(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Welcome to Into the Interior, a choose-your-own-adventure game. Our story is set during the Japanese Canadian internment and dispossession era in Canada, from 1941 to 1949—it is a moment of injustice in Canadian history.
Remember that in this game every choice you make can impact the ending, taking your characters in different directions and towards different destinations. Each journey is unique. This is to reflect the various experiences that 22,000 Japanese Canadians endured.
For instructions on how to play the game, click [[HERE]]. To proceed directly to the start, click [[HERE->START]].
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You are a fourteen-year-old girl named Midori. This year for your birthday, [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace: ?shout1)[Father]] and [Okaasan]<shout2|(click: ?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] gave you a radio so you could listen to your favourite radio shows from across Canada. Last Christmas, [Goro Oji-san]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Uncle Goro]] sent you a small camera so that you could capture the beauty of Vancouver Island because he knows how much you love pictures. For spare money, sometimes you take community portraits of other Japanese Canadian families up the street and around Nanaimo.
After school and on Saturdays, you attend the Japanese Language School on Stewart Avenue because your parents want you to write letters to your grandparents in Japan. Both you and your younger brother, Kenji, practice Japanese at home, but still struggle to write the characters.
Life in [[NANAIMO->Mostdaysalt]]...
<img src="http://www.nikkeimuseum.org/files/nikkeImgFMP12/JCNM%20Database/files/ARTEFACT/Image_Image%201/14594/2011-79-4-1-1-58.jpg" width="400" height="600">
NNM 2011.79.4.1.1.58
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You are a thirteen-year-old boy named Kenji. This year for your birthday, [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] and [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] gave you a small radio so you could listen to baseball games. You love the Asahi, a Japanese Canadian team based in Powell Street, Vancouver. Last Christmas, [Goro Oji-san]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Uncle Goro]] sent you a blue bicycle. For spare money, you deliver tofu on your bike to the other Japanese Canadian families around Nanaimo.
After school and on Saturdays, you attend the Japanese Language School because your parents want you to write letters to your grandparents in Japan. Both you and your older sister, Midori, practice Japanese at home but still struggle to write the characters.
Life in [[NANAIMO]]...
<img src="https://nikkeimuseum.org/files/nikkeImgFMP12/JCNM%20Database/files/ARTEFACT/Image_Image%201/23854/2013-58-8.jpg" width="400" height="600">
NNM 2013.58.1.8
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You try to help by giving [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] the extra money you saved. She tears up and says, “[arigatou]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace: ?shout3)[thank you]].” The next night she makes your favourite [shio-yaki]<shout6|(click:?shout6)[ (replace:?shout6)[salt grilled]] salmon.
You head straight home after school everyday to help your mother with chores.
At Brechin School, even though almost half of the class is Japanese Canadian, many of the non-Japanese Canadian students start to bully you. They throw rocks at you and Midori, saying that we started the war. Some of your friends have started avoiding you.
[[LATER IN FEBRUARY->confiscation]]...
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<img src="https://digital.lib.sfu.ca/islandora/object/vpl%3A372/datastream/OBJ/view" width="500" height="800">
VPL 372
In March, the federal government announces that an organization called the British Columbia Security Commission will remove all Japanese Canadians within a 100 mile radius of the British Columbia coast: “It shall be the duty of the Commission to plan, supervise, and direct the evacuation from the protected areas of British Columbia of all persons of the Japanese race.”
Notices go up around Nanaimo telling Japanese Canadians that they will be forcibly removed from Vancouver Island, causing agony within the community. You are confused by this because you were born in Canada, making you a Canadian citizen. You have never even been to Japan.
On [[MARCH 21, 1942->One day]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Just before you leave your room, you see the Midori's camera. Cameras are banned for Japanese Canadians, but you want to take it with you.
Do you (link:"SMUGGLE THE CAMERA")
[\(set: $gift to "smuggle the camera")\
(go-to: "smuggle the camera1")\] or leave the
(link:"LEAVE THE CAMERA")
[\(set: $gift to "leave the camera")\
(go-to: "leave the camera1")\]?
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Just before you leave your room, you see the Midori's camera. Cameras are banned for Japanese Canadians, but you want to take it with you.
Do you (link:"SMUGGLE THE CAMERA")
[\(set: $gift to "smuggle the camera")\
(go-to: "smuggle the camera2")\] or leave the
(link:"LEAVE THE CAMERA")
[\(set: $gift to "leave the camera")\
(go-to: "leave the camera2")\]?
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Just before you leave your room, you remember your precious camera. Cameras are banned for Japanese Canadians, but you want to take it with you.
Do you (link:"SMUGGLE THE CAMERA")
[\(set: $gift to "smuggle the camera")\
(go-to: "smuggle the cameraalt2")\] or leave the
(link:"LEAVE THE CAMERA")
[\(set: $gift to "leave the camera")\
(go-to: "leave the cameraalt2")\]?
{ (set: $counter to 120)
You have |amount>[$counter] seconds to make a choice!
(live:1s) [
(set: $counter to it - 1)
(if: $counter is 0) [ (go-to: "Mom packs for youalt2")]
(replace: ?amount) [$counter]
]}
(enchant:?passage,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
[Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] looks at your suitcase and frowns. She says that it is not practical for the journey ahead because we could be gone for a few weeks. “Pack again,” she tells you.
=|=
Suitcase one:
Food; extra clothes; a winter coat; blankets; a sewing kit and spare fabric.
=|=
Suitcase two:
Your kimono Okaasan made you; hard candy; some clothes; a blanket; photos of family; sewing needles and thread.
|==|
Do you pack [[SUITCASE ONE->suitcase1alt]] or [[SUITCASE TWO->suitcase2alt]]?
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Just before you leave your room, you remember your precious camera. Cameras are banned for Japanese Canadians, but you want to take it with you.
Do you (link:"SMUGGLE THE CAMERA")
[\(set: $gift to "smuggle the camera")\
(go-to: "smuggle the cameraalt1")\] or leave the
(link:"LEAVE THE CAMERA")
[\(set: $gift to "leave the camera")\
(go-to: "leave the cameraalt1")\]?
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
You hesitate. “There is no time to waste, Midori,” [Okaasan]<shout2| (click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] says. She packs food, extra clothes, a winter coat, blankets, a sewing kit and spare fabric.
She packs [[SUITCASE ONE->suitcase1alt]] for you.(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
You hesitate. “There is no time to waste, Midori,” [Okaasan]<shout2| (click: ?shout2)[ (replace: ?shout2)[Mother] ] says. She packs the kimono she made you, hard candy, some clothes, a blanket, photos of family, sewing needles and thread.
She packs [[SUITCASE TWO->suitcase2alt]] for you.
{ (set: $counter to 120)
**You have |amount>[$counter] seconds to make a choice!**
(live:1s) [
(set: $counter to it - 1)
(if: $counter is 0) [ (go-to: "Mom packs for youalt1")]
(replace: ?amount) [$counter]
]}
(enchant:?passage,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
There is a knock at your door. An RCMP officer informs [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace: ?shout2)[Mother]] that you have 24 hours to vacate your home and go to Hastings Park, a holding centre in Vancouver. You can take only what you can carry into one suitcase. “Go pack,” [Okaasan]<shout6|(click:?shout6)[(replace:?shout6)[Mother]] says before she begins to sort through the kitchenware.
Looking at your belongings, there are three suitcases you can pack:
=|=
Suitcase one:
Food; extra clothes; a winter coat; blankets; a sewing kit and spare fabric.
=|=
Suitcase two:
Your kimono that Okaasan made you; hard candy; some clothes; a blanket; photos of family; sewing needles and thread.
=|=
Suitcase three:
Your kimono; a pair of Japanese [geta]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[sandals]]; your favourite clam digging shovel; marbles; your favourite book; photos of family.
|==|
Do you pack [[SUITCASE ONE->suitcase1alt]], [[SUITCASE TWO->suitcase2alt]], or [[SUITCASE THREE->suitcase3alt]]?
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
You hesitate. “There is no time to waste, Kenji,” [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)["Mother"]] says. She packs food, extra clothes, a winter coat, blankets, fishing supplies and tackle.
She packs [[SUITCASE ONE->suitcase1]] for you.(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
You hesitate. “There is no time to waste, Kenji,” [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)["Mother"]] says. She packs your baseball and glove, hard candy, some clothes, a blanket, your favourite book, fish hooks and line.
She packs [[SUITCASE TWO->suitcase2]] for you.(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
You arrive at a holding centre in Vancouver called Hastings Park. Officers explain that this is where Japanese Canadians from outside of Vancouver will be temporarily held.
“You,” an officer says. “Go with the other men.” At thirteen, you are considered old enough to be on your own.
[Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] grabs your shoulders and speaks to you in Japanese, asking what they are saying. Midori starts to explain, but you interrupt her and reassure them.
“I’ll be okay,” you say.
You follow the [[OTHERS->follow2]].
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
You wrap the camera in a blanket, and stuff it at bottom of your suitcase.
[Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] calls, “Come, Kenji!” from the front door. Once outside, you have just a moment to glance back at the only home you’ve ever known: where [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] taught you how to bait a hook; the spot you lost your first tooth; and your blue bicycle from [Goro Oji-san]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Uncle Goro]], leaning against the front porch. All these memories and keepsakes, left behind.
You board a boat in Nanaimo, just like your father did. As you pass the farthest spot [Otoosan]<shout4|(click:?shout4)[(replace:?shout4)[Father]] has ever taken you on his fishing boat, you realize you have never traveled this far from home.
You board the [[BOAT->Hastings Park1]].
<img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Lady_Cynthia_%28steamship%29_circa_1938..jpg" width="800" height="400">
BC provincial archives, image A-00887(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
You decide to leave the camera. Your whole family has left precious items behind, and you don’t want to risk getting in trouble.
[Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] calls, “Come, Kenji!” from the front door. Once outside, you have just a moment to glance back at the only home you’ve ever known: where [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] taught you how to bait a hook; the spot you lost your first tooth; and your blue bicycle from [Goro Oji-san]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Uncle Goro]], leaning against the front porch. All these memories and keepsakes, left behind.
You board a boat in Nanaimo, just like your father did. As you pass the farthest spot [Otoosan]<shout4|(click:?shout4)[(replace:?shout4)[Father]] has ever taken you on his fishing boat, you realize you have never traveled this far from home.
You board the [[BOAT->Hastings Park1]].
<img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Lady_Cynthia_%28steamship%29_circa_1938..jpg" width="800" height="400">
BC provincial archives, image A-00887(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
You wrap the camera in a blanket, and stuff it at bottom of your suitcase.
[Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] calls, “Come, Kenji!” from the front door. Once outside, you have just a moment to glance back at the only home you’ve ever known: where Otoosan taught you how to bait a hook; the spot you lost your first tooth; and your blue bicycle from [Goro Oji-san]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Uncle Goro]], leaning against the front porch. All these memories and keepsakes, left behind.
You board a boat in Nanaimo, just like your father did. As you pass the farthest spot [Otoosan]<shout4|(click:?shout4)[(replace:?shout4)[Father]] has ever taken you on his fishing boat, you realize you have never traveled this far from home.
You board the [[BOAT->Hastings Park2]].
<img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Lady_Cynthia_%28steamship%29_circa_1938..jpg" width="800" height="400">
BC provincial archives, image A-00887(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
You decide to leave the camera. Your whole family has left precious items behind, and you don’t want to risk getting in trouble.
[Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] calls, “Come, Kenji!” from the front door. Once outside, you have just a moment to glance back at the only home you’ve ever known: where [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] taught you how to bait a hook; the spot you lost your first tooth; and your blue bicycle from Goro Oji-san, leaning against the front porch. All these memories and keepsakes, left behind.
You board a boat in Nanaimo, just like your father did. As you pass the farthest spot [Otoosan]<shout4|(click:?shout4)[(replace:?shout4)[Father]] has ever taken you on his fishing boat, you realize you have never traveled this far from home.
You board the [[BOAT->Hastings Park2]].
<img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Lady_Cynthia_%28steamship%29_circa_1938..jpg" width="800" height="400">
BC provincial archives, image A-00887(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
You arrive at a holding centre in Vancouver called Hastings Park. Officers explain that this is where Japanese Canadians from outside of Vancouver will be temporarily held.
“You,” an officer says. “Go with the other men.” At thirteen, you are considered old enough to be on your own.
[Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] grabs your shoulders and speaks to you in Japanese, asking what they are saying. Midori starts to explain, but you interrupt her and reassure them.
“I’ll be okay,” you say.
You follow the [[OTHERS->follow1]].
{ (set: $counter to 120)
**You have |amount>[$counter] seconds left!**
(live:1s) [
(set: $counter to it - 1)
(if: $counter is 0) [ (go-to: "Mom packs for you2")]
(replace: ?amount) [$counter]
]}
(enchant:?passage,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
[Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] looks at your suitcase and frowns. She says that it is not practical for the journey ahead because we could be gone for a few weeks. “Pack again,” she tells you.
=|=
Suitcase one:
Food; extra clothes; a winter coat; blankets; fishing supplies and tackle.
=|=
Suitcase two:
A baseball and glove; hard candy; some clothes; a blanket; your favourite book; fish hooks and line.
|==|
Do you pack [[SUITCASE ONE->suitcase1]] or [[SUITCASE TWO->suitcase2]]?
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
You wrap the camera in a blanket, and stuff it at bottom of your suitcase.
[Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] calls, “Come, Midori!” from the front door. Once outside, you have just a moment to glance back at the only home you’ve ever known: where [Okaasan]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Mother]] taught you how to open clams; the spot you lost your first tooth; and your favourite place to watch the sunsets with your family. All these memories and keepsakes, left behind.
You board a boat in Nanaimo, just like your father did. As you pass the farthest spot [Otoosan]<shout4|(click:?shout4)[(replace:?shout4)[Father]] has ever taken you on his fishing boat, you realize you have never traveled this far from home.
You board the [[BOAT->Hastings Parkalt1]].
<img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Lady_Cynthia_%28steamship%29_circa_1938..jpg" width="800" height="400">
BC provincial archives, image A-00887(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
You decide to leave the camera. Your whole family has left precious items behind, and you don’t want to risk getting in trouble.
[Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] calls, “Come, Midori!” from the front door. Once outside, you have just a moment to glance back at the only home you’ve ever known: where [Okaasan]<shout5|(click:?shout5)[(replace:?shout5)[Mother]] taught you how to open clams; the spot you lost your first tooth; and your favourite place to watch the sunsets with your family. All these memories and keepsakes, left behind.
You board a boat in Nanaimo, just like [Otoosan]<shout4|(click:?shout4)[(replace:?shout4)[Father]] did. As you pass the farthest spot [Otoosan]<shout4|(click:?shout4)[(replace:?shout4)[Father]] has ever taken you on his fishing boat, you realize you have never traveled this far from home.
You board the [[BOAT->Hastings Parkalt1]].
<img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Lady_Cynthia_%28steamship%29_circa_1938..jpg" width="800" height="400">
BC provincial archives, image A-00887(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
You wrap the camera in a blanket, and stuff it at bottom of your suitcase.
[Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[ (replace:?shout2)[Mother]] calls, “Come, Midori!” from the front door. Once outside, you have just a moment to glance back at the only home you’ve ever known: where [Okaasan]<shout6|(click:?shout6)[(replace:?shout6)[Mother]] taught you how to open clams; the spot you lost your first tooth; and your favourite place to watch the sunsets with your family. All these memories and keepsakes, left behind.
You board a boat in Nanaimo, just like your father did. As you pass the farthest spot [Otoosan]<shout4|(click:?shout4)[(replace:?shout4)[Father]] has ever taken you on his fishing boat, you realize you have never traveled this far from home.
You board the [[BOAT->Hastings Parkalt2]].
<img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Lady_Cynthia_%28steamship%29_circa_1938..jpg" width="800" height="400">
BC provincial archives, image A-00887(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
You decide to leave the camera. Your whole family has left precious items behind, and you don’t want to risk getting in trouble.
[Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] calls, “Come, Midori!” from the front door. Once outside, you have just a moment to glance back at the only home you’ve ever known: where [Okaasan]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Mother]] taught you how to open clams; the spot you lost your first tooth; and your favourite place to watch the sunsets with your family. All these memories and keepsakes, left behind.
You board a boat in Nanaimo, just like [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] did. As you pass the farthest spot [Otoosan]<shout4|(click:?shout4)[(replace:?shout4)[Father]] has ever taken you on his fishing boat, you realize you have never traveled this far from home.
You board the [[BOAT->Hastings Parkalt2]].
<img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Lady_Cynthia_%28steamship%29_circa_1938..jpg" width="800" height="400">
BC provincial archives, image A-00887
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
You board the train headed for New Denver. The ride into the interior is long; you pass high mountains and deep, green valleys unlike any you’ve seen before.
You finally arrive at New Denver, and find the internment camp is located on the shores of Slocan Lake. This is the first time you’ve seen open water in months, and although you miss the sea spray, there’s some comfort in the waves lapping against the beach.
Kimiko and Hide call out to you, surprised that you’re there, and you introduce them to your family. Kenji greets them excitedly while [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] and their mother converse in Japanese.
Exit the [[TRAIN->trainalt1nd]].(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
You board the train headed for Popoff. The ride into the interior is long; you pass high mountains and deep, green valleys unlike any you’ve seen before. The train is coal-powered and dusty, and when you finally arrive you’re covered in soot.
To accommodate everyone in Popoff, the British Columbia Security Commission has leased a large farm. You expected to see rows of houses, but what you find instead are a few hastily constructed shacks alongside a sea of tents. Your family has been assigned to one of those tents until they finish building more shacks. There are just a few outhouses set up for the entire camp, and a large mess hall for those in the tents.
You hope Kimiko and Hide are doing well in New Denver, and you wish they were here with you. The one good thing is that Otoosan will soon [[ARRIVE->arrivealt1po]].
<img src="http://www.nikkeimuseum.org/files/nikkeImgFMP12/JCNM%20Database/files/ARTEFACT/Image_Image%201/9710/1994-63-1.jpg" width="500" height="300">
NNM 1994.63.1.a-c
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
You board the train headed for New Denver. The ride into the interior is long; you pass high mountains and deep, green valleys unlike any you’ve seen before.
You finally arrive at New Denver, and find the internment camp is located on the shores of Slocan Lake. This is the first time you’ve seen open water in months, and although you miss the sea spray, there’s some comfort in the waves lapping against the beach.
Kimiko and Hide call out to you, surprised that you’re there, and you introduce them to your family. Kenji greets them excitedly while [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] and their mother converse in Japanese.
Exit the [[TRAIN->trainalt2nd]].
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
You board the train headed for Popoff. The ride into the interior is long; you pass high mountains and deep, green valleys unlike any you’ve seen before. The train is coal-powered and dusty, and when you finally arrive you’re covered in soot.
To accommodate everyone in Popoff, the British Columbia Security Commission has leased a large farm. You expected to see rows of houses, but what you find instead are a few hastily constructed shacks alongside a sea of tents. Your family has been assigned to one of those tents until they finish building more shacks. There are just a few outhouses set up for the entire camp, and a large mess hall for those in the tents.
