellstfest/

Community Exhibit/Archives

This is a space to share photos, stories, artifacts, and memories from your family, your community, and your own life. Click HERE to enter.

tuesday - july 28, 2020

The Mukai Garden History and Restoration

Courtesy of Mukai Farm & Garden

The Mukai Garden represents an incredible achievement for a Japanese American family - a Japanese Garden designed by a woman, and a blending of cultures that allowed the family to keep their roots in their Japanese culture while successfully pursuing the American dream. The garden fell into neglect and disrepair in the early 1940s starting with the Mukai's self-relocation during WWII, and the Friends of Mukai have been working to restore the gardens, house and fruit barreling plant. With the help of landscape architects and archived photos and videos, the north garden has been restored to its former glory.

Wednesday - july 29, 2020

japanese brazilians confined during wwii

This presentation discusses the remembrance of Japanese Brazilian memory in 2012 and the beginning of the movement for redress from Brazilian State to Japanese immigrants for the serious violations during World War II and in the post-war period. This presentation is in Portuguese with English subtitles.

our god goes with us: centennial-japanese united church

By David Kai

This hymn reflects the history of the former Centennial- Japanese United Church (my home congregation) as well as its future hopes. The form of the hymn is similar to “Spirit of Gentleness” by Jim Manley, in which the work of the Spirit in the bible is depicted in chronological order. In this hymn the work of the Spirit is depicted during Japanese-Canadian history and the ongoing story that led the Toronto Japanese United Church Nisei to worship at, and eventually amalgamate with the Centennial United Church. The chorus is an affirmation that no matter where we go and whatever the future holds, we need not fear, for God goes with us. Just as God’s presence, symbolized by the Ark of the Covenant, traveled with the people of Israel through their years of wandering in the wilderness, so God moves with us. In all our journeys, God has always gone with us, for us and 'fore us. *It is my custom to name my hymn tunes after camps and ghost towns where Canadians of Japanese descent were interned during the Second World War; in this way I hope to ensure that these names and places will not be forgotten.

For words and photo descriptions, click here.

hostages in a foreign land: the hidden history of japanese latin americans

By Bekki Shibayama, Kaz Naganuma and Alan Kondo

Many Americans know something about the ten WRA concentration camps but are surprised to learn that people of Japanese ancestry from Latin America were interned in the U.S. in another set of camps.  This hidden history of being kidnapped from Latin America and held hostage for prisoner exchanges with Japan is both shocking and illuminating with regard to human rights abuses perpetrated by the U.S. government during WWII.  Through the stories of two families, the Japanese Latin American experience and continuing fight for justice will be exposed.

Clips courtesy of Densho, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Alan Kondo and Casey Peek

thursday - july 30, 2020

Densho Rebroadcast-Records in Japan
link available at 1:00 pm pacific time

Courtesy of Densho

Privacy laws in Japan, coupled with the language barrier, makes searching for Japanese records seem impossible. It might be daunting, but it is absolutely possible! Learn what records are available in Japan, and how you can use the documents found in your US research to obtain those Japanese materials.

Building History 3.0: Interactive Learning-At-Home (Session 2)

Courtesy of Building History 3.0

During this family-friendly workshop, you’ll explore Virtual Manzanar and the Suitcase Activity in Minecraft, watch the short film “Boy Scouts of Heart Mountain” and meet a special guest related to the Boy Scouts film!

Led by a team from UCLA, Building History 3.0 Project is a collection of free and ready-to-use activities, games, and lesson plans for learning at home and in school. Designed to teach kids about the World War II Japanese American incarceration camps, the project offers short documentaries, worksheets, game-based learning activities in Minecraft, and more!

ONE ON ONE GENEALOGY CONSULTATIONS

Brought to you by California Genealogical Society, Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation, NPS and JAMP

Space is limited. Consultations will be scheduled for Thursdays from June 18 - August 13. Each session will be 20 minutes, so preparation is key!