You hope Kimiko and Hide are doing well in New Denver, and you wish they were here with you. The one good thing is that Otoosan will soon [[ARRIVE->arrivealt2po]].
<img src="http://www.nikkeimuseum.org/files/nikkeImgFMP12/JCNM%20Database/files/ARTEFACT/Image_Image%201/9710/1994-63-1.jpg" width="500" height="300">
NNM 1994.63.1.a-c
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
The uprooting of approximately 22,000 Japanese Canadians from their homes in 1942 was an injustice committed by the Canadian government. In 1945, after the Second World War, the federal government decided to enact a second uprooting. They forced Japanese Canadians to choose between exile to war-ravaged Japan or dispersal out of British Columbia, east of the Rocky Mountains. Most Japanese Canadians chose to stay in Canada, and settled in the Prairie provinces, Ontario, and Québec.
The federal government promised to keep their belongings and homes safe, and that promise was broken. Everything was sold by the Office of the Custodian of Enemy Property at a cost far lower than they deserved. This meant that wherever Japanese Canadians went after internment, they had to completely rebuild their lives with very little help.
Due to public outcry, the federal government stopped the exile of further Japanese Canadians to Japan, but not before approximately 4,000 people were forced to leave Canada in 1946.
On April 1st 1949, Japanese Canadians regained their freedom of movement within Canada and could return to the west coast. Many chose not, to as they had already settled and rebuilt their lives east of the Rocky Mountains or in Japan.
It is up to all Canadians to make sure this never happens again.
[[CREDITS]]
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Your father squeezes your shoulder and says, “We’ll see you soon.” You and [Okaasan]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Mother]] depart for the women’s area, and you are glad that this time Kenji won’t be alone.
After a week, an officer gathers your family together and states that you will all be working for a farmer in a small town called Portage la Prairie.
You collect your things and go [[OUTSIDE->outsidealtsb]].
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Your father squeezes your shoulder and says, “[Gaman]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Endure]], we have to be responsible now. Stay calm, Midori.” You and [Okaasan]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Mother]] depart for the women’s area, and you are glad that this time Kenji won’t be alone.
After a week, an officer gathers your family and states that you will all be working for a farmer in a small town called Portage la Prairie.
You collect your things go [[OUTSIDE->outsidealtsb]].
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Days later, an announcement states that all fishing vessels owned by Japanese Canadian will be impounded. The government claims that this is for the safety of Canada. Every Japanese Canadian fisherman on Stewart Avenue must prepare to take their boats to Vancouver, packing food and clothes for the trip across the strait.
When [Otoosan]<shout1|(click: ?shout1)[(replace: ?shout1)[Father]] returns from his journey to Vancouver, he tells [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[ (replace:?shout2)[Mother]] how the navy lashed the entire fleet together. He could already see many of the vessels being damaged. [Otoosan]<shout4|(click:?shout4)[(replace:?shout4)[Father]] and the other Japanese Canadian men are now out of work, while Mr. Hansen and the other non-Japanese Canadian fishermen continue working.
Everyone on Stewart Avenue is becoming more worried. The government closed the Japanese Language School and stopped the circulation of Japanese language newspapers. Your family now solely relies on the New Canadian, an English language newspaper run by nisei in Vancouver.
[[THE NEW YEAR->The New Year]]...
<img src="https://exhibits.library.utoronto.ca/files/original/f435c6fbeff4e0e49234b2a4dea3255f.jpg" width="700" height="500">
R.C.N. DND - Library and Archives Canada DAPDCAP 556450
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
By the middle of January, the government has drawn a 100 mile radius zone along British Columbia’s coast, stating this is the protected area.
In February, [Goro Oji-san]<shout3|(click: ?shout3)[(replace: ?shout3)[Uncle Goro]] calls your father to talk about the road camp ‘volunteers’—men who want to prove their loyalty to Canada by signing up to work in road camps. [Otoosan]<shout2|(click: ?shout2)[(replace: ?shout2)[Father]] wants to go because he thinks it will keep the family safe in Nanaimo, sheltering [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[ (replace:?shout2)[Mother]] and you from hardship.
Do you tell him this is a [[GOOD IDEA->good idea]] or to [[NOT LEAVE->dont leave]]?
{ (set: $counter to 120)
**You have |amount>[$counter] seconds to make a choice!**
(live:1s) [
(set: $counter to it - 1)
(if: $counter is 0) [ (go-to: "Mom packs for you1")]
(replace: ?amount) [$counter]
]}
(enchant:?passage,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
There is a knock at your door. An RCMP officer informs [Okaasan]<shout3| (click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Mother]] that you have 24 hours to vacate your home and go to Hastings Park, a holding centre in Vancouver. You can take only what you can carry into one suitcase. “Go pack,” [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] says before she begins to sort through the kitchenware.
Looking at your belongings, there are three possible suitcases you can pack:
=|=
Suitcase one:
Food; extra clothes; a winter coat; blankets; fishing supplies and tackle.
=|=
Suitcase two:
A baseball and glove; hard candy; some clothes; a blanket; your favourite book; fish hooks and line.
=|=
Suitcase three:
A baseball and glove; an Asahi baseball jersey; marbles; your favourite book; photos of family.
|==|
Do you pack [[SUITCASE ONE->suitcase1]], [[SUITCASE TWO->suitcase2]], or [[SUITCASE THREE->suitcase three]]?
{ (set: $counter to 120)
**You have |amount>[$counter] seconds to make a choice!**
(live:1s) [
(set: $counter to it - 1)
(if: $counter is 0) [ (go-to: "stay1")]
(replace: ?amount) [$counter]
]}
(enchant:?passage,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Midori rushes towards you, with your [Okaasan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Mother]] just behind her. She says the officer told her you are all heading to Popoff. When you look to the other line, Takejiro stands alone waiting to go to New Denver, and you worry about him without his son. You think the three of you could make it over to the other line before they board, but you don’t have much time to decide.
Do you [[STAY->PO1]] in line for Popoff or encourage them to [[SWITCH->ND1]] for New Denver.
{ (set: $counter to 120)
**You have |amount>[$counter] seconds to make a choice!**
(live:1s) [
(set: $counter to it - 1)
(if: $counter is 0) [ (go-to: "stay1")]
(replace: ?amount) [$counter]
]}
(enchant:?passage,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Midori rushes towards you, with [Okaasan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Mother]] just behind her. She says the officer told her you are all heading to Popoff. When you look to the other line, Takejiro stands alone waiting to go to New Denver, and you worry about him without his son. You think the three of you could make it over to the other line before they board, but you don’t have much time to decide.
Do you [[STAY->PO2]] in line for Popoff or encourage them to [[SWITCH->ND2]] for New Denver.
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
You board the train headed for Popoff. The ride into the interior is long; you pass high mountains and deep, green valleys unlike any you’ve seen before. The train is coal-powered and dusty, and when you finally arrive you’re covered in soot.
To accommodate everyone in Popoff, the British Columbia Security Commission has leased a large farm. You expected to see rows of houses, but what you find instead are a few hastily constructed shacks alongside a sea of tents. Your family has been assigned to one of those tents until they finish building more shacks. There are just a few outhouses set up for the entire camp, and a large mess hall for those in the tents.
You hope Takejiro is doing well in New Denver, and you wish he was here with you for a sense of something familiar. The one good thing is that Otoosan will soon [[ARRIVE->arrive1po]].
<img src="http://www.nikkeimuseum.org/files/nikkeImgFMP12/JCNM%20Database/files/ARTEFACT/Image_Image%201/9710/1994-63-1.jpg" width="500" height="300">
NNM 1994.63.1.a-c
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
You board the train headed for New Denver. The ride into the interior is long; you pass high mountains and deep, green valleys unlike any you’ve seen before.
When you finally arrive you find the internment camp located on the shores of Slocan Lake. This is the first time you’ve seen open water since leaving Nanaimo, and although you miss the sea spray, there’s comfort in waves lapping against the beach.
Takejiro calls out to you, surprised that you’re there, and you introduce him to your family. [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] bows deeply and warmly, and thanks him for taking good care of you in Hastings Park.
Exit the [[TRAIN->train1]].
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
You board the train headed for Popoff. The ride into the interior is long; you pass high mountains and deep, green valleys unlike any you’ve seen before. The train is coal-powered and dusty, and when you finally arrive you’re covered in soot.
To accommodate everyone in Popoff, the British Columbia Security Commission has leased a large farm. You expected to see rows of houses, but what you find instead are a few hastily constructed shacks alongside a sea of tents. Your family has been assigned to one of those tents until they finish building more shacks. There are just a few outhouses set up for the entire camp, and a large mess hall for those in the tents.
You hope Takejiro is doing well in New Denver, and you wish he was here with you for a sense of something familiar. The one good thing is that Otoosan will soon [[ARRIVE->arrive2po]].
<img src="http://www.nikkeimuseum.org/files/nikkeImgFMP12/JCNM%20Database/files/ARTEFACT/Image_Image%201/9710/1994-63-1.jpg" width="500" height="300">
NNM 1994.63.1.a-c
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
You board the train headed for New Denver. The ride into the interior is long; you pass high mountains and deep, green valleys unlike any you’ve seen before.
When you finally arrive you find the internment camp located on the shores of Slocan Lake. This is the first time you’ve seen open water since leaving Nanaimo, and although you miss the sea spray, there’s comfort in waves lapping against the beach.
Takejiro calls out to you, surprised that you’re there, and you introduce him to your family. [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] bows deeply and warmly, and thanks him for taking good care of you in Hastings Park.
Exit the [[TRAIN->train2]].
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
The British Columbia Security Commission has set up ‘housing’ for Japanese Canadians in an area called “The Orchard.” You expected rows of houses but what you find are many hastily constructed shacks alongside a few tents. An officer assigns you to share a shack with another family. It has only a small kitchen in the middle, with two rooms on either side with planks for each family to sleep on. You can’t help but feel like you are inside a woven basket: the wood is green with spaces between the slats for the wind to whistle through. It is nothing like your cozy home in Nanaimo.
Further up the road a sanitorium is being built to house patients with tuberculosis; the locals will later call it “The San.” There are only a few outhouses set up for the entire camp, and a large mess hall for those in the tents.
The one good thing is that Otoosan will soon [[ARRIVE->arrive1nd]].
<img src="http://www.nikkeimuseum.org/files/nikkeImgFMP12/JCNM%20Database/files/ARTEFACT/Image_Image%201/8104/1994-69-4-21.jpg" width="600" height="400">
NNM 1994.69.4.21
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
The British Columbia Security Commission has set up ‘housing’ for Japanese Canadians in an area called “The Orchard.” You expected rows of houses but what you find are many hastily constructed shacks alongside a few tents. An officer assigns you to share a shack with another family. It has only a small kitchen in the middle, with two rooms on either side with planks for each family to sleep on. You can’t help but feel like you are inside a woven basket: the wood is green with spaces between the slats for the wind to whistle through. It is nothing like your cozy home in Nanaimo.
Further up the road a sanitorium is being built to house patients with tuberculosis; the locals will later call it “The San.” There are only a few outhouses set up for the entire camp, and a large mess hall for those in the tents.
The one good thing is that Otoosan will soon [[ARRIVE->arrive2nd]].
<img src="http://www.nikkeimuseum.org/files/nikkeImgFMP12/JCNM%20Database/files/ARTEFACT/Image_Image%201/8104/1994-69-4-21.jpg" width="600" height="400">
NNM 1994.69.4.21
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
This decision is the hardest you’ve had to make, but you decide that you will stay. “I won’t leave Canada,” you say. “This is my country, my home.”
Now that you are sixteen, you can go east without your family; [Goro Oji-san]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Uncle Goro]] is already in Toronto and he has agreed to help you find work if you want to join him. However, [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] has decided she will sign up to go to Japan, and won’t change her mind no matter what you or Midori say. [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] won’t leave your mother again, so he agrees to go with her.
Midori is torn between leaving with your parents or staying with you. “We were born here,” you say. “We are Canadian citizens, and I will not leave my birthplace.”
Do you convince Midori to [[STAY->stay]] or let her make [[HER OWN CHOICE->let her]]?
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
This decision is the hardest you’ve had to make, but you decide that you will go with your parents. “I won’t leave [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]],” you say.
Your sister Midori is wavering. “We were born here,” she says. “We are Canadian citizens, and I will not leave my birthplace, my home.” Now that she is seventeen, she can go east without your family; [Goro Oji-san]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Uncle Goro]] is already in Toronto and he has agreed to help her find work if she wants to join him.
However, [Okaasan]<shout6|(click:?shout6)[(replace:?shout6)[Mother]] says that she will sign up to go to Japan, and won’t change her mind no matter what Midori says. [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] won’t leave your mother again, so he agrees to go with her.
“Our parents are too old to go alone,” you tell her. “It is our responsibility to take care of them.”
Do you convince Midori to [[COME WITH YOU->go with you]] or let her make [[HER OWN CHOICE->ownchoice]]?
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
On August 6th and 9th, 1945, the United States drops two atomic bombs on Japan: one on Hiroshima city and the other on Nagasaki city. The news shocks everyone in Tashme because all of you had registered to go to Japan. Now it is a war-ravaged country that won’t have a lot of resources or food.
“What does this mean?” [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] asks. “What will we do?”
“Maybe we can stay,” replies [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]].
Do you still go to [[JAPAN->stillJPN]] or try to [[STAY->noCDN]] in Canada?
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
A train takes you to the waterfront in Vancouver, where you board a large boat with all of the other Japanese Canadians. You smell the sea spray and ocean brine for the first time since you were forcibly removed from Nanaimo, and the sound of the seagulls makes you yearn for home.
The boat attendant secures your belongings, the same single suitcase you packed years ago. You stand outside on the deck and let the wind whip your hair around. You can see fishermen out on the water. It reminds you of your old dream of joining [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] and the others fishing each morning.
When the boat blows its horn and pulls away from the shore, people on the boat cry, and you do too. You raise your hand to Canada, your country, and say farewell. It breaks your heart to say goodbye.
[[EPILOGUE]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Your parents rush to speak to an official and declare your family wants to stay in Canada, and you are not the only ones to do so. There are many Japanese Canadians who no longer want to go to Japan now.
The official shakes his head. “You already signed up to go,” he says. “The government will not let you stay.”
[Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] says, “My son is Canadian. He was born here. He should stay if he wants to.”
“No,” the official says. “He signed up to go home. It is too late to change your minds now.”
“This is my home,” you say, but the official has already moved on to the next family in line. Even though Japan has been bombed, no one in Tashme is allowed to stay in Canada.
[[FINAL GOODBYE->Final goodbye]]...
<img src="http://www.nikkeimuseum.org/files/nikkeImgFMP12/JCNM%20Database/files/ARTEFACT/Image_Image%201/8451/1994-60-26.jpg" width="500" height="300">
NNM 1994.60.26
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
A train takes you to the waterfront in Vancouver, where you board a large boat with all of the other Japanese Canadians. You smell the sea spray and ocean brine for the first time since you were forcibly removed from Nanaimo, and the sound of the seagulls makes you yearn for home.
The boat attendant secures your belongings, the same single suitcase you packed years ago. You stand outside on the deck and let the wind whip your hair around. You can see fishermen out on the water. It reminds you of your old dream of joining [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] and the others fishing each morning.
When the boat blows its horn and pulls away from the shore, people on the boat cry, and you do too. You raise your hand to Canada, your country, and say farewell. It breaks your heart to say goodbye.
[[EPILOGUE]]...
<img src="https://www.landscapesofinjustice.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Exile_-LAC_PA-119024.png" width="900" height="500">
Credit: Library and Archives Canada / PA-119024(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
In the summer of 1944, the government announces a new policy: either Japanese Canadians agree to move east of the Rockies and leave British Columbia, or they must renounce being Canadian and go to Japan. This shocks your parents, and they feel confused and worried by this change. You have been living at the farm for the last two years, and feel upset at being forcibly removed for a second time.
“We should go to Japan,” [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] says. “They don’t want us here.”
“I’m Canadian,” says Midori. “Kenji and I were born here. It’s hard for either of us to speak Japanese. What will Japan have for us?”
“They say we must decide now,” Otoosan says. “Farmer Barker says we can stay here on the farm instead of having to move further east. We might be able to move back to the coast someday if we stay.”
Do you want to [[STAY IN CANADA->CDNSB]] or be [[EXILED TO JAPAN->JPNSB]]?
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Midori shakes her head and says, “I may be Canadian but someone has to look after our parents.”
A week later, officers send your family to a place called Tashme. It is another internment camp, close to Vancouver, where Japanese Canadians who registered to go to Japan are gathering.
When they leave, you do not know when or if you will see them again. Your decision to stay in Canada has come at the cost of splitting up your family.
[[AUGUST 1945->toronto]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
You don’t pressure Midori to stay, and she decides to go to Japan. “I may be Canadian but someone has to look after our parents.”
A week later, officers send your family to a place called Tashme. It is another internment camp, close to Vancouver, where Japanese Canadians who registered to go to Japan are sent.
When they leave, you do not know when or if you will see them again. Your decision to stay in Canada has come at the cost of splitting up your family.
[[AUGUST 1945->toronto]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Midori shakes her head and says, “I won’t leave my country. I am Canadian.”
A week later, officials are sending your family to a place called Tashme. It is another internment camp, close to Vancouver, where Japanese Canadians who registered to go to Japan are sent. At the train station, Midori stands on the platform and waves her hand in farewell.
She disappears from view, and you do not know when or if you will see her again.
[[TASHME->Tashme]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
“We were born here,” Midori says. “We are Canadian citizens, and I will not leave my country.”
A week later, officials are sending your family to a place called Tashme. It is another internment camp, close to Vancouver, where Japanese Canadians who registered to go to Japan are sent. At the train station, Midori stands on the platform and waves her hand in farewell.
She disappears from view, and you do not know when or if you will see her again.
[[TASHME->Tashme]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
You arrive at Tashme, the internment camp close to Vancouver now meant to house Japanese Canadians who registered to go to Japan. You realize that this is what the alternative would have been to going to the sugar beet farms. Here in Tashme, there are tall trees and mountaintops as far as the eye can see.
[[AUGUST 1945->August 1945]]...
<img src="https://nikkeimuseum.org/files/nikkeImgFMP12/JCNM%20Database/files/ARTEFACT/Image_Image%201/23852/2013-58-6.jpg" width="600" height="400">
NNM 2013.58.1.6
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
This decision is the hardest you’ve had to make, but you decide that you will go with your parents. “I won’t leave [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[ (replace:?shout2)[Mother]],” you say.
Your sister Midori is wavering. “We were born here,” she says. “We are Canadian citizens, and I will not leave my birthplace, my home.” Now that she is seventeen, she can go east without your family; [Goro Oji-san]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Uncle Goro]] is already in Toronto and he has agreed to help her find work if she wants to join him.
However, [Okaasan]<shout6|(click:?shout6)[(replace:?shout6)[Mother]] says she will sign up to go to Japan, and she won’t change her mind no matter what Midori says. [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] won’t leave your mother again, so he agrees to go with her.
“Our parents are too old to go alone,” you tell her. “It is our responsibility to take care of them.”
Do you [[CONVINCE->convinceSB]] Midori to go with you or let her make [[HER OWN CHOICE->let herSB]]?
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
“We were born here,” Midori says. “We are Canadian citizens, and I will not leave my country.”
A week later, officials are sending your family to a place called Tashme. It is another internment camp, close to Vancouver, where Japanese Canadians who registered to go to Japan are gathering. At the train station, Midori stands on the platform and waves her hand in farewell.
She disappears from view, and you do not know if you will see her again.
[[TASHME->TashmeSB]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Midori shakes her head and says, “I won’t leave my country. I am Canadian.”
A week later, officials are sending your family to a place called Tashme. It is another internment camp, close to Vancouver, where Japanese Canadians who registered to go to Japan are sent. At the train station, Midori stands on the platform and waves her hand in farewell.
She disappears from view, and you do not know when or if you will see her again.
[[TASHME->TashmeSB]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
You arrive at Tashme, the internment camp close to Vancouver now meant to house Japanese Canadians who registered to go to Japan. You realize that this is what the alternative would have been to going to the sugar beet farms. Here in Tashme, there are tall trees and mountaintops as far as the eye can see.
[[AUGUST 1945->aug45SB]]...
<img src="https://nikkeimuseum.org/files/nikkeImgFMP12/JCNM%20Database/files/ARTEFACT/Image_Image%201/23852/2013-58-6.jpg" width="600" height="400">
NNM 2013.58.1.6(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
On August 6th and 9th, 1945, the United States drops two atomic bombs on Japan: one on Hiroshima city and the other on Nagasaki city. The news shocks the Japanese Canadian community, and you can’t help but worry about your family knowing that they signed up to go to Japan.
Now that you are separated, there is nothing you can do for them—you don’t even know if they are still in Canada or already on a boat crossing the Pacific Ocean.
[Goro Oji-san]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Uncle Goro]] is waiting for you in Toronto, where he has set up work for you as a domestic servant so that you can finish your high school at night like many of the other young Japanese Canadians. It is hard, hard work, and you face many obstacles in the city such as racism and discrimination. When you speak to the other Japanese Canadians, you learn that they have the same struggles.
When you board your final train out of British Columbia, you don’t know when you can return again. It breaks your heart to say goodbye.
[[EPILOGUE]]...(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Your parents are wavering, but you are sure that you want to stay in Canada. “Midori and I were born here,” you say. “We are Canadian citizens, and we will not leave our country.”
“But Canada has done nothing for us,” [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] says. “We should go where we will be accepted.”
You respond, “But what will we do in Japan? Midori and I can barely speak Japanese now, and the war will leave nothing for us there.”
After many arguments and discussions, the family decides to stay together in Canada. You do not need to move farther east because you are already in Manitoba, but [Goro Oji-san]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Uncle Goro]] resettles in Toronto.
[[AUGUST 1945->Aug1945SB]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
On August 6th and 9th, 1945, the United States drops two atomic bombs on Japan: one on Hiroshima city and the other on Nagasaki city. The news shocks your family, and you can’t help but feel happy that you chose to stay in Canada—however, you worry about all the Japanese Canadians who signed up to go. You lost contact with Takejiro many years ago, but hope he is safe and well.
Months later you hear rumours about how hard it is for people in Japan after the bombing. Many go hungry and there are not enough resources for everyone.
[[FOUR YEARS PASS->years pass]]...(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Most days you help your father bring in his catch of cod, laying the fish in ice along the bottom of the boat before the packers come. Your father’s best friend and fellow fisherman, Mr. Hansen, often comes over after a long day on the open water. [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] makes him eat with chopsticks, and you laugh at his clumsiness. He teaches you words in Swedish, and gives you and Midori chocolates from time to time. You dream of going fishing with your father like Mr. Hansen does with his eldest son.
Your favourite chore is fishing off the back of the house, casting your line into the ocean, or harvesting clams with Midori along the shore.
On [[DECEMBER 8, 1941->Dec 7]]...
<img src="https://www.landscapesofinjustice.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Stewart_Ave_Nanaimo_credit_Nanaimo_Museum.jpg" width="600" height="400">
Credit: Nanaimo Museum(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#edf2ff))
You read the letter from Otoosan.
"I heard a rumour saying families can apply to go to the Prairies to work on the sugar beet farms. It'll be hard work but it will reunite the family. It'll be hard but I think (text-colour:black)+(background:black)[we should wait it out, the Nisei Mass Evacuation Group seems to be making progress.] What do you all think?"
In confusion you show Takejiro the blacked out sections. He explains that the RCMP are monitoring all Japanese Canadian correspondence and they must have wanted to redact Father's response.(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Welcome to Stewart Avenue in 1941, a small community just north of Nanaimo, British Columbia. Twenty shacks sit on wood pilings just above the tidal zone, housing Japanese Canadian fishermen and their families. Some call it the “floating village,” but it’s a part of small marina where you yourself were born.
Your [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[father]], Tomekichi Mizukami, has fished these waters for the last ten years, and your [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[mother]], Reiko Mizukami, once worked in the salteries before you and your sibling were born. Both of your parents are issei: first-generation immigrants from Japan that became citizens in Canada. You are nisei, a second-generation Canadian born right inside this house. The sound ocean lulls you to sleep each night, and seagull cries wake you in the morning.
Are you the older sibling, daughter [[MIDORI]], or the younger sibling, son [[KENJI]]?
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
You wake up early on Monday, December 8th, 1941. Outside it’s a cold winter morning and the coastal skies are grey.
In the kitchen, [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] has fresh clam [miso shiru]<shout7|(click:?shout7)[(replace:?shout7)[miso soup]] on the stove. [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] is already out on the water.
You and Midori eat breakfast quickly and head off to school.
On the way to [[BRECHIN ELEMENTARY->brechin]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
[Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] pats you on the head, and nods. He says, “Be good to Midori, and look after your mother.”
A few days later, he boards a big boat with the other men who volunteer, and you watch it leave the harbour.
One day you get a letter from him, and learn he is somewhere called Revelstoke. Large sections of the letter are blacked out from the censor, but you’re glad to learn that he’s safe.
[[A WEEK LATER->Victorybonds]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
“It’s for the family,” he tells you. [Otoosan]<shout1|(click: ?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] pats you on the head. “Be good to Midori, and look after your mother.”
A few days later, he boards a big boat with the other men who volunteer, and you watch it leave the harbour.
One day you get a letter from him, and learn he is somewhere called Revelstoke. Large sections of the letter are blacked out from the censor, but you’re glad to learn that he’s safe.
[[A WEEK LATER->Victorybonds]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
You take all of your savings and buy a Victory Bond. You hope that this act will prove your "Canadian-ness".
At Brechin School, even though almost half of the class is Japanese Canadian, many of the non-Japanese Canadian students start to bully you. They throw rocks at you and Midori, saying that we started the war. Some of your friends have started avoiding you.
[[LATER IN FEBRUARY->confiscation]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
The officer take you to the men’s dormitory, Building K, a converted ice hockey rink. Inside you find hundreds of beds and just as many unfamiliar faces.
You are assigned to a top bunk and left on your own. You pause, unsure what to do. Suddenly you feel a hand on your shoulder and you turn to see an elderly man smiling warmly at you. “Looks like we’re bunkmates,” he says. “I’m Takejiro.”
He asks if you arrived alone and after you tell him that you were separated from your sister and mother, he nods. “Here, have some crackers. I brought them from home.” When you hesitate, Takejiro adds, “Dinner isn’t for some time, and you might want to eat something before you see what they serve.”
You accept the crackers and sit with [[TAKEJIRO->sit1]].
<img src="http://www.nikkeimuseum.org/files/nikkeImgFMP12/JCNM%20Database/files/ARTEFACT/Image_Image%201/8022/1994-69-3-18.jpg" width="500" height="300">
NNM 1994.69.3.18
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Takejiro worked in a lumber mill on Salt Spring Island before they forcibly removed Japanese Canadians from the area a week ago. “My son was one of the protesters,” Takejiro explains. You've heard about them, the Nisei Mass Evacuation Group: young nisei men who petitioned for the government to keep families together instead of sending men to work on the highways. “Now he is in a prisoner-of-war camp in Northern Ontario.”
When you tell him your father is working on a road camp somewhere, Takejiro sighs. “My son didn’t want that,” he says.
Later, Takejiro shows you the mess hall where you gather for meals. Workers hand you a tin cup and dish before you line up for food. Dinner tonight is a gruel-like porridge, very runny with diluted milk, and a side of prunes. You stare at your plate, missing [Okaasan]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Mother]]’s delicious [shio-yaki]<shout6|(click:?shout6)[ (replace:?shout6)[salt grilled]] salmon and clam [miso shiru]<shout7|(click:?shout7)[(replace:?shout7)[miso soup]].
Later that night, some of the men feel sick from dinner. This is the first time you've heard of “food poisoning.”
The [[NEXT MORNING->morning1]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
A chain link fence keeps you separated from the women, but you meet Midori at it the next morning. Through the small gaps, she ruffles your hair.
She tells you about the women and children’s building, how it was converted from a barn that used to house livestock and still reeks of manure. Only hanging sheets offered privacy for families.
“Next door is a makeshift hospital,” Midori says. “They used to house chickens there.” She can hear children coughing there, and says that they only have 100 beds for those sick in Hastings Park. With so many people in close quarters, many fall ill with smallpox, flu, scarlet fever, dysentery, or worse—tuberculosis, an infectious disease that affects the lungs.
“[Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] wrote us,” says Midori. “We might be able to see him soon.” Before she can explain, an officer blows a whistle and you have to say goodbye.
Midori hands you the letter from [[OTOOSAN->dadletter1]].
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Back in your bunk, you learn that [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] works everyday digging roads in the mountains. He belongs on a 100 man crew, and gets enough rice and meat to stay strong and healthy. Although he makes very little, he tries to send what money he can to [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]]. It still isn’t clear what the government will decide to do with Japanese Canadians.
At the end of his letter, he mentions rumours that the federal government is offering families the option to be reunited by moving to sugar beet farms in the prairies. According to [Goro Oji-san]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Uncle Goro]], the work sounds grueling and the pay is poor, but Canada’s sugar beet production is the only way the country can access sweetener during the war. The whole family would have to tend these crops.
Sections of the letter have been blacked out, so you can’t read everything. Censors go through every letter, removing great chunks of information as they see fit, and claim it is for Canada’s safety. What you can understand is that if you choose to go to the sugar beet farms, the whole family will be reunited again but you will have to do hard, manual labour.
What Father wants to do is blacked out, so you can’t know whether to [[GO OR WAIT->go or wait1]].
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Back in Building K, rumours circulate that the Nisei Mass Evacuation Group—the young men protesting against breaking up families—is gaining headway with the government. Instead of being sent to the prairies, now there is talk about camps being built in the interior of British Columbia to house the Japanese Canadians removed from the 100 mile radius zone. The Nisei Mass Evacuation Group wants all fathers and husbands to be moved to these camps, and are asking for everyone in Hastings Park to support this plan.
This could mean that you could see [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] without going to the sugar beet farms, but you would have to wait a bit longer. The idea of seeing your father sooner makes you emotional but you want to show your support for the Nisei Mass Evacuation Group. Takejiro warns you that there is a risk in protesting, reminding you of his own son.
Do you listen to [[TAKEJIRO->listentakejiro1]] or [[PROTEST->protestbreak1]] breaking up families?
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Takejiro still carries a lot of pain from his only son being sent to a prisoner-of-war camp for protesting, so you agree not to protest with the other men.
The next day you meet Midori at the fence again. She wants to know what you think the family should do: agree to work on the sugar beet farms, or wait and see if the nisei can reunite family members.
“What should we do, Kenji?”
Do you go to the [[PRAIRIES->goSB]] or wait in [[HASTINGS PARK->waithastings1]]?
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
When you speak with the other men, they shake their heads. “You’re still a boy,” they say. “[Gambatte]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Stay strong]]. We all have a role, and your's is to stay safe with your family.”
The next day you meet Midori at the fence again. She wants to know what you think the family should do: agree to work on the sugar beet farms, or wait and see if the nisei can reunite family members.
“What should we do, Kenji?”
Do you go to the [[PRAIRIES->goSB]] or stay in [[HASTINGS PARK->waithastings1]]?
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
[Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[ (replace:?shout2)[Mother]] wants to be reunited with [Otoosan]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Father]], so your family volunteers to work on a sugar beet farm in Manitoba. Takejiro is sad to see you go, but wishes you well. A week later, your family boards a train out of Hastings Park.
It takes two days to pass through the prairies; outside your window, the flat landscape stretches as far as you can see. It is so very different from Vancouver Island and the coastal views.
When you arrive in the city of Winnipeg, [Otoosan]<shout5|(click:?shout5)[(replace:?shout5)[Father]] waves to you from the platform. At first, you do not recognize him; it’s been five months since he left Nanaimo, and he is thinner than you remember with dark hands from the dirty work of building the highway. As he approaches, you rush up to hug him tightly.
“I’m proud of you, Kenji,” [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] says, his hand on your shoulder. “You took care of the family.”
For the first time, you feel sure you made the right decision to go to the sugar beet farms.
You are guided by an [[OFFICER->guidesb]].
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
“We should wait,” you tell Midori. “I trust the Nisei Mass Evacuation Group.”
A week later, an officer comes to the men’s quarters and informs many of you to pack up and go to the train station—you’re headed into the interior with [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] and Midori. The protests worked, and families will be reunited in the camps. This will be where your family will be living for the forseeable future.
You can’t find Takejiro in the building and want to say goodbye before you leave, but the rest of the men are already headed out. While you are standing in line on the train platform, Takejiro finds you. “I’ve been assigned to New Denver,” he says, pointing to another line forming further away. “But looks like your train is going elsewhere.” He gives you a soft pat on the shoulder as a goodbye. “Take care, Kenji. May we meet again.”
You don’t know what to do as you watch Takejiro head towards the other line. The train conductor blows his whistle for everyone to board the [[TRAIN->board1]].
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
The officer take you to the men’s dormitory, Building K, a converted ice hockey rink. Inside you find hundreds of beds and just as many unfamiliar faces.
You are assigned to a top bunk and left on your own. You pause, unsure what to do. Suddenly you feel a hand on your shoulder and you turn to see an elderly man smiling warmly at you. “Looks like we’re bunkmates,” he says. “I’m Takejiro.”
He asks if you arrived alone and after you tell him that you were separated from your sister and mother, he nods. “Here, have some crackers. I brought them from home.” When you hesitate, Takejiro adds, “Dinner isn’t for some time, and you might want to eat something before you see what they serve.”
You accept the crackers and sit with [[TAKEJIRO->sit2]].
<img src="http://www.nikkeimuseum.org/files/nikkeImgFMP12/JCNM%20Database/files/ARTEFACT/Image_Image%201/8022/1994-69-3-18.jpg" width="500" height="300">
NNM 1994.69.3.18(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Takejiro worked in a lumber mill on Salt Spring Island before they forcibly removed Japanese Canadians from the area a week ago. “My son was one of the protesters,” Takejiro explains. You've heard about them, the Nisei Mass Evacuation Group: young nisei men who petitioned for the government to keep families together instead of sending men to work on the highways. “Now he is in a prisoner-of-war camp in Northern Ontario.”
When you tell him your father is working on a road camp somewhere, Takejiro sighs. “My son didn’t want that,” he says.
Later, Takejiro shows you the mess hall where you gather for meals. Workers hand you a tin cup and dish before you line up for food. Dinner tonight is a gruel-like porridge, very runny with diluted milk, and a side of prunes. You stare at your plate, missing [Okaasan]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Mother]]’s delicious [shio-yaki]<shout6|(click:?shout6)[ (replace:?shout6)[salt grilled]] salmon and clam [miso shiru]<shout7|(click:?shout7)[(replace:?shout7)[miso soup]].
Later that night, some of the men feel sick from dinner. This is the first time you've heard of “food poisoning.”
The [[NEXT MORNING->morning2]]...(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
A chain link fence keeps you separated from the women, but you meet Midori at it the next morning. Through the small gaps, she ruffles your hair.
She tells you about the women and children’s building, how it was converted from a barn that used to house livestock and still reeks of manure. Only hanging sheets offered privacy for families.
“Next door is a makeshift hospital,” Midori says. “They used to house chickens there.” She can hear children coughing there, and says that they only have 100 beds for those sick in Hastings Park. With so many people in close quarters, many fall ill with smallpox, flu, scarlet fever, dysentery, or worse—tuberculosis, an infectious disease that affects the lungs.
“[Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] wrote us,” says Midori. “We might be able to see him soon.” Before she can explain, an officer blows a whistle and you have to say goodbye.
Midori hands you the letter from [[OTOOSAN->dadletter2]].
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Back in your bunk, you learn that [Otoosan]<shout4|(click:?shout4)[(replace:?shout4)[Father]] works everyday digging roads in the mountains. He belongs on a 100 man crew, and gets enough rice and meat to stay strong and healthy. Although he makes very little, he tries to send what money he can to [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]]. It still isn’t clear what the government will decide to do with Japanese Canadians.
At the end of his letter, he mentions rumours that the federal government is offering families the option to be reunited by moving to sugar beet farms in the prairies. According to [Goro Oji-san]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Uncle Goro]], the work sounds grueling and the pay is poor, but Canada’s sugar beet production is the only way the country can access sweetener during the war. The whole family would have to tend these crops.
Sections of the letter have been blacked out, so you can’t read everything. Censors go through every letter, removing great chunks of information as they see fit, and claim it is for Canada’s safety. What you can understand is that if you choose to go to the sugar beet farms, the whole family will be reunited again but you will have to do hard, manual labour.
What father wants to do is blacked out, so you can’t know whether to [[GO OR WAIT->go or wait2]].
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Back in Building K, rumours circulate that the Nisei Mass Evacuation Group—the young men protesting against breaking up families—is gaining headway with the government. Instead of being sent to the prairies, now there is talk about camps being built in the interior of British Columbia to house the Japanese Canadians removed from the 100 mile radius zone. The Nisei Mass Evacuation Group wants all fathers and husbands to be moved to these camps, and are asking for everyone in Hastings Park to support this plan.
This could mean that you could see [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] without going to the sugar beet farms, but you would have to wait a bit longer. The idea of seeing your father sooner makes you emotional but you want to show your support for the Nisei Mass Evacuation Group. Takejiro warns you that there is a risk in protesting, reminding you of his own son.
Do you listen to [[TAKEJIRO->listentakejiro2]] or [[PROTEST->protestbreak2]] breaking up families?
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Takejiro still carries a lot of pain from his only son being sent to a prisoner-of-war camp for protesting, so you agree not to protest with the other men.