#DEARANCESTORS

By Brynn Saito

Week 7: Nikkei Incarceration Abroad

Prompt: Documentary Poetry. Poetry that relies on research, testimonies, or historical documents as a point of inspiration is often called “documentary poetry.” As you move through this module, take note of new learnings and create from those a documentary poem—a poem that incorporates facts, quotes, or first-hand testimonies of the experiences of Nikkei incarcerated abroad. (Explore these topics at places like Densho.org, the Canadian Encyclopedia, and Australian news stories.)

friday - july 31, 2020

ARTISTS AS WITNESS: THREE SEATTLE ISSEI ARTISTS | takuichi fujii

Courtesy of Barbara Johns

Takuichi Fujii’s illustrated diary has been called by the distinguished historian Roger Daniels, “the most remarkable document produced by a Japanese American prisoner during the wartime incarceration.” A well-known artist in Seattle before the war, Fujii also created well over one hundred paintings and drawings which augment the Issei perspective represented in the diary. Until recently, none of this work was known outside the family. Art historian Barbara Johns tells the story of its recovery and discusses his achievement in this generously illustrated presentation.

workshop with jeff chiba stearns

Jeff Chiba Stearns is an Emmy® nominated animation and documentary filmmaker. He is also an accomplished author and illustrator and co-founder of Hapa-palooza, Canada’s largest festival celebrating mixed roots arts and culture. As a Yonsei of Japanese and European ancestry, Jeff’s films, like ONE BIG HAPA FAMILY (2010) and MIXED MATCH (2016) and children’s books MIXED CRITTERS (2018) often focus on themes of multi-ethnic identity. For TADAIMA! A Community Virtual Pilgrimage, Jeff will be presenting his latest works with a reading of his new children’s book NORI AND HIS DELICIOUS DREAMS along with a sneak peak at his upcoming graphic novel ON BEING YUKIKO, an intergenerational story on Japanese Canadian history and identity. Jeff will also be conducting a live drawing workshop on how he created his ‘hapanimation’ style by blending Anime, Manga and North American cartoon styles. 

The Politics of Racism with Ann Sunahara

Courtesy of Friends of Minidoka and Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre

The Politics of Racism: The Uprooting of Japanese Canadians During the Second World War was first published in 1981. It was the first book to use Canadian government documents to show precisely how Canadian politicians - motivated by racism - engineered and carried out the uprooting, confinement, dispossession, deportation and dispersal of Canada’s Japanese minority in the period 1941 to 1949. POR 1981 also chronicled how Japanese Canadians reacted to, coped with, and finally defeated the repressive policies of their government

Recently re-published in a digitized eBook format, the POR 2020 version (http://japanesecanadianhistory.ca) adds

• a photo-essay honoring the Japanese Canadian women who bore the brunt of the racist policies that tore their lives apart; and

• an Afterward that summarizes the redress campaign and explains how Japanese Canadian redress has become a model for the redress of other wrongs in Canada.

Author Ann Sunahara and Collections Manager Lisa Uyeda will discuss how POR 1981 was created, the role it played in the redress campaign, and how it and its supporting documents and interviews came to be digitized and are now accessible on-line through the Nikkei National Museum in British Columbia.

artist talk with Reiko Fujii and Ellen Bepp

Reiko Fujii Is an installation artist who reframes her memories and family stories within the context of American history. She views it as her responsibility as an artist-storyteller to preserve stories that go beyond the personal and touch the universal of who we are and from where we came. Her work encourages an interplay between the artist and the viewer-allowing the viewer to immerse themselves into the narrative-thereby becoming a participant to the story.

Ellen Bepp, one of the co-founders of San Jose Taiko and Somei Yoshino Taiko Ensemble, explores the political connections between art, culture and humanity as it informs her identity as an Asian American woman artist. She uses mixed media to address issues of the social injustices of the World War II American concentration camps, the Hiroshima/Nagasaki bombings and the genocide of Indigenous peoples. She has also participated in humanitarian and cultural exchange projects in Nicaragua, Cuba and Mexico.

saturday - august 1, 2020

amache special resource study
12:00 - 2:00 pm pacific time

Three virtual meetings will be held as part of public outreach for the Amache Special Resource Study. Each of the three meetings will follow the same format, beginning with a short presentation to introduce the study process, followed by smaller breakout groups to gather information on the site’s potential for inclusion in the national park system. Breakout group discussions will center on questions listed on the study site here: Amache SRS Website. 

Nikkei Block Party!

Poetry by Carolyn Nakagawa and Laura Fukumoto of Yonsei Mending Circle

Music from Gaby Oshiro

and a special conversation between artists Mayu Kanamori and Kunji Mark Ikeda