The next day you meet Midori at the fence again. She wants to know what you think the family should do: agree to work on the sugar beet farms, or wait and see if the nisei can reunite family members.
“What should we do, Kenji?”
Do you go to the [[PRAIRIES->goSB]] or wait in [[HASTINGS PARK->waithastings2]]?
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
When you speak with the other men, they shake their heads. “You’re still a boy,” they say. “[Gambatte]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Stay strong]]. We all have a role, and your's is to stay safe with your family.”
The next day you meet Midori at the fence again. She wants to know what you think the family should do: agree to work on the sugar beet farms, or wait and see if the nisei can reunite family members.
“What should we do, Kenji?”
Do you go to the [[PRAIRIES->goSB]] or stay in [[HASTINGS PARK->waithastings2]]?
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
“We should wait,” you tell Midori. “I trust the Nisei Mass Evacuation Group.”
A week later, an officer comes to the men’s quarters and informs many of you to pack up and go to the train station—you’re headed into the interior with [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] and Midori. The protests worked, and families will be reunited in the camps. This will be where your family will be living for the forseeable future.
You can’t find Takejiro in the building and want to say goodbye before you leave, but the rest of the men are already headed out. While you are standing in line on the train platform, Takejiro finds you. “I’ve been assigned to New Denver,” he says, pointing to another line forming further away. “But looks like your train is going elsewhere.” He gives you a soft pat on the shoulder as a goodbye. “Take care, Kenji. May we meet again.”
You don’t know what to do as you watch Takejiro head towards the other line. The train conductor blows his whistle for everyone to board the [[TRAIN->board2]].(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
By November, a winter chill hits the camp. It is unlike anything you experienced in Nanaimo; here in the mountains, the cold sneaks into your lungs and turns your nose red.
Thankfully you packed two blankets, instead of just one, and you also packed winter clothes.
You hope that the blankets you brought will be [[ENOUGH->enough1nd]].
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
A few days later, the British Columbia Security Commission hands out two more blankets to each person because it is predicted that this year will be the coldest on record. By December, people are still living in tents which collapse under the heavy snowfalls. Takejiro is living in one of them. Even in your small shack, the cracks between the slabs of wood let the cold inside, and each morning your water bucket has a layer of frozen ice as thick as your thumb.
Some people get sick, but you’re warm enough and still able to help out your community with the [[CHORES->chores1nd]].
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Everyone in the camp works together to build a sense of comfort in these strange times, and helping your neighbours is one of your chores. Each night you deliver candles, walking between the shacks and tents; other days you bring water from the wells, chop wood, forage for matsutake mushrooms in the mountains, or pick berries near the train track with Midori. The government gives you bags of rice, but when you open them you discover they aren’t pure— [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] makes everyone sort it out grain by grain before she cooks it in her one large cast iron pot, the only one she could bring from Nanaimo.
You bond with the other boys, and play hockey in the winter or baseball in the summer. Eventually, members of the camp set up weekly movie screenings and festivals like Bon Odori bring everyone together to celebrate with music and dances. [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] crafts a makeshift rod and some days you and others go fishing on the lake so [Okaasan]<shout8|(click:?shout8)[(replace:?shout8)[Mother]] can make [shio-yaki]<shout6|(click:?shout6)[(replace:?shout6)[salt grilled]] trout.
In 1942, you don’t have any schooling. [Okaasan]<shout5|(click:?shout5)[(replace:?shout5)[Mother]] packed Japanese language books, but when the Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers found out about them, they made a big bonfire in the camp and burned every book with the Japanese language in it. After some time, older kids who finished high school came together and helped you continue your studies.
By next spring, people begin to plant gardens around their shacks—you live this routine for the rest of the year.
[[1943->1943nd1]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Rumours circulate about an organization called the Office of the Custodian of Enemy Property. The government created it to care for your house and belongings back in Nanaimo, because a promise was made that they would be protected when you were forcibly removed. However, Takejiro knows that on Salt Spring Island, as soon as the boat left, all the Japanese Canadian homes and properties were looted, even the school.
In the fall, a letter arrives from [Goro Oji-san]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Uncle Goro]] saying that his home in Prince Rupert was sold without his consent. This greatly concerns [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] and [Okaasan]<shout8|(click:?shout8)[ (replace:?shout8)[Mother]], who have no intention of selling their home in Nanaimo. Days later, your parents receive a letter stating their house and belongings have been sold. A new bank account has been opened for them, and they find that the money deposited is well below the actual value of everything they left behind. Now you will never get to fish off the back dock again. The government broke their promise.
This angers you, and one day you talk to Takejiro about protesting. He says he will as well, but because his son was sent to a prisoner-of-war camp, he decides to protest by writing a letter. You think this might be a good idea.
Your parents won’t admit it, but they are devastated at the loss of their home. When you mention protesting, [Okaasan]<shout5|(click:?shout5)[ (replace:?shout5)[Mother]] says, “Shikata ga nai,” which you translate from Japanese into “It can’t be helped.” Still, a part of you feels like this is wrong, that the government shouldn’t be able to sell your family’s house.
Do you follow Takejiro and [[WRITE->letter1nd]] a letter or [[LISTEN->listen1nd]] to your mother?
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Weeks pass before you receive a form letter from the Custodian saying that there is nothing that can be done about your house—selling Japanese Canadian property is government policy during the war.
Now you realize there is no home to return to in Nanaimo. All your belongings are gone, even your blue bicycle. (if: $gift is "smuggle the camera") [You're relieved you chose to (print: $gift) with you when you left so that you still have something you cherish.] (else:) [Your heart drops when you remember that you chose to (print: $gift) and now it's gone.]
[[WEEKS LATER->camp]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Weeks pass, and even though you didn’t write a letter, Takejiro did. He receives a form letter from the Custodian saying that there is nothing that can be done about his house—selling Japanese Canadian property is government policy during the war.
Now he has no home to return to, and you realize neither do you. All your belongings are gone, even your blue bicycle. (if: $gift is "smuggle the camera") [You're relieved you chose to (print: $gift) with you when you left so that you still have something you cherish.] (else:) [Your heart drops when you remember that you chose to (print: $gift) and now it's gone.]
[[WEEKS LATER->camp]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
In the summer of 1944, the government announces a new policy: either Japanese Canadians agree to move east of the Rocky Mountains and leave British Columbia, or they must renounce being Canadian citizenship and go to Japan. This shocks those in the camps, and many feel confused and worried by this change. You have been living at the camp for the last two years, and feel upset at being forcibly removed for a second time.
“We should go to Japan,” [Okaasan]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Mother]] says. “They don’t want us here.”
“I’m Canadian,” says Midori. “Kenji and I were born here. It’s hard for either of us to speak Japanese. What will Japan have for us?”
“They say we must decide now and [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[ (replace:?shout2)[Mother]] is set to go back to [Nihon]<shout7|(click:?shout7)[(replace:?shout7)[Japan]],” [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] says. “You two are old enough to decide for yourselves.”
Do you want to [[STAY IN CANADA->CDN]] or be [[EXILED TO JAPAN->JPN]]?
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
A letter comes saying that [Otoosan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Father]] is on his way back to you.
The day he is supposed to arrive, your whole family waits at the train station. At first, you do not recognize him; it’s been five months since he left Nanaimo, and [Otoosan]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Father]] is thinner than you remember, his hands dark from the dirty work of building the highway. As he approaches, you rush up to hug him tightly.
“I’m proud of you, Kenji,” [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] says, his hand on your shoulder. “You took care of the family.”
For the first time, you feel sure you made the right decision not to go to the sugar beet farms.
It is now October 1942, and so much has changed since you were forcibly removed from your home in Nanaimo. Winter will soon [[ARRIVE->winter1po]].(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
By November, a winter chill hits the camp. It is unlike anything you experienced in Nanaimo; here in the interior, the cold sneaks into your lungs and turns your nose red. Thankfully you packed two blankets, instead of just one, and you also packed winter clothes.
You hope that the blankets you brought will be [[ENOUGH->enough1po]].
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
At first, you stay warm. But in December a heavy snowfall layers the camp, and the tents collapse beneath the weight. It is so cold that each morning you wake to find a layer of frozen ice as thick as your thumb in the water bucket.
A few days later, the British Columbia Security Commission hands out two more blankets to each person because it is predicted this year will be the coldest on record.
Some people get sick, but you’re warm enough and still able to help out your community with the [[CHORES->chores1po]].
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Everyone in the camp works together to build a sense of comfort in these strange times, and helping your neighbours is one of your chores. Each night you deliver candles, walking between the shacks and tents; other days you bring water from the wells, chop wood, forage for matsutake mushrooms in the mountains, or pick berries near the train track with Midori. The government gives you bags of rice, but when you open them you discover they aren’t pure—[Okaasan]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Mother]] makes everyone sort it out grain by grain before she cooks it in her one large cast iron pan, the only one she could bring from Nanaimo.
You bond with the other boys, and play hockey in winter or baseball in the summer. Eventually, members of the camp set up weekly movie screenings and festivals like Bon Odori bring everyone together to celebrate with music and dances.
In 1942, you don’t have any schooling. [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[ (replace:?shout2)[Mother]] packed Japanese language books, but when the Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers found out about them, they made a big bonfire in the camp and burned every book with the Japanese language in it. After some time, older kids who finished high school came together and helped you continue your studies.
By next spring, the men finish building enough shacks for everyone, and your family moves into a two-bedroom shack with another family. People begin to plant gardens around their shacks—you live this routine for the rest of the year.
[[1943->43po1]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
In 1943, rumours circulate about an organization called the Office of the Custodian of Enemy Property. The government created it to care for your house and belongings back in Nanaimo, because a promise was made that they would be protected when you were forcibly removed. However, people know that as soon as the boat left, all the Japanese Canadian homes and properties were looted, even the school.
In the fall, a letter arrives from [Goro Oji-san]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Uncle Goro]] saying that his home in Prince Rupert was sold without his consent. This greatly concerns [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] and [Okaasan]<shout6|(click:?shout6)[ (replace:?shout6)[Mother]], who have no intention of selling the home in Nanaimo. Days later, your parents receive a letter stating their house and belongings have been sold. A new bank account has been opened for them, and they find that the money deposited is well below the actual value of everything they left behind. Now you will never get to fish off the back dock again. The government broke their promise.
This angers you, and one day you talk to Midori about protesting. She says you should write a letter to the government. Your parents won’t admit it, but they are devastated at the loss of their home. When you mention protesting, [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] says, “Shikata ga nai,” which you translate from Japanese into “It can’t be helped.” Still, a part of you feels like this is wrong, that the government shouldn’t be able to sell your family’s house.
Do you [[WRITE->letter1po]] a letter or [[LISTEN->listen1po]] to your mother?
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Weeks pass before you receive a form letter from the Custodian saying that there is nothing that can be done about your house—selling Japanese Canadian property is government policy during the war.
Now you realize there is no home to return to in Nanaimo. All your belongings are gone, even your blue bicycle. (if: $gift is "smuggle the camera") [You're relieved you chose to (print: $gift) with you when you left so that you still have something you cherish.] (else:) [Your heart drops when you remember that you chose to (print: $gift) and now it's gone.]
[[WEEKS LATER->camp]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Weeks pass, and even though you didn’t write a letter, other community members did. One received a form letter from the Custodian saying that there is nothing that can be done about his house—selling Japanese Canadian property is government policy during the war.
Now they have no home to return to, and you realize neither do you. All your belongings are gone, even your blue bicycle. (if: $gift is "smuggle the camera") [You're relieved you chose to (print: $gift) with you when you left so that you still have something you cherish.] (else:) [Your heart drops when you remember that you chose to (print: $gift) and now it's gone.]
[[WEEKS LATER->camp]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
A letter comes saying that [Otoosan]<shout9|(click:?shout9)[(replace:?shout9)[Father]] is on his way back to you.
The day he is supposed to arrive, your whole family waits at the train station. You do not recognize him at first; it’s been five months since he left Nanaimo. [Otoosan]<shout5|(click:?shout5)[(replace:?shout5)[Father]] is thinner than you remember, his hands dark from the dirty work of building the highway in Revelstoke. As he approaches, you rush up to hug him tightly.
“I’m proud of you, Kenji,” [Otoosan]<shout6|(click:?shout6)[(replace:?shout6)[Father]] says, his hand on your shoulder. “You took care of the family.”
For the first time, you feel sure that you made the right decision in not going to the sugar beet farms.
It is now October 1942 and so much has changed since you were forcibly removed from your home in Nanaimo. Winter will soon [[ARRIVE->winter2nd]].
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By November, a winter chill hits the camp. It is unlike anything you experienced in Nanaimo; here in the mountains, the cold sneaks into your lungs and turns your nose red. When you packed for Hastings Park, you only took one blanket. It was springtime then, unlike the freezing conditions in New Denver now, and you didn’t expect to be gone this long from your home.
You worry whether the blanket you brought will be [[ENOUGH->enough2nd]].
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
A few days later, the British Columbia Security Commission hands out two more blankets to each person because it is predicted that this year will be the coldest on record. By December, people are still living in tents which collapse under the heavy snowfalls. Takejiro is living in one of them. Even in your small shack, the cracks between the slabs of wood let the cold inside, and each morning your water bucket has a layer of frozen ice as thick as your thumb.
Your throat hurts, and one day you wake up with a fever and a cough. [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] won’t let you help out with the chores, and orders you to rest in bed. Others in the camp also fall sick. A doctor comes to visit, and tells you that it isn’t tuberculosis, but you still spend the majority of the winter inside.
[[1943->1943nd2]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
While you’re sick in bed, Midori tells you that rumours are circulating about an organization called the Office of the Custodian of Enemy Property. The government created it to care for your house and belongings back in Nanaimo, because a promise was made that they would be protected when you were forcibly removed. However, Takejiro knows that on Salt Spring Island, as soon as the boat left, all the Japanese Canadian homes and properties were looted, even the school.
In the early spring, a letter arrives from [Goro Oji-san]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Uncle Goro]] saying that his home in Prince Rupert was sold without his consent. This greatly concerns [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] and [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]], who have no intention of selling the home in Nanaimo. Days later, your parents receive a letter stating their house and belongings have been sold. A new bank account has been opened for them, and they find that the money deposited is well below the actual value of everything they left behind. Now you will never get to fish off the back dock again. The government broke their promise.
Your parents won’t admit it, but they are devastated at the loss of the house. Now there is no home to return to and all your belongings are gone. (if: $gift is "smuggle the camera") [You're relieved you chose to (print: $gift) with you when you left so that you still have something you cherish.] (else:) [Your heart drops when you remember that you chose to (print: $gift) and now it's gone.]
[[WEEKS LATER->camp]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
A letter comes saying that [Otoosan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Father]] is on his way back to you.
The day he is supposed to arrive, your whole family waits at the train station. At first, you do not recognize him; it’s been five months since he left Nanaimo, and [Otoosan]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Father]] is thinner than you remember, his hands dark from the dirty work of building the highway. As he approaches, you rush up to hug him tightly.
“I’m proud of you, Kenji,” [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] says, his hand on your shoulder. “You took care of the family.”
For the first time, you feel sure you made the right decision not to go to the sugar beet farms.
It is now October 1942, and so much has changed since you were forcibly removed from your home in Nanaimo. Winter will soon [[ARRIVE->winter2po]].
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
By November, a winter chill hits the camp. It is unlike anything you experienced in Nanaimo; here in the interior, the cold sneaks into your lungs and turns your nose red. When you packed for Hastings Park, you only took one blanket. It was springtime then, unlike the freezing conditions in Popoff now, and you didn’t expect to be gone this long.
You worry whether the blanket you brought will be [[ENOUGH->enough2po]].(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
At first, you stay warm. But in December a heavy snowfall layers the camp, and the tents collapse beneath the weight. It is so cold that each morning you wake to find a layer of frozen ice as thick as your thumb in the water bucket.
You get extremely sick and can’t help out your family or community with the chores like chopping wood, fetching water from the well, or fishing.
[[WEEKS LATER->weekslater2po]]...
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Months go by in Popoff, and you become so ill [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] has no choice but to tell an officer. A doctor is called and he diagnoses you with tuberculosis.
[Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[ (replace:?shout2)[Mother]] tells you a sanitorium for sick people is being built in the internment camp called New Denver, where Takejiro is. You will be sent there as soon as it's completed, and your family cannot come. “I will write to you,” Midori says.
A Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer has to transfer you with the doctor. When you are loaded into the truck, [Otoosan]<shout4|(click:?shout4)[(replace:?shout4)[Father]] squeezes your shoulder. “[Gambatte]<shout5|(click:?shout5)[(replace:?shout5)[Stay strong]],” he says. The doors close and you can no longer see your family. The tires grind into the gravel as you leave Popoff behind, heading for another strange place.
The [[SAN->San2po]]...
<img src="http://www.nikkeimuseum.org/files/nikkeImgFMP12/JCNM%20Database/files/ARTEFACT/Image_Image%201/17955/2012-20-17.jpg" width="600" height="400">
NNM 2012.20.17
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
After you arrive in New Denver, Takejiro visits you in the sanitorium. You’re still weak, so he pats your shoulder and talks so you don’t have to. He explains that rumours are circulating about an organization called the Office of the Custodian of Enemy Property; the government created it to care for your house and belongings back in Nanaimo, because a promise was made that they would be protected when you were forcibly removed. However, Takejiro knows that on Salt Spring Island, as soon as the boat left all the Japanese Canadian homes and properties were looted, even the school.
A week later, Takejiro visits with a letter from Midori: Your family house and belongings in Nanaimo has been sold without your parent’s consent, and the government provided a new bank account. They find that the money deposited is well below the actual value of everything they left behind. Now you will never get to fish off the back dock again. The government broke their promise.
All your belongings are gone. (if: $gift is "smuggle the camera") [You're relieved you chose to (print: $gift) with you when you left so that you still have something you cherish.] (else:) [Your heart drops when you remember that you chose to (print: $gift) and now it's gone.]
[[MONTHS LATER->months2po]]...
<img src="http://www.nikkeimuseum.org/files/nikkeImgFMP12/JCNM%20Database/files/ARTEFACT/Image_Image%201/17955/2012-20-17.jpg" width="600" height="400">
NNM 2012.20.17
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
In the summer of 1945, the government announces a new policy: either Japanese Canadians agree to move east of the Rocky Mountains and leave British Columbia, or they must renounce their Canadian citizenship and go to Japan. This shocks the camps, and many feel confused and worried by this change.
In a letter, [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] says that the family should go to Japan because Canada doesn’t want us here, but you are not so sure. You were born in Canada, and it is hard for you to speak Japanese. Neither you nor Midori have ever been to Japan, a country entirely foreign to you.
Takejiro plans to go to Ontario and reunite with his son. You wonder if perhaps this is a good option for your family, too.
In the end, since there is nothing in Nanaimo to return to since your home and belongings were sold by the government, your parents decide to register to go to Japan. Because you are sick in the sanitorium, they also register you to be [[EXILED TO JAPAN->JPNSan2po]].
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
When you are healthy again, officials send you to meet your family in a place called Tashme. It is another internment camp, close to Vancouver, where the Japanese Canadians who registered to go to Japan are sent.
When you arrive, your father hugs you, relieved to see that you are no longer sick. [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] gently touches your face, and you notice a worried look in her eyes.
“Where’s Midori?” you ask.
"Your sister decided to stay in Canada,” [Otoosan]<shout5|(click:?shout5)[ (replace:?shout5)[Father]] says. “She said that Canada is her home and she wasn’t going to be shipped away to a foreign place." Thanks to [Goro Oji-san]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Uncle Goro]], she found a job in Toronto, and arrived there before you had even left sanitorium.
The sudden realization that you will not see your sister hits you harder than you expected. After everything you’ve been through, you always thought your family would stay together.
[[AUGUST 1945->aug45po2]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
On August 6th and 9th, 1945, the United States drops two atomic bombs on Japan: one on Hiroshima city and the other on Nagasaki city. The news shocks everyone in Tashme because all of you are had registered to go to Japan. Now it is a war-ravaged country that won’t have a lot of resources or food.
“What does this mean?” [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] asks. “What will we do?”
“We have no choice,” replies [Otoosan]<shout5|(click:?shout5)[(replace:?shout5)[Father]]. “We must go.”
[[FINAL GOODBYE->Final2po]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
A train takes you to the waterfront in Vancouver, where you board a large boat with all of the other Japanese Canadians. You smell the sea spray and ocean brine for the first time since you were forcibly removed from Nanaimo, and the sound of the seagulls makes you yearn for home.
The boat attendant secures your belongings, the same single suitcase you packed years ago. You stand outside on the deck and let the wind whip your hair around. You can see fishermen out on the water. It reminds you of your old dream of joining [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] and the others fishing each morning.
When the boat blows its horn and pulls away from the shore, people on the boat cry, and you do too. You raise your hand to Canada, your country, and say farewell. It breaks your heart to say goodbye.
[[EPILOGUE]]...
<img src="https://www.landscapesofinjustice.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Exile_-LAC_PA-119024.png" width="900" height="500">
Credit: Library and Archives Canada / PA-119024(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
An officer takes you to a building, saying that you will all stay here until a farmer comes to offer you work. They separate the women and men once again, leading Midori and [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] in one direction, and you want to protest.
Do you stay [[CALM->calmsb]] or [[PROTEST->protestsb]]?
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
[Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] squeezes Midori's shoulder and he says, “We’ll see you soon.” The two of you depart together to the men’s area, and you are glad that you aren’t alone this time.
After a week, an officer gathers your family and states that you will all be working for a farmer in a small town called Portage la Prairie.
You collect your things and go [[OUTSIDE->outsidesb]].
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
[Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] squeezes your shoulder and says, “[Gaman]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Endure]], we have to be responsible now. Stay calm, Kenji.” The two of you depart together to the men’s area, and you are glad that you aren’t alone this time.
After a week, an official gathers your family together and states that you will all be working for a farmer in a small town called Portage la Prairie.
You collect your things and go [[OUTSIDE->outsidesb]].
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
A man comes up to you and asks, “You the Mee-zu-kam-ees?” When [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] nods, he says, “I’m your driver.” The man doesn’t help you, but just points to the back of his truck.
You take your belongings and climb into the back. The driver pulls out from the station and you jostle in the cab, dust kicking up from the tires and tickling your nose. You sneeze repeatedly, and soon you cover your eyes with your hands. The dusty air makes it hard to breathe for the whole ride.
When you finally [[ARRIVE->barkersb]]...
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It is evening when the truck stops, and the dust settles. Fields surround you in every direction, and the only buildings are a small one-storey house, a barn, and a small chicken coop tucked into the corner of the property.
The driver honks his horn, and once you are all out of the back with your belongings, the truck pulls away. The front door opens, and a farmer comes out. He approaches and says, "I'm William Barker and you'll be in my employ." He points to the chicken coop and says, “You will stay there. We work Monday through Saturday, with Sundays off.” He hesitates, but then offers to shake [Otoosan's]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father's]] hand. “It isn’t much, but it’s what we got.”
You look at the house and see a woman and two children in the doorway. The children look young, and one waves to you. Something about them reminds you of Mr. Hansen and the other white fishermen in Nanaimo, and for the first time since you've left your home, you feel a bit hopeful.
You approach your new [[HOME->coopsb]].
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Inside the old chicken coop, there is one window, a small pot-bellied stove, and some blankets covering a few wooden planks laid out over the dirt floor. It is only one room for all four of you. Thick layers of dust coat everything, and you can’t imagine ever getting it clean like your home in Nanaimo.
It is early summer now, so the weather is some of the hottest you’ve felt, but [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] says the winter out here will be gruelling without any insulation in this coop. While the farmer seems nice, it is clear that he doesn’t have much money or resources himself, so your family will have to fix up the small shack themselves.
Your family must quickly learn the ropes of working the [[SUGAR BEET FIELDS->beetssb]].
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
In the fields, you do back-breaking labour. The beets grow in rows upon rows, and there are no trees to sit under and rest from the scorching sun. You are very isolated from any sense of community—there are no other houses for miles in either direction.
As the season changes and the weather grows wetter, lumps of earth stick to your gumboots making it even harder to move. It is so cold in the winter that you have to wear gloves inside the shack.
After work, you must help your family with chores. You mostly haul water from the well because living at the farm means a lot of cleaning. Dust settles everywhere, and the mud sticks to your clothes, your skin, and tools.
For the next year, you all settle into this routine of [[HARD WORK->routinesb]].
<img src="http://www.nikkeimuseum.org/files/nikkeImgFMP12/JCNM%20Database/files/ARTEFACT/Image_Image%201/9003/1995-134-1-7.jpg" width="500" height="300">
NNM 1995.134.1.7.a-b
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
In 1943, [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] wants to buy supplies to make the chicken coop more homelike, but he can’t afford much on the small salary. The government pays your family very little for their hard work. Mr. Barker is on the poverty line himself, so he can’t offer any money himself, even though he admits that you deserve better pay.
You learn of an opportunity for extra work in town setting bowling pins at the bowling alley. It is half an hour walk each way, but the pay would help your family buy things like new mattresses or better supplies.
Do you apply for extra work in [[TOWN->bowlingsb]] or continue to do chores around the [[FARM->farmsb]]?
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Three evenings a week, after you finish labouring in the fields, you walk all the way to the bowling alley to set the pins. You make three cents a game, and thanks to many leagues in the area, you make good money. Once that work is over, you rush home to do your homework.
It is exhausting, but over time, you make enough to buy your family a new mantle radio. It brings a touch of life to your small home, and although they won’t admit it, you know your parents are happy to listen to radio shows once again.
[[1943->1943sb]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Because the war is still on, your work on the sugar beet farm is deemed essential for the wartime effort. You learn that Japanese Canadians are working on sugar beet farms not just in Manitoba, but in Alberta too. There, Japanese Canadian labour are producing the heaviest beet yields and supplying 65% of Alberta’s sugar beet produce. Farmers don’t want to lose this cheap labour force.
Your skin chaps from the dry, dusty air, and soon your hands develop hard calluses. Time passes in a haze.
[[1943->1943sb]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Four years pass, and you barely remember a life that did not revolve around farm work, dry summer heat, dust, and bitterly cold winters. Even though you slowly fixed up the chicken coop, it has never felt like your home in Nanaimo.
On April 1st 1949, the federal government finally allows Japanese Canadians to move freely throughout all of Canada, including British Columbia. This means that you can finally return to Vancouver Island.
Your family friend, Mr. Hansen, writes to [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] and says that he will help him fish again. Your parents are old enough to retire, but they can’t as they must rebulid their lives from scratch. Now that you are 21, you can finally fulfill your dream of fishing alongside your father.
After seven long years, your family returns to [[NANAIMO->return]].
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
The west coast is just as you remembered: seagulls, sea spray, and brilliant sunshine that glimmers on the water. You walk by your old house, and a part of you wants to go up and knock on the door—but you hear a baby crying from inside, and you can’t bring yourself to disrupt the new family.
Even though you have returned to your hometown, you have come back to nothing. The government made a promise to keep your house and belongings safe, and that promise was broken. Thankfully, Mr. Hansen and his family help build you all a new house. You join the men fishing, naming yourselves the "Nanaimo Fleet." Many of the canneries are trying to hire Japanese Canadians since they were such hard and efficient workers before the war, so you are never short of work.
[Goro Oji-san]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Uncle Goro]] writes letters about the hardships of resettling in Toronto. After everything Japanese Canadians went through, people are still hostile towards them—discrimination and racism are still obstacles they must face. Even in Nanaimo, you are among the few Japanese Canadians to return, and not everyone is happy to see you again.
It takes time to rebuild your lives in Nanaimo, but you begin to find a new rhythm. It isn’t the same as before, but you are together as a family, and that is enough.
[[EPILOGUE]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
On August 6th and 9th, 1945, the United States drops two atomic bombs on Japan: one on Hiroshima city and the other on Nagasaki city. The news shocks everyone in Tashme because all of you had registered to go to Japan. Now it is a war-ravaged country that won’t have a lot of resources or food.
“What does this mean?” [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] asks. “What will we do?”
“Maybe we can stay,” replies [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]].
Do you still go to [[JAPAN->stillJPNSB]] or try to [[STAY->noCDNSB]] in Canada?
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
A train takes you to the waterfront in Vancouver, where you board a large boat with all of the other Japanese Canadians. You smell the sea spray and ocean brine for the first time since you were forcibly removed from Nanaimo, and the sound of the seagulls makes you yearn for home.
The boat attendant secures your belongings, the same single suitcase you packed years ago. You stand outside on the deck and let the wind whip your hair around. You can see fishermen out on the water. It reminds you of your old dream of joining [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] and the others fishing each morning.
When the boat blows its horn and pulls away from the shore, people on the boat cry, and you do too. You raise your hand to Canada, your country, and say farewell. It breaks your heart to say goodbye.
[[EPILOGUE]]...
<img src="https://www.landscapesofinjustice.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Exile_-LAC_PA-119024.png" width="900" height="500">
Credit: Library and Archives Canada / PA-119024(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Your parents rush to speak to an official and declare your family wants to stay in Canada, and you are not the only ones to do so. There are many Japanese Canadians who no longer want to go to Japan now.
The official shakes his head. “You already signed up to go,” he says. “The government will not let you stay.”
[Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] says, “My son is Canadian. He was born here. He should stay if he wants to.”
“No,” the official says. “He signed up to go home. It is too late to change your minds now.”
“This is my home,” you say, but the official has already moved on to the next family in line. Even though Japan has been bombed, no one in Tashme is allowed to stay in Canada.
[[FINAL GOODBYE->finalgbSB]]...
<img src="http://www.nikkeimuseum.org/files/nikkeImgFMP12/JCNM%20Database/files/ARTEFACT/Image_Image%201/8451/1994-60-26.jpg" width="500" height="300">
NNM 1994.60.26
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
A train takes you to the waterfront in Vancouver, where you board a large boat with all of the other Japanese Canadians. You smell the sea spray and ocean brine for the first time since you were forcibly removed from Nanaimo, and the sound of the seagulls makes you yearn for home.
The boat attendant secures your belongings, the same single suitcase you packed years ago. You stand outside on the deck and let the wind whip your hair around. You can see fishermen out on the water. It reminds you of your old dream of joining [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] and the others fishing each morning.
When the boat blows its horn and pulls away from the shore, people on the boat cry, and you do too. You raise your hand to Canada, your country, and say farewell. It breaks your heart to say goodbye.
[[EPILOGUE]]...
<img src="https://www.landscapesofinjustice.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Exile_-LAC_PA-119024.png" width="900" height="500">
Credit: Library and Archives Canada / PA-119024
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Over dinner one evening, [Otoosan]<shout6|(click:?shout6)[(replace:?shout6)[Father]] mentions that Farmer Barker heard about an organization called the Office of the Custodian of Enemy Property. The government created it to care for your house and belongings back in Nanaimo, because a promise was made that they would be protected when you were forcibly removed. However, rumours circulated that as soon as the boat left, all the Japanese Canadian homes and properties were looted, even the school.
In the early spring, a letter arrives from [Goro Oji-san]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Uncle Goro]] saying that his home in Prince Rupert was sold without his consent. This greatly concerns [Otoosan]<shout5|(click:?shout5)[(replace:?shout5)[Father]] and [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]], who have no intention of selling the home in Nanaimo. Days later, your parents receive a letter stating their house and belongings have been sold. A new bank account has been opened for them, and they find that the money deposited is well below the actual value of everything they left behind. Now you will never get to fish off the back dock again. The government broke their promise.
Your parents won’t admit it, but they are devastated at the loss of the house. Now there is no home to return to and all your belongings are gone. (if: $gift is "smuggle the camera") [You're relieved you chose to (print: $gift) with you when you left so that you still have something you cherish.] (else:) [Your heart drops when you remember that you chose to (print: $gift) and now it's gone.]
[[1944->1944sb]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Most days you help your mother cook and clean the house, bringing in buckets of fresh water from the well. Like your [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]], you salt the fish your brother Kenji catches from the back dock. Your father’s best friend and fellow fisherman, Mr. Hansen, often comes over after a long day on the ocean. [Okaasan]<shout4| (click:?shout4)[(replace:?shout4)[Mother]] makes him eat with chopsticks, and you laugh at his clumsiness. He teaches you words in Swedish, compliments your photographs, and gives you and Kenji chocolates from time to time.
You love spending time taking photos and harvesting fresh clams with Kenji along the shore for dinner.
On [[DECEMBER 8, 1941->Dec7alt]]...
<img src="https://www.landscapesofinjustice.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Stewart_Ave_Nanaimo_credit_Nanaimo_Museum.jpg" width="600" height="400">
Credit: Nanaimo Museum(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
You wake up early on Monday, December 8th, 1941. Outside it’s a cold winter morning and the coastal skies are grey.
In the kitchen, [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] has fresh clam [miso shiru]<shout7|(click:?shout7)[(replace:?shout7)[miso soup]] on the stove. [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] is already out on the water.
You and Kenji eat breakfast quickly and head off to Brechin school.
On the way to [[BRECHIN ELEMENTARY->brechinalt]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Days later, an announcement states that all fishing vessels owned by Japanese Canadian will be impounded. The government claims that this is for the safety of Canada. Every Japanese Canadian fisherman on Stewart Avenue must prepare to take their boats to Vancouver, packing food and clothes for the trip across the strait.
When [Otoosan]<shout1|(click: ?shout1)[(replace: ?shout1)[Father]] returns from his journey to Vancouver, he tells [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[ (replace:?shout2)[Mother]] how the navy lashed the entire fleet together. He could already see many of the vessels being damaged. [Otoosan]<shout4|(click:?shout4)[(replace:?shout4)[Father]] and the other Japanese Canadian men are now out of work, while Mr. Hansen and the other non-Japanese Canadian fishermen continue working.
Everyone on Stewart Avenue is becoming more worried. The government closed the Japanese Language School and stopped the circulation of Japanese language newspapers. Your family now solely relies on the New Canadian, an English language newspaper run by nisei in Vancouver.
[[THE NEW YEAR->New Yearalt]]...
<img src="https://exhibits.library.utoronto.ca/files/original/f435c6fbeff4e0e49234b2a4dea3255f.jpg" width="700" height="500">
R.C.N. DND - Library and Archives Canada DAPDCAP 556450(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
[Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] pats you on the head, and nods. He says, “Be good to Kenji, and look after your mother.”
A few days later, he boards a big boat with the other men who volunteer, and you watch it leave the harbour.
One day you get a letter from him, and learn he is somewhere called Revelstoke. Large sections of the letter are blacked out from the censor, but you’re glad to learn that he’s safe.
[[A WEEK LATER->Victorybondsalt]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
You take all of your savings and buy a Victory Bond. You hope that this act will prove your Canadian-ness.
At Brechin School, even though almost half of the class is Japanese Canadian, many of the non-Japanese Canadian students start to bully you. They throw rocks at you and Midori, saying that we started the war. Some of your friends have started avoiding you.
[[LATER IN FEBRUARY->confiscationalt]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
You try to help by giving [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] the extra money you saved. She tears up and says, “[arigatou]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[thank you]].” The next night she makes your favourite [shio-yaki]<shout6|(click:?shout6)[(replace:?shout6)[salt grilled]] salmon.
At Brechin School, even though almost half of the class is Japanese Canadian, many of the non-Japanese Canadian students start to bully you. They throw rocks at you and Midori, saying that we started the war. Some of your friends have started avoiding you.
[[LATER IN FEBRUARY->confiscationalt]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
You arrive at a holding centre in Vancouver called Hastings Park. Officers explain that this is where Japanese Canadians from outside of Vancouver will be temporarily held.
“You,” an officer says to Kenji. “Go with the other men.” At thirteen, he is considered old enough to be on his own.
[Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] grabs Kenji’s shoulders and speaks to him in Japanese, asking what they mean. You’re about to say explain when Kenji reassures you both.
“I’ll be okay,” he says.
The officer directs you and your mother towards another building.
You follow the others to the women’s [[QUARTERS->followalt1]].
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
The officer take you to the women’s dormitory, Building A, a converted livestock building. Inside you find hundreds of beds and just as many unfamiliar faces, all separated by hanging sheets or blankets to offer privacy.
You are assigned to share a converted cattle stall with your mother. On the ground you see the marks from animal dung being scraped away—the smell lingers and you feel nauseous. You pause, unsure what to do or say, and you feel a hand on your shoulder. Behind you stand two young girls and their mother.
“Looks like we’re neighbours,” one of them says. “I’m Hide, and this is my sister, Kimiko.” They ask about your family, and you tell them your brother was separated. “Here, have some crackers. I brought them from home.” When you hesitate, Hide adds, “Dinner isn’t for some time, and you might want to eat something before you see what they serve.”
You accept the crackers and sit with [[HIDE AND KIMIKO->sitalt1]].
<img src="https://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/uploads/r/null/1/a/1ad15760630810536e7e2f9972ede58b3f59ced96df73d98ee6212d338abc562/81c73295-8f8c-4e5c-9c48-10d72fc76125-CVA180-3540.jpg" width="600" height="400">
AM281-S8-: CVA 180-3540
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Hide and Kimiko’s father worked in a lumber mill on Salt Spring Island before they forcibly removed Japanese Canadians from the area a week ago. “Our brother was one of the protesters,” Kimiko explains. You've heard about them, the Nisei Mass Evacuation Group: young nisei men who petitioned for the government to keep families together instead of sending men to work on the highways. “Now he is in a prisoner-of-war camp in Northern Ontario.”
When you tell them your father is somewhere working on a road camp, Kimiko sighs. “[Onii-san]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Older brother]] didn’t want that,” she says.
Later, the girls show you the mess hall where you gather for meals. Workers hand you a tin cup and dish before you line up for food. Dinner tonight is a gruel-like porridge, very runny with diluted milk, and a side of prunes. You stare at your plate, missing [Okaasan]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Mother]]’s delicious [shio-yaki]<shout6|(click:?shout6)[ (replace:?shout6)[salt grilled]] salmon and clam [miso shiru]<shout7|(click:?shout7)[(replace:?shout7)[miso soup]].
Later that night, some of the women and children feel sick from dinner. This is the first time you've heard of “food poisoning.”
The [[NEXT MORNING->morningalt1]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
A chain link fence keeps you separated from the men, but you meet Kenji at it the next morning. Through the small gaps, you reach and ruffle his hair.
He tells you about the men’s building, how it was converted from a hockey arena with hundreds of bunkbeds.
“Next door to the women and children is a makeshift hospital,” you say. “They used to house chickens there.” You tell Kenji how you can hear children coughing, and say that they only have 100 beds for those sick Hastings Park. With so many people in close quarters, many fall ill with smallpox, flu, scarlet fever, dysentery, or worse—tuberculosis, an infectious disease that affects the lungs.
“[Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] wrote us,” says Kenji. “We might be able to see him soon.” Before he can explain, an officer blows a whistle and you have to say goodbye.
Kenji hands you the letter from [[OTOOSAN->dadletteralt1]].
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Back in your bunk, you learn that [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] works everyday digging roads in the mountains. He belongs on a 100 man crew, and gets enough rice and meat to stay strong and healthy. Although he makes very little, he tries to send what money he can to Okaasan because it still isn’t clear what the government will decide to do with Japanese Canadians.
At the end of his letter, he mentions rumours that the federal government is offering families the option to be reunited by moving to sugar beet farms in the prairies. According to [Goro Oji-san]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Uncle Goro]], the work sounds grueling and the pay is poor, but Canada’s sugar beet production is the only way the country can access sweetener during the war. The whole family would have to tend these crops.
Sections of the letter have been blacked out, so you can’t read everything. Censors go through every letter, removing great chunks of information as they see fit, and claim it is for Canada’s safety. What you can understand is that if you choose to go to the sugar beet farms, the whole family will be reunited again but you will have to do hard, manual labour.
[Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] seems very stressed being here but she perks up at the idea of being reunited with [Otoosan]<shout4|(click:?shout4)[(replace:?shout4)[Father]].
What Otoosan wants to do is blacked out, so you can’t know whether to [[GO OR WAIT->go or waitalt1]].
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Back in Building A, rumours circulate that the Nisei Mass Evacuation Group—the young men protesting against breaking up families—is gaining headway with the government. Instead of being sent to the prairies, now there is talk about camps being built in the interior to house the Japanese Canadians removed from the 100 mile radius zone. The Nisei Mass Evacuation Group wants all fathers and husbands to be moved to these camps, and are asking for everyone in Hastings Park to support this plan.
This could mean that you could see [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] without going to the sugar beet farms, but you would have to wait a bit longer. The idea of seeing your father sooner makes you emotional but you want to show your support for the Nisei Mass Evacuation Group. Hide and Kimiko warn you that you could get in trouble for supporting the Nisei Mass Evacuation Group, reminding you of their brother.
Do you listen to the [[GIRLS->listengirlsalt1]] or [[SUPPORT->protestbreakalt1]] the Nisei Mass Evacuation Group?
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
The girls still carry a lot of pain from their older brother being sent to a prisoner-of-war camp for protesting, so you agree to let the Nisei Mass Evacuation Group handle the protesting.
The next day you meet Kenji at the fence again. He wants to know what you think the family should do: agree to work on the sugar beet farms, or wait and see if the nisei can reunite family members.
“What should we do, Midori?”
Do you go to the [[PRAIRIES->goprairiesalt]] or stay in [[HASTINGS PARK->waithastingsalt1]]?
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
You speak with the women in the building whose sons are rumoured to be part of the Nisei Mass Evacuation Group. They smile at you and one pats your head. “[Gambatte]<shout5|(click:?shout5)[(replace:?shout5)[Stay strong]],” they say. “We all have a role, and your's is to stay safe with your family.”
The next day you meet Kenji at the fence again. He wants to know what you think you should do: agree to work on the sugar beet farms, or wait and see if the nisei can reunite family members.
“What should we do, Midori?”
Do you go to the [[PRAIRIES->goprairiesalt]] or stay in [[HASTINGS PARK->waithastingsalt1]]?
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
“We should wait,” you tell Kenji. “I trust the Nisei Mass Evacuation Group.”
A week later, an official comes to the women and children’s quarters and informs many of you to pack up and go to the train station—you’re headed into the interior with [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] and Kenji. The protests worked and families will be reunited in the camps. This will be where your family will be living for the forseeable future.
You can’t find Kimiko or Hide in the building and want to say goodbye before you leave, but the rest of the women are already headed out. Standing in line on the train platform, the girls find you. “We’ve been assigned to New Denver,” Hide says, pointing to another line forming further away. “But looks like your train is going elsewhere.” They both give you a tight hug goodbye. “Take care, Midori. May we meet again.”
You don’t know what to do as you watch the girls head towards the other line. The train conductor blows his whistle for everyone to board the [[TRAIN->boardalt1]].
{ (set: $counter to 120)
**You have |amount>[$counter] seconds to make a choice!**
(live:1s) [
(set: $counter to it - 1)
(if: $counter is 0) [ (go-to: "POalt1")]
(replace: ?amount) [$counter]
]}
(enchant:?passage,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Kenji rushes towards you and your mother. He says the officer told him you are all heading to Popoff, but Kimiko, Hide and their mother are now waiting to go to New Denver. You think the three of you could make it over to the other line before they board, but you don’t have much time to decide.
Do you [[STAY->POalt1]] in line for Popoff or encourage them to [[SWITCH->NDalt1]] for New Denver.
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
You arrive at a holding centre in Vancouver called Hastings Park. Officers explain that this is where Japanese Canadians from outside of Vancouver will be temporarily held.
“You,” an officer says to Kenji. “Go with the other men.” At thirteen, he is considered old enough to be on his own.
[Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] grabs Kenji’s shoulders and speaks to him in Japanese, asking what they mean. You’re about to say explain when Kenji reassures you both.
“I’ll be okay,” he says.
The officer directs you and your mother towards another building.
You follow the others to the women’s [[QUARTERS->followalt2]].
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
The officer take you to the women’s dormitory, Building A, a converted livestock building. Inside you find hundreds of beds and just as many unfamiliar faces, all separated by hanging sheets or blankets to offer privacy.
You are assigned to share a converted cattle stall with your mother. On the ground you see the marks from animal dung being scraped away—the smell lingers and you feel nauseous. You pause, unsure what to do or say, and you feel a hand on your shoulder. Behind you stand two young girls and their mother.
“Looks like we’re neighbours,” one of them says. “I’m Hide, and this is my sister, Kimiko.” They ask about your family, and you tell them your brother was separated. “Here, have some crackers. I brought them from home.” When you hesitate, Hide adds, “Dinner isn’t for some time, and you might want to eat something before you see what they serve.”
You accept the crackers and sit with [[HIDE AND KIMIKO->sitalt2]].
<img src="https://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/uploads/r/null/1/a/1ad15760630810536e7e2f9972ede58b3f59ced96df73d98ee6212d338abc562/81c73295-8f8c-4e5c-9c48-10d72fc76125-CVA180-3540.jpg" width="600" height="400">
AM281-S8-: CVA 180-3540
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Hide and Kimiko’s father worked in a lumber mill on Salt Spring Island before they forcibly removed Japanese Canadians from the area a week ago. “Our brother was one of the protesters,” Kimiko explains. You've heard about them, the Nisei Mass Evacuation Group: young nisei men who petitioned for the government to keep families together instead of sending men to work on the highways. “Now he is in a prisoner-of-war camp in Northern Ontario.”
When you tell them your father is somewhere working on a road camp, Kimiko sighs. “[Onii-san]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Older brother]] didn’t want that,” she says.
Later, the girls show you the mess hall where you gather for meals. Workers hand you a tin cup and dish before you line up for food. Dinner tonight is a gruel-like porridge, very runny with diluted milk, and a side of prunes. You stare at your plate, missing [Okaasan]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Mother]]’s delicious [shio-yaki]<shout6|(click:?shout6)[ (replace:?shout6)[salt grilled]] salmon and clam [miso shiru]<shout7|(click:?shout7)[(replace:?shout7)[miso soup]].
Later that night, some of the women and children feel sick from dinner. This is the first time you've heard of “food poisoning.”
The [[NEXT MORNING->morningalt2]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
A chain link fence keeps you separated from the men, but you meet Kenji at it the next morning. Through the small gaps, you reach and ruffle his hair.
He tells you about the men’s building, how it was converted from a hockey arena with hundreds of bunkbeds.
“Next door to the women and children is a makeshift hospital,” you say. “They used to house chickens there.” You tell Kenji how you can hear children coughing, and say that they only have 100 beds for those sick Hastings Park. With so many people in close quarters, many fall ill with smallpox, flu, scarlet fever, dysentery, or worse—tuberculosis, an infectious disease that affects the lungs.
“[Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] wrote us,” says Kenji. “We might be able to see him soon.” Before he can explain, an officer blows a whistle and you have to say goodbye.
Kenji hands you the letter from [[OTOOSAN->dadletteralt2]].
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Back in your bunk, you learn that [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] works everyday digging roads in the mountains. He belongs on a 100 man crew, and gets enough rice and meat to stay strong and healthy. Although he makes very little, he tries to send what money he can to [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] because it still isn’t clear what the government will decide to do with Japanese Canadians.
At the end of his letter, he mentions rumours that the federal government is offering families the option to be reunited by moving to sugar beet farms in the prairies. According to [Goro Oji-san]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Uncle Goro]], the work sounds grueling and the pay is poor, but Canada’s sugar beet production is the only way the country can access sweetener during the war. The whole family would have to tend these crops.
Sections of the letter have been blacked out, so you can’t read everything. Censors go through every letter, removing great chunks of information as they see fit, and claim it is for Canada’s safety. What you can understand is that if you choose to go to the sugar beet farms, the whole family will be reunited again but you will have to do hard, manual labour.
[Okaasan]<shout4|(click:?shout4)[(replace:?shout4)[Mother]] seems very stressed being here but she perks up at the idea of being reunited with [Otoosan]<shout7|(click:?shout7)[(replace:?shout7)[Father]].
What Otoosan wants to do is blacked out, so you can’t know whether to [[GO OR WAIT->go or waitalt2]].
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Back in Building A, rumours circulate that the Nisei Mass Evacuation Group—the young men protesting against breaking up families—is gaining headway with the government. Instead of being sent to the prairies, now there is talk about camps being built in the interior to house the Japanese Canadians removed from the 100 mile radius zone. The Nisei Mass Evacuation Group wants all fathers and husbands to be moved to these camps, and are asking for everyone in Hastings Park to support this plan.
This could mean that you could see [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] without going to the sugar beet farms, but you would have to wait a bit longer. The idea of seeing your father sooner makes you emotional but you want to show your support for the Nisei Mass Evacuation Group. Hide and Kimiko warn you that you could get in trouble for supporting the Nisei Mass Evacuation Group, reminding you of their brother.
Do you listen to the [[GIRLS->listengirlsalt2]] or [[SUPPORT->protestbreakalt2]] the Nisei Mass Evacuation Group?(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
The girls still carry a lot of pain from their older brother being sent to a prisoner-of-war camp for protesting, so you agree to let the Nisei Mass Evacuation Group handle the protesting.
The next day you meet Kenji at the fence again. He wants to know what you think the family should do: agree to work on the sugar beet farms, or wait and see if the nisei can reunite family members.
“What should we do, Midori?”
Do you go to the [[PRAIRIES->goprairiesalt]] or stay in [[HASTINGS PARK->waithastingsalt2]]?
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
You speak with the women in the building whose sons are rumoured to be part of the Nisei Mass Evacuation Group. They smile at you and one pats your head. “[Gambatte]<shout5|(click:?shout5)[(replace:?shout5)[Stay strong]],” they say. “We all have a role, and your's is to stay safe with your family.”
The next day you meet Kenji at the fence again. He wants to know what you think you should do: agree to work on the sugar beet farms, or wait and see if the nisei can reunite family members.
“What should we do, Midori?”
Do you go to the [[PRAIRIES->goprairiesalt]] or stay in [[HASTINGS PARK->waithastingsalt2]]?
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
“We should wait,” you tell Kenji. “I trust the Nisei Mass Evacuation Group.”
A week later, an official comes to the women and children’s quarters and informs many of you to pack up and go to the train station—you’re headed into the interior with [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] and Kenji. The protests worked and families will be reunited in the camps. This will be where your family will be living for the forseeable future.
You can’t find Kimiko or Hide in the building and want to say goodbye before you leave, but the rest of the women are already headed out. Standing in line on the train platform, the girls find you. “We’ve been assigned to New Denver,” Hide says, pointing to another line forming further away. “But looks like your train is going elsewhere.” They both give you a tight hug goodbye. “Take care, Midori. May we meet again.”
You don’t know what to do as you watch the girls head towards the other line. The train conductor blows his whistle for everyone to board the [[TRAIN->boardalt2]].{ (set: $counter to 120)
**You have |amount>[$counter] seconds to make a choice!**
(live:1s) [
(set: $counter to it - 1)
(if: $counter is 0) [ (go-to: "POalt2")]
(replace: ?amount) [$counter]
]}
(enchant:?passage,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Kenji rushes towards you and your mother. He says the officer told him you are all heading to Popoff, but Kimiko, Hide and their mother are now waiting to go to New Denver. You think the three of you could make it over to the other line before they board, but you don’t have much time to decide.
Do you [[STAY->POalt2]] in line for Popoff or encourage them to [[SWITCH->NDalt2]] for New Denver.
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
[Okaasan]<shout4|(click:?shout4)[(replace:?shout4)[Mother]] wants to be reunited with [Otoosan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Father]], so your family volunteers to work on a sugar beet farm in Manitoba. Hide and Kimiko are sad to see you go, but they wish you well. A week later, your family boards a train out of Hastings Park.
It takes two days to pass through the prairies; outside your window, the flat landscape stretches as far as you can see. It is so very different from Vancouver Island and the coastal views.
When you arrive in the city Winnipeg, [Otoosan]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Father]] waves to you from the platform. At first, you do not recognize him; it’s been five months since he left Nanaimo, and he is thinner than you remember with dark hands from the dirty work of building the highway. As he approaches, you rush up to hug him tightly.
“I’m proud of you, Midori,” [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] says, his hand on your shoulder. “You took care of the family.”
For the first time, you feel sure you made the right decision to go to the sugar beet farms.
You are guided by an [[OFFICER->guidealtsb]].
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
The British Columbia Security Commission has set up ‘housing’ for Japanese Canadians in an area called “The Orchard.” You expected rows of houses but what you find are many hastily constructed shacks alongside a few tents. An official assigns you to share a shack with another family. It has only a small kitchen in the middle, with two rooms on either side with planks for each family to sleep on. You can’t help but feel like you are inside a woven basket: the wood is green with spaces between the slats for the wind to whistle through. It is nothing like your cozy home in Nanaimo.
Farther up the road a sanitorium is being built to house patients with tuberculosis; the locals will later call it “The San.” There are only a few outhouses set up for the entire camp, and a large mess hall for those in the tents.
The one good thing is that Otoosan will soon [[ARRIVE->arrivealt1nd]].
<img src="http://www.nikkeimuseum.org/files/nikkeImgFMP12/JCNM%20Database/files/ARTEFACT/Image_Image%201/8104/1994-69-4-21.jpg" width="600" height="400">
NNM 1994.69.4.21
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
A letter arrives saying that [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] is on his way back to you.
The day he is supposed to arrive, your whole family waits at the train station. At first, you do not recognize him; it’s been five months since he left Nanaimo, and [Otoosan]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Father]] is thinner than you remember, his hands dark from the dirty work of building the highway. As he approaches, you rush up to hug him tightly.
“I’m proud of you Midori,” [Otoosan]<shout5|(click:?shout5)[(replace:?shout5)[Father]] says, his hand on your shoulder. “You took care of the family.”
For the first time, you feel sure you made the right decision not to go to the sugar beet farms.
It is now October 1942 and so much has changed since you were forcibly removed from your home in Nanaimo. Winter will soon [[ARRIVE->winteralt1nd]].
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
By November, a winter chill hits the camp. It is unlike anything you experienced in Nanaimo; here in the mountains, the cold sneaks into your lungs and turns your nose red.
Thankfully you packed two blankets, instead of just one, and you also packed winter clothes.
You hope that the blankets you brought will be [[ENOUGH->enoughalt1nd]].
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
A few days later, the British Columbia Security Commission hands out two more blankets to each person because it is predicted that this year will be the coldest on record. By December, people still live in tents, and they collapse beneath the heavy snowfalls. Hide and Kimiko are living in one of them. Even in your small shack, the cracks between the slabs of wood let the cold inside, and each morning your water bucket is a layer of frozen ice as thick as your thumb.
Some people get sick, but you’re warm enough and still able to help out your community with the [[CHORES->choresalt1nd]].
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Everyone in the camp works together to build a sense of comfort in these strange times, and helping your neighbours is one of your chores. Each night you deliver candles, walking between the shacks and tents; other days you bring water from the wells, chop wood, forage for matsutake mushrooms in the mountains, or pick berries near the train track with Kenji. The government gives you bags of rice, but when you open them you discover they aren’t pure—[Okaasan]<shout9|(click:?shout9)[(replace:?shout9)[Mother]] makes everyone sort it out grain by grain before she cooks it in her one large cast iron pot, the only one she could bring from Nanaimo.
You bond with the other girls, and go ice skating in the winter or swimming in the summer. Eventually, members of the camp set up weekly movie screenings and festivals like Bon Odori bring everyone together to celebrate with music and dances. You wish you had your kimono with you to wear on these occasions. Some of the women convince the guards to open a beauty salon to boost morale.
In 1942, you don’t have any schooling. [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[ (replace:?shout2)[Mother]] packed Japanese language books, but when the Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers found out about them, they made a big bonfire in the camp and burned every book with the Japanese language in it. After some time, older kids who finished high school came together and helped you continue your studies.
By next spring, people begin to plant gardens around their shacks—you live this routine for the rest of the year.
[[1943->1943alt1nd]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
In 1943, rumours circulate about an organization called the Office of the Custodian of Enemy Property. The government created it to care for your house and belongings back in Nanaimo, because a promise was made that they would be protected when you were forcibly removed. However, Hide and Kimiko know that on Salt Spring Island, as soon as the boat left, all the Japanese Canadian homes and properties were looted, even the school.
In the fall, a letter arrives from [Goro Oji-san]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Uncle Goro]] saying that his home in Prince Rupert was sold without his consent. This greatly concerns [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] and [Okaasan]<shout7|(click:?shout7)[(replace:?shout7)[Mother]], who have no intention of selling their home in Nanaimo. Days later, your parents receive a letter stating their house and belongings have been sold. A new bank account has been opened for them, and they find that the money deposited is well below the actual value of everything they left behind. Now you will never be able to return to your favourite spot on the dock to watch the sunset. The government broke their promise.
This angers you, and one day you talk to the girls about protesting. Kimiko and Hide say they will as well, but because their brother was sent to a prisoner-of-war camp, they decide to protest by writing a letter. You think this might be a good idea.
Your parents won’t admit it, but they are devastated at the loss of their home. When you mention protesting, [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] says, “Shikata ga nai,” which you translate from Japanese into “It can’t be helped.” Still, a part of you feels like this is wrong, that the government shouldn’t be able to sell your family’s house.
Do you follow the girls and [[WRITE->letteralt1nd]] a letter to the government or [[LISTEN->listenalt1nd]] to your mother?
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Weeks pass before you receive a form letter from the Custodian saying that there is nothing that can be done about your house—selling Japanese Canadian property is government policy during the war.
Now you realize there is no home to return to in Nanaimo. All your belongings are gone. (if: $gift is "smuggle the camera") [You're relieved you chose to (print: $gift) with you when you left so that you still have something you cherish.] (else:) [Your heart drops when you remember that you chose to (print: $gift) and now it's gone.]
[[WEEKS LATER->campalt]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Weeks pass, and even though you didn’t write a letter, Kimiko and Hide did. They receive a form letter from the Custodian saying that there is nothing that can be done about their family’s house—selling Japanese Canadian property is government policy during the war.
Now they have no home to return to, and you realize neither do you. All your belongings are gone. (if: $gift is "smuggle the camera") [You're relieved you chose to (print: $gift) with you when you left so that you still have something you cherish.] (else:) [Your heart drops when you remember that you chose to (print: $gift) and now it's gone.]
[[WEEKS LATER->campalt]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
In the summer of 1944, the government announces a new policy: either Japanese Canadians agree to move east of the Rocky Mountains and leave British Columbia, or they must renounce being Canadian citizenship and go to Japan. This shocks those in the camps, and many feel confused and worried by this change. You have been living at the camp for the last two years, and feel upset at being forcibly removed for a second time.
“We should go to Japan,” [Okaasan]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Mother]] says. “They don’t want us here.”
“I’m Canadian,” says Kenji. “Midori and I were born here. It’s hard for either of us to speak Japanese. What will Japan have for us?”
“They say we must decide now and [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] is set to go back to [Nihon]<shout7|(click:?shout7)[(replace:?shout7)[Japan]],” [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] says. “You two are old enough to decide for yourselves.”
Do you want to [[STAY IN CANADA->CDNalt]] or be [[EXILED TO JAPAN->JPNalt]]? (enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
A letter comes saying that [Otoosan]<shout9|(click:?shout9)[(replace:?shout9)[Father]] is on his way back to you.
The day he is supposed to arrive, your whole family waits at the train station. At first, you do not recognize him; it’s been five months since he left Nanaimo, and [Otoosan]<shout6|(click:?shout6)[(replace:?shout6)[Father]] is thinner than you remember, his hands dark from the dirty work of building the highway. As he approaches, you rush up to hug him tightly.
“I’m proud of you, Midori,” [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] says, his hand on your shoulder. “You took care of the family.”
For the first time, you feel sure you made the right decision not to go to the sugar beet farms.
It is now October 1942, and so much has changed since you were forcibly removed from your home in Nanaimo. Winter will soon [[ARRIVE->winteralt1po]].
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
By November, a winter chill hits the camp. It is unlike anything you experienced in Nanaimo; here in the interior, the cold sneaks into your lungs and turns your nose red. Thankfully you packed two blankets, instead of just one, and you also packed winter clothes.
You hope that the blankets you brought will be [[ENOUGH->enoughalt1po]].
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
At first, you stay warm. But in December a heavy snowfall layers the camp, and the tents collapse beneath the weight. It is so cold that each morning you wake to find a layer of frozen ice as thick as your thumb in the water bucket.
A few days later, the British Columbia Security Commission hands out two more blankets to each person because it is predicted this year will be the coldest on record.
Some people get sick, but you’re warm enough and still able to help out your community with the [[CHORES->choresalt1po]].
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Everyone in the camp works together to build a sense of comfort in these strange times, and helping your neighbours is one of your chores. Each night you deliver candles, walking between the shacks and tents; other days you bring water from the wells, chop wood, forage for matsutake mushrooms in the mountains, or pick berries near the train track with Kenji. The government gives you bags of rice, but when you open them you discover they aren’t pure—[Okaasan]<shout9|(click:?shout9)[(replace:?shout9)[Mother]] makes everyone sort it out grain by grain before she cooks it in her one large cast iron pan, the only one she could bring from Nanaimo.
You bond with the other girls, and go ice skating in winter or swimming in the summer. Eventually, members of the camp set up weekly movie screenings and festivals like Bon Odori bring everyone together to celebrate with music and dances. You wish you brought your kimono to wear on these occasions.
In 1942, you don’t have any schooling. [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[ (replace:?shout2)[Mother]] packed Japanese language books, but when the Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers found out about them, they made a big bonfire in the camp and burned every book with the Japanese language in it. After some time, older kids who finished high school came together and helped you continue your studies.
By next spring, the men finish building enough shacks for everyone, and your family moves into a two-bedroom shack with another household. People begin to plant gardens around their shacks—you live this routine for the rest of the year.
[[1943->43alt1po]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
In 1943, rumours circulate about an organization called the Office of the Custodian of Enemy Property. The government created it to care for your house and belongings back in Nanaimo, because a promise was made that they would be protected when you were forcibly removed. However, people know that as soon as Japanese Canadians left, all their homes and properties were looted, even the schools.
In the fall, a letter arrives from [Goro Oji-san]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Uncle Goro]] saying that his home in Prince Rupert was sold without his consent. This greatly concerns [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] and [Okaasan]<shout7|(click:?shout7)[ (replace:?shout7)[Mother]], who have no intention of selling their home in Nanaimo. Days later, your parents receive a letter stating their house and belongings have been sold. A new bank account has been opened for them, and they find that the money deposited is well below the actual value of everything they left behind. Now you will never be able to return to your favourite spot on the dock to watch the sunset. The government broke their promise.
This angers you, and one day you talk to Kenji about protesting. He says you should write a letter to the government. Your parents won’t admit it, but they are devastated at the loss of their home. When you mention protesting, [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] says, “Shikata ga nai,” which you translate from Japanese into “It can’t be helped.” Still, a part of you feels like this is wrong, that the government shouldn’t be able to sell your family’s house.
Do you [[WRITE->letteralt1po]] a letter or [[LISTEN->listenalt1po]] to your mother?
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Weeks pass before you receive a form letter from the Custodian saying that there is nothing that can be done about your house—selling Japanese Canadian property is government policy during the war.
Now you realize there is no home to return to in Nanaimo. All your belongings are gone. (if: $gift is "smuggle the camera") [You're relieved you chose to (print: $gift) with you when you left so that you still have something you cherish.] (else:) [Your heart drops when you remember that you chose to (print: $gift) and now it's gone.]
[[WEEKS LATER->campalt]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Weeks pass, and even though you didn’t write a letter, other community members did. One received a form letter from the Custodian saying that there is nothing that can be done about his house—selling Japanese Canadian property is government policy during the war.
Now they have no home to return to, and you realize neither do you. All your belongings are gone. (if: $gift is "smuggle the camera") [You're relieved you chose to (print: $gift) with you when you left so that you still have something you cherish.] (else:) [Your heart drops when you remember that you chose to (print: $gift) and now it's gone.]
[[WEEKS LATER->campalt]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
The British Columbia Security Commission has set up ‘housing’ for Japanese Canadians in an area called “The Orchard.” You expected rows of houses but what you find are many hastily constructed shacks alongside a few tents. An official assigns you to share a shack with another family. It has only a small kitchen in the middle, and two rooms on either side with planks for each family to sleep on. You can’t help but feel like you are inside a woven basket: the wood is green with spaces between the slats for the wind to whistle through. It is nothing like your cozy home in Nanaimo.
Further up the road a sanitorium is being built to house patients with tuberculosis; the locals will later call it “The San.” There are only a few outhouses set up for the entire camp, and a large mess hall for those in the tents.
The one good thing is that Otoosan will soon [[ARRIVE->Otoosanarrivealt2nd]].
<img src="http://www.nikkeimuseum.org/files/nikkeImgFMP12/JCNM%20Database/files/ARTEFACT/Image_Image%201/8104/1994-69-4-21.jpg" width="600" height="400">
NNM 1994.69.4.21
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
A letter arrives saying that [Otoosan]<shout9|(click:?shout9)[(replace:?shout9)[Father]] is on his way back to you.
The day he is supposed to arrive, your whole family waits at the train station. At first, you do not recognize him; it’s been five months since he left Nanaimo, and [Otoosan]<shout8|(click:?shout8)[(replace:?shout8)[Father]] is thinner than you remember, his hands dark from the dirty work of building the highway. As he approaches, you rush up to hug him tightly.
“I’m proud of you Midori,” [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] says, his hand on your shoulder. “You took care of the family.”
For the first time, you feel sure that you made the right decision not to go to the sugar beet farms.
It is now October 1942, and so much has changed since you were forcibly removed from your home in Nanaimo. Winter will soon [[ARRIVE->winteralt2nd]].
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
By November, a winter chill hits the camp. It is unlike anything you experienced in Nanaimo; here in the mountains, the cold sneaks into your lungs and turns your nose red. When you packed for Hastings Park, you only took one blanket. It was springtime then, unlike the freezing conditions in New Denver now, and you didn’t expect to be gone this long from your home.
You worry whether the blanket you brought will be [[ENOUGH->enoughalt2nd]]
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
A few days later, the British Columbia Security Commission hands out two more blankets to each person because it is predicted that this year will be the coldest on record. By December, people still live in tents, and they collapse beneath the heavy snowfalls. Hide and Kimiko are living in one of them. Even in your small shack, the cracks between the slabs of wood let the cold inside, and each morning your water bucket is a layer of frozen ice as thick as your thumb.
Your throat hurts, and one day you wake up with a fever and a cough. [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] won’t let you help out with the chores, and orders you to rest in bed. Others in the camp also fall sick. A doctor comes to visit, and tells you that it isn’t tuberculosis, but you still spend the majority of the winter inside.
[[1943->1943alt2nd]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
While you’re sick in bed, Kenji tells you that rumours are circulating about an organization called the Office of the Custodian of Enemy Property. The government created it to care for your house and belongings back in Nanaimo, because a promise was made that they would be protected when you were forcibly removed. However, Kimiko and Hide know that on Salt Spring Island, as soon as the boat left, all the Japanese Canadian homes and properties were looted, even the school.
In the early spring, a letter arrives from [Goro Oji-san]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Uncle Goro]] saying that his home in Prince Rupert was sold without his consent. This greatly concerns [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] and [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]], who have no intention of selling the home in Nanaimo. Days later, your parents receive a letter stating their house and belongings have been sold. A new bank account has been opened for them, and they find that the money deposited is well below the actual value of everything they left behind. Now you will never be able to return to your favourite spot on the dock to watch the sunset. The government broke their promise.
Your parents won’t admit it, but they are devastated at the loss of the house. Now there is no home to return to and all your belongings are gone. (if: $gift is "smuggle the camera") [You're relieved you chose to (print: $gift) with you when you left so that you still have something you cherish.] (else:) [Your heart drops when you remember that you chose to (print: $gift) and now it's gone.]
[[WEEKS LATER->campalt]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
A letter comes saying that [Otoosan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Father]] is on his way back to you.
The day he is supposed to arrive, your whole family waits at the train station. At first, you do not recognize him; it’s been five months since he left Nanaimo, and [Otoosan]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Father]] is thinner than you remember, his hands dark from the dirty work of building the highway. As he approaches, you rush up to hug him tightly.
“I’m proud of you, Midori,” [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] says, his hand on your shoulder. “You took care of the family.”
For the first time, you feel sure you made the right decision not to go to the sugar beet farms.
It is now October 1942, and so much has changed since you were forcibly removed from your home in Nanaimo. Winter will soon [[ARRIVE->winteralt2po]].
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
By November, a winter chill hits the camp. It is unlike anything you experienced in Nanaimo; here in the interior, the cold sneaks into your lungs and turns your nose red. When you packed for Hastings Park, you only took one blanket. It was springtime then, unlike the freezing conditions in Popoff now, and you didn’t expect to be gone this long.
You worry whether the blanket you brought will be [[ENOUGH->enoughalt2po]].
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
At first, you stay warm. But in December a heavy snowfall layers the camp, and the tents collapse beneath the weight. It is so cold that each morning you wake to find a layer of frozen ice as thick as your thumb in the water bucket.
You get extremely sick and can’t help out your family or community with the chores like chopping wood, fetching water from the well, or helping cook.
[[WEEKS LATER->weekslateralt2po]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Months go by in Popoff, and you become so ill [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] has no choice but to tell an officer. A doctor is called and he diagnoses you with tuberculosis.
[Okaasan]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Mother]] tells you a sanitorium being built in the internment camp called New Denver, where Kimiko and Hide are. You will be sent there as soon as it's completed, and your family cannot come. “I will write to you,” Kenji says.
A Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer has to transfer you with the doctor. When you are loaded into the truck, [Otoosan]<shout5|(click:?shout5)[(replace:?shout5)[Father]] squeezes your shoulder. “[Gambatte]<shout4|(click:?shout4)[(replace:?shout4)[Stay strong]],” he says. The doors close and you can no longer see your family. The tires grind into the gravel as you leave Popoff behind, heading for another strange place.
The [[SAN->Sanalt2po]]...
<img src="http://www.nikkeimuseum.org/files/nikkeImgFMP12/JCNM%20Database/files/ARTEFACT/Image_Image%201/17955/2012-20-17.jpg" width="600" height="400">
NNM 2012.20.17
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
After you arrive in New Denver, Kimiko and Hide visit you in the sanitorium. You’re still weak, so they pat your shoulder and talk so you don’t have to. They explain that rumours are circulating about an organization called the Office of the Custodian of Enemy Property; the government created it to care for your house and belongings back in Nanaimo, because a promise was made that they would be protected when you were forcibly removed. However, Kimiko and Hide heard that on Salt Spring Island, as soon as the boat left all the Japanese Canadian homes and properties were looted, even the school.
A week later, they read you a letter from Kenji: Your family house and belongings in Nanaimo has been sold without your parent’s consent, and the government provided a new bank account. They find that the money deposited is well below the actual value of everything they left behind. Now you will never get to fish off the back dock again. The government broke their promise. Now you will never be able to return to your favourite spot on the dock to watch the sunset. The government broke their promise.
All your belongings are gone. (if: $gift is "smuggle the camera") [You're relieved you chose to (print: $gift) with you when you left so that you still have something you cherish.] (else:) [Your heart drops when you remember that you chose to (print: $gift) and now it's gone.]
[[MONTHS LATER->monthsalt2po]]...
<img src="http://www.nikkeimuseum.org/files/nikkeImgFMP12/JCNM%20Database/files/ARTEFACT/Image_Image%201/17955/2012-20-17.jpg" width="600" height="400">
NNM 2012.20.17
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
In the summer of 1945, the government announces a new policy: either Japanese Canadians agree to move east of the Rockies and leave British Columbia, or they must renounce their Canadian citizenship and go to Japan. This shocks the camps, and many feel confused and worried by this change.
In a letter, Okaasan says that the family should go to Japan because Canada doesn’t want us here, but you are not so sure. You were born in Canada, and it is hard for you to speak Japanese. Neither you nor Kenji have ever been to Japan, a country entirely foreign to you.
Hide and Kimiko plan to go to Ontario and reunite with their brother. You wonder if perhaps this is a good option for your family, too.
In the end, since there is nothing in Nanaimo to return to since your home and belongings were sold by the government, your parents decide to register to go to Japan. Because you are sick in the sanitorium, they also register you to be [[EXILED TO JAPAN->JPNSanalt2po]].
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
When you are healthy again, officials send you to meet your family in a place called Tashme. It is another internment camp, close to Vancouver, where the Japanese Canadians who registered to go to Japan are sent.
When you arrive, your father hugs you, relieved to see that you are no longer sick. [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] gently touches your face, and you notice a worried look in her eyes.
“Where’s Kenji?” you ask.
"Your brother decided to stay in Canada,” [Otoosan]<shout5|(click:?shout5)[(replace:?shout5)[Father]] says. “He said that Canada is his home and he wasn’t going to be shipped away to a foreign place." Thanks to [Goro Oji-san]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Uncle Goro]], he found a job in Toronto, and arrived there before you had even left the sanitorium.
The sudden realization that you will not see your brother hits you harder than you expected. After everything you’ve been through, you always thought your family would stay together.
[[AUGUST 1945->aug45altpo2]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
On August 6th and 9th, 1945, the United States drops two atomic bombs on Japan: one on Hiroshima city and the other on Nagasaki city. The news shocks everyone in Tashme because all of you are had registered to go to Japan. Now it is a war-ravaged country that won’t have a lot of resources or food.
“What does this mean?” [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] asks. “What will we do?”
“We have no choice,” replies [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]]. “We must go.”
[[FINAL GOODBYE->Finalalt2po]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
A train takes you to the waterfront in Vancouver, where you board a large boat with all of the other Japanese Canadians. You smell the sea spray and ocean brine for the first time since you were forcibly removed from Nanaimo, and the sound of the seagulls makes you yearn for home.
The boat attendant secures your belongings, the same single suitcase you packed years ago. You stand outside on the deck and let the wind whip your hair around. You can see fishermen out on the water. It reminds you of your all the mornings you saw [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] and the others leave Nanaimo each morning.
When the boat blows its horn and pulls away from the shore, people on the boat cry, and you do too. You raise your hand to Canada, your country, and say farewell. It breaks your heart to say goodbye.
[[EPILOGUE]]...
<img src="https://www.landscapesofinjustice.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Exile_-LAC_PA-119024.png" width="900" height="500">
Credit: Library and Archives Canada / PA-119024(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
An officer takes you to a building, saying that you will all stay here until a farmer comes to offer you work. They separate the women and men once again, leading Kenji and [Otoosan]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Father]] in one direction, and you want to protest.
Do you stay [[CALM->calmaltsb]] or [[PROTEST->protestaltsb]]?
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
A man comes up to you and asks, “You the Mee-zu-kam-ees?” When [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] nods, he says, “I’m your driver.” The man doesn’t help you, but just points to the back of his truck.
You take your belongings and climb into the back. The driver pulls out from the station and you jostle in the cab, dust kicking up from the tires and tickling your nose. You sneeze repeatedly, and soon you cover your eyes with your hands. The dusty air makes it hard to breathe for the whole ride.
When you finally [[ARRIVE->barkeraltsb]].
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
It is evening when the truck stops, and the dust settles. Fields surround you in every direction, and the only buildings are a small one-storey house, a barn, and a small chicken coop tucked into the corner of the property.
The driver honks his horn, and once you are all out of the back with your belongings, the truck pulls away. The front door opens, and a farmer comes out. He approaches and says, "I'm William Barker and you'll be in my employ." He points to the chicken coop and says, “You will stay there. We work Monday through Saturday, with Sundays off.” He hesitates, but then offers to shake [Otoosan's]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father's]] hand. “It isn’t much, but it’s what we got.”
You look at the house and see a woman and two children in the doorway. The children look young, and one waves to you. Something about them reminds you of Mr. Hansen and the other white fishermen in Nanaimo, and for the first time since you've left your home, you feel a bit hopeful.
You approach your new [[HOME->coopaltsb]].
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Inside the old chicken coop, there is one window, a small pot-bellied stove, and some blankets covering a few wooden planks laid out over the dirt floor. It is only one room for all four of you. Thick layers of dust coat everything, and you can’t imagine ever getting it clean like your home in Nanaimo.
It is early summer now, so the weather is some of the hottest you’ve felt, but [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] says the winter out here will be gruelling without any insulation in this coop. While the farmer seems nice, it is clear that he doesn’t have much money or resources himself, so your family will have to fix up the small shack themselves.
Your family must quickly learn the ropes of working the [[SUGAR BEET FIELDS->sugarbeetsaltsb]].
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
In the fields, you do back-breaking labour. The beets grow in rows upon rows, and there are no trees to sit under and rest from the scorching sun. You are very isolated from any sense of community—there are no other houses for miles in either direction.
As the season changes and the weather grows wetter, lumps of earth stick to your gumboots making it even harder to move. It is so cold in the winter that you have to wear gloves inside the shack.
After work, you must help your family with chores. You mostly haul water from the well because living at the farm means a lot of cleaning. Dust settles everywhere, and the mud sticks to your clothes, your skin, and tools.
For the next year, you all settle into this routine of [[HARD WORK->routinealtsb]].
<img src="http://www.nikkeimuseum.org/files/nikkeImgFMP12/JCNM%20Database/files/ARTEFACT/Image_Image%201/9003/1995-134-1-7.jpg" width="500" height="300">
NNM 1995.134.1.7.a-b
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
In 1943, [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] wants to buy supplies to make the chicken coop more homelike, but he can’t afford much on the small salary. The government pays your family very little for their hard work. Mr. Barker is on the poverty line himself, so he can’t offer any money himself, even though he admits that you deserve better pay.
You learn of an opportunity to do extra work in town setting bowling pins at the bowling alley. It is half an hour walk each way, but the pay would help your family buy things like new mattresses or better supplies.
Do you apply for extra work in [[TOWN->bowlingaltsb]] or continue to do chores around the [[FARM->farmaltsb]]?(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Three evenings a week, after you finish labouring in the fields, you walk all the way to the bowling alley to set the pins. You make three cents a game, and thanks to many leagues in the area, you make good money. Once that work is over, you rush home to do your homework.
It is exhausting, but over time, you make enough to buy your family a new mantle radio. It brings a touch of life to your small home, and although they won’t admit it, you know your parents are happy to listen to radio shows once again.
[[1943->1943altsb]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Because the war is still on, your work on the sugar beet farm is deemed essential for the wartime effort. You learn that Japanese Canadians are working on sugar beet farms not just in Manitoba, but in Alberta too. There, Japanese Canadian labour are producing the heaviest beet yields and supplying 65% of Alberta’s sugar beet produce. Farmers don’t want to lose this cheap labour force.
Your skin chaps from the dry, dusty air, and soon your hands develop hard calluses. Time passes in a haze.
[[1943->1943altsb]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Over dinner one evening, [Otoosan]<shout8|(click:?shout8)[(replace:?shout8)[Father]] mentions that Farmer Barker heard about an organization called the Office of the Custodian of Enemy Property. The government created it to care for your house and belongings back in Nanaimo, because a promise was made that they would be protected when you were forcibly removed. However, rumours circulated that as soon as the boat left, all the Japanese Canadian homes and properties were looted, even the school.
In the early spring, a letter arrives from [Goro Oji-san]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Uncle Goro]] saying that his home in Prince Rupert was sold without his consent. This greatly concerns [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] and [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]], who have no intention of selling the home in Nanaimo. Days later, your parents receive a letter stating their house and belongings have been sold. A new bank account has been opened for them, and they find that the money deposited is well below the actual value of everything they left behind. Now you will never be able to return to your favourite spot on the dock to watch the sunset. The government broke their promise.
Your parents won’t admit it, but they are devastated at the loss of the house. Now there is no home to return to and all your belongings are gone. (if: $gift is "smuggle the camera") [You're relieved you chose to (print: $gift) with you when you left so that you still have something you cherish.] (else:) [Your heart drops when you remember that you chose to (print: $gift) and now it's gone.]
[[1945->1944altsb]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
In the summer of 1944, the government announces a new policy: either Japanese Canadians agree to move east of the Rockies and leave British Columbia, or they must renounce being Canadian and go to Japan. This shocks your parents, and they feel confused and worried by this change. You have been living at the farm for the last two years, and feel upset at being forcibly removed for a second time.
“We should go to Japan,” [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] says. “They don’t want us here.”
“I’m Canadian,” says Midori. “Kenji and I were born here. It’s hard for either of us to speak Japanese. What will Japan have for us?”
“They say we must decide now,” Otoosan says. “Farmer Barker says we can stay here on the farm instead of having to move further east. We might be able to move back to the coast someday if we stay.”
Do you want to [[STAY IN CANADA->CDNaltSB]] or be [[EXILED TO JAPAN->JPNaltSB]]? (enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Your parents are wavering, but you are sure that you want to stay in Canada. “Kenji and I were born here,” you say. “We are Canadian citizens, and I will not leave our country.”
“But Canada has done nothing for us,” [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] says. “We should go where we will be accepted.”
You respond, “But what will we do in Japan? Kenji and I can barely speak Japanese now, and the war will leave nothing for us there.”
After many arguments and discussions, the family decides to stay together in Canada. You do not need to move farther east because you are already in Manitoba, but [Goro Oji-san]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Uncle Goro]] resettles in Toronto.
[[AUGUST 1945->Aug1945altSB]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
This decision is the hardest you’ve had to make, but you decide that you will go with your parents. “I won’t leave [Okaasan]<shout6|(click:?shout6)[(replace:?shout6)[Mother]],” you say.
Your brother Kenji is wavering. “We were born here,” he says. “We are Canadian citizens, and I will not leave my birthplace, my home.” Now that he is sixteen, he can go east without your family; [Goro Oji-san]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Uncle Goro]] is already in Toronto and he has agreed to help him find work if he wants to join him.
However, [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] says she will sign up to go to Japan, and she won’t change her mind no matter what Kenji says. [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] won’t leave your mother again, so he agrees to go with her.
“Our parents are too old to go alone,” you tell him. “It is our responsibility to take care of them.”
Do you convince Kenji to go to [[JAPAN->convincealtSB]] or let him make [[HIS OWN CHOICE->let himaltSB]]?
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
This decision is the hardest you’ve had to make, but you decide that you will stay. “I won’t leave Canada,” you say. “This is my country, my home.”
Now that you are seventeen, you can go east without your family; [Goro Oji-san]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Uncle Goro]] is already in Toronto and he has agreed to help you find work if you want to join him. However, [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] has decided she will sign up to go to Japan, and won’t change her mind no matter what you or Kenji say. [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] won’t leave your mother again, so he agrees to go with her.
Kenji is torn between leaving with your parents or staying with you. “We were born here,” you say. “We are Canadian citizens, and I will not leave my birthplace.”
Do you convince Kenji to [[STAY->stayalt]] or let him make [[HIS OWN CHOICE->letchoicealt]]?
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
This decision is the hardest you’ve had to make, but you decide that you will go with your parents. “I won’t leave [Okaasan]<shout4|(click:?shout4)[(replace:?shout4)[Mother]],” you say.
Your brother Kenji is wavering. “We were born here,” he says. “We are Canadian citizens, and I will not leave my birthplace, my home.” Now that he is sixteen, he can go east without your family; [Goro Oji-san]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Uncle Goro]] is already in Toronto and he has agreed to help him find work if he wants to join him.
However, [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] says she will sign up to go to Japan, and won’t change her mind no matter what Kenji says. [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] won’t leave your mother again, so he agrees to go with her.
“Our parents are too old to go alone,” you tell Kenji. “It is our responsibility to take care of them.”
Do you convince Kenji to go with you to [[JAPAN->gowithalt]] or let him make [[HIS OWN CHOICE->choicealt]]?
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Kenji shakes his head and says, “I may be Canadian but someone has to look after our parents.”
A week later, officers send your family to a place called Tashme. It is another internment camp, close to Vancouver, where Japanese Canadians who registered to go to Japan are sent.
When they leave, you do not know when or if you will see them again. Your decision to stay in Canada has come at the cost of splitting up your family.
[[AUGUST 1945->torontoalt]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
You don’t pressure Kenji to stay, and he decides to go to Japan. “I may be Canadian but someone has to look after our parents.”
A week later, officers send your family to a place called Tashme. It is another internment camp, close to Vancouver, where Japanese Canadians who registered to go to Japan are sent.
When they leave, you do not know when or if you will see them again. Your decision to stay in Canada has come at the cost of splitting up your family.
[[AUGUST 1945->torontoalt]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
On August 6th and 9th, 1945, the United States drops two atomic bombs on Japan: one on Hiroshima city and the other on Nagasaki city. The news shocks the Japanese Canadian community, and you can’t help but worry about your family knowing that they signed up to go to Japan.
Now that you are separated, there is nothing you can do for them—you don’t even know if they are still in Canada or already on a boat crossing the Pacific Ocean.
[Goro Oji-san]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Uncle Goro]] is waiting for you in Toronto, where he has set up work for you as a domestic servant so that you can finish your high school at night like many of the other young Japanese Canadians. It is hard, hard work, and you face many obstacles in the city such as racism and discrimination. When you speak to the other Japanese Canadians, you learn that they have the same struggles.
When you board your final train out of British Columbia, you don’t know when you can return again. It breaks your heart to say goodbye.
[[EPILOGUE]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Kenji shakes his head and says, “I won’t leave my country. I am Canadian.”
A week later, officials are sending your family to a place called Tashme. It is another internment camp, close to Vancouver, where Japanese Canadians who registered to go to Japan are sent. At the train station, Kenji stands on the platform and waves his hand in farewell.
He disappears from view, and you do not know when or if you will see him again.
[[TASHME->tashmealt]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
“We were born here,” Kenji says. “We are Canadian citizens, and I will not leave my country.”
A week later, officials are sending your family to a place called Tashme. It is another internment camp, close to Vancouver, where Japanese Canadians who registered to go to Japan are sent. At the train station, Kenji stands on the platform and waves his hand in farewell.
He disappears from view, and you do not know when or if you will see him again.
[[TASHME->tashmealt]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
You arrive at Tashme, the internment camp close to Vancouver now meant to house Japanese Canadians who registered to go to Japan. You realize that this is what the alternative would have been to going to the sugar beet farms. Here in Tashme, there are tall trees and mountaintops as far as the eye can see.
[[AUGUST 1945->augalt]]...
<img src="https://nikkeimuseum.org/files/nikkeImgFMP12/JCNM%20Database/files/ARTEFACT/Image_Image%201/23852/2013-58-6.jpg" width="600" height="400">
NNM 2013.58.1.6(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
On August 6th and 9th, 1945, the United States drops two atomic bombs on Japan: one on Hiroshima city and the other on Nagasaki city. The news shocks everyone in Tashme because all of you had registered to go to Japan. Now it is a war-ravaged country that won’t have a lot of resources or food.
“What does this mean?” [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] asks. “What will we do?”
“Maybe we can stay,” replies [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]].
Do you still go to [[JAPAN->stillJPNalt]] or try to [[STAY->noCDNalt]] in Canada?
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
A train takes you to the waterfront in Vancouver, where you board a large boat with all of the other Japanese Canadians. You smell the sea spray and ocean brine for the first time since you were forcibly removed from Nanaimo, and the sound of the seagulls makes you yearn for home.
The boat attendant secures your belongings, the same single suitcase you packed years ago. You stand outside on the deck and let the wind whip your hair around. You can see fishermen out on the water. It reminds you of your all the mornings you saw [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] and the others leave Nanaimo each morning.
When the boat blows its horn and pulls away from the shore, people on the boat cry, and you do too. You raise your hand to Canada, your country, and say farewell. It breaks your heart to say goodbye.
[[EPILOGUE]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Your parents rush to speak to an official and declare your family wants to stay in Canada, and you are not the only ones to do so. There are many Japanese Canadians who no longer want to go to Japan now.
The official shakes his head. “You already signed up to go,” he says. “The government will not let you stay.”
[Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] says, “My daughter is Canadian. She was born here. She should stay if she wants to.”
“No,” the official says. “She signed up to go home.”
“This is my home,” you say, but the official has already moved on to the next family in line. Even though Japan has been bombed, no one in Tashme is allowed to stay in Canada.
[[FINAL GOODBYE->finalgoodbyealt]]...
<img src="http://www.nikkeimuseum.org/files/nikkeImgFMP12/JCNM%20Database/files/ARTEFACT/Image_Image%201/8451/1994-60-26.jpg" width="500" height="300">
NNM 1994.60.26
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
A train takes you to the waterfront in Vancouver, where you board a large boat with all of the other Japanese Canadians. You smell the sea spray and ocean brine for the first time since you were forcibly removed from Nanaimo, and the sound of the seagulls makes you yearn for home.
The boat attendant secures your belongings, the same single suitcase you packed years ago. You stand outside on the deck and let the wind whip your hair around. You can see fishermen out on the water. It reminds you of your all the mornings you saw [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] and the others leave Nanaimo each morning.
When the boat blows its horn and pulls away from the shore, people on the boat cry, and you do too. You raise your hand to Canada, your country, and say farewell. It breaks your heart to say goodbye.
[[EPILOGUE]]...
<img src="https://www.landscapesofinjustice.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Exile_-LAC_PA-119024.png" width="900" height="500">
Credit: Library and Archives Canada / PA-119024(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
On August 6th and 9th, 1945, the United States drops two atomic bombs on Japan: one on Hiroshima city and the other on Nagasaki city. The news shocks your family, and you can’t help but feel happy that you chose to stay in Canada—however, you worry about all the Japanese Canadians who signed up to go. You lost contact with Hide and Kimiko many years ago, but hope he is safe and well.
Months later you hear rumours about how hard it is for people in Japan after the bombing. Many go hungry and there are not enough resources for everyone.
[[FOUR YEARS PASS->fouryearsalt]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Four years pass, and you barely remember a life that did not revolve around farm work, dry summer heat, dust, and bitterly cold winters. Even though you slowly fixed up the chicken coop, it has never felt like your home in Nanaimo.
On April 1st 1949, the federal government finally allows Japanese Canadians to move freely throughout all of Canada, including British Columbia. This means that you can finally return to Vancouver Island.
Your family friend, Mr. Hansen, writes to [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] and says that he will help him fish again. Your parents are old enough to retire, but they can’t as they must rebulid their lives from scratch. Now you are 22, and you can finally apply to study photography at a university.
After seven long years, your family returns to [[NANAIMO->nanaimoalt]].(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
The west coast is just as you remembered: seagulls, sea spray, and brilliant sunshine that glimmers on the water. You walk by your old house, and a part of you wants to go up and knock on the door—but you hear a baby crying from inside, and you can’t bring yourself to disrupt the new family.
Even though you have returned to your hometown, you have come back to nothing. The government made a promise to keep your house and belongings safe, and that promise was broken. Thankfully, Mr. Hansen and his family help build you all a new house. Kenji joins the men fishing, naming themselves the ‘Nanaimo Fleet.’ Many of the canneries are trying to hire Japanese Canadians since they were such hard and efficient workers before the war, so they are never short of work. You take many photos of them and other families in the area, saving your money for photography school.
[Goro Oji-san]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Uncle Goro]] writes letters about the hardships of resettling in Toronto. After everything Japanese Canadians went through, people are still hostile towards them—discrimination and racism are still obstacles they must face. Even in Nanaimo, you are among the few Japanese Canadians to return, and not everyone is happy to see you again.
It takes time to rebuild your lives in Nanaimo, but you begin to find a new rhythm. It isn’t the same as before, but you are together as a family, and that is enough.
[[EPILOGUE]]...(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Kenji shakes his head and says, “I won’t leave my country. I am Canadian.”
A week later, officials are sending your family to a place called Tashme. It is another internment camp, close to Vancouver, where Japanese Canadians who registered to go to Japan are gathering. At the train station, Kenji stands on the platform and waves his hand in farewell.
He disappears from view, and you do not know if you will see him again.
[[TASHME->TashmealtSB]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
“We were born here,” Kenji says. “We are Canadian citizens, and I will not leave my country.”
A week later, officials are sending your family to a place called Tashme. It is another internment camp, close to Vancouver, where Japanese Canadians who registered to go to Japan are gathering. At the train station, Kenji stands on the platform and waves his hand in farewell.
He disappears from view, and you do not know if you will see him again.
[[TASHME->TashmealtSB]]...
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
You arrive at Tashme, the internment camp close to Vancouver now meant to house Japanese Canadians who registered to go to Japan. You realize that this is what the alternative would have been to going to the sugar beet farms. Here in Tashme, there are tall trees and mountaintops as far as the eye can see.
[[AUGUST 1945->aug1945altSB]]...
<img src="https://nikkeimuseum.org/files/nikkeImgFMP12/JCNM%20Database/files/ARTEFACT/Image_Image%201/23852/2013-58-6.jpg" width="600" height="400">
NNM 2013.58.1.6(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
On August 6th and 9th, 1945, the United States drops two atomic bombs on Japan: one on Hiroshima city and the other on Nagasaki city. The news shocks everyone in Tashme because all of you had registered to go to Japan. Now it is a war-ravaged country that won’t have a lot of resources or food.
“What does this mean?” [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] asks. “What will we do?”
“Maybe we can stay,” replies [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]].
Do you still go to [[JAPAN->stillJPNaltSB]] or try to [[STAY->noCDNaltSB]] in Canada?
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
A train takes you to the waterfront in Vancouver, where you board a large boat with all of the other Japanese Canadians. You smell the sea spray and ocean brine for the first time since you were forcibly removed from Nanaimo, and the sound of the seagulls makes you yearn for home.
The boat attendant secures your belongings, the same single suitcase you packed years ago. You stand outside on the deck and let the wind whip your hair around. You can see fishermen out on the water. It reminds you of your all the mornings you saw [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] and the others leave Nanaimo each morning.
When the boat blows its horn and pulls away from the shore, people on the boat cry, and you do too. You raise your hand to Canada, your country, and say farewell. It breaks your heart to say goodbye.
[[EPILOGUE]]...
<img src="https://www.landscapesofinjustice.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Exile_-LAC_PA-119024.png" width="900" height="500">
Credit: Library and Archives Canada / PA-119024(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Your parents rush to speak to an official and declare your family wants to stay in Canada, and you are not the only ones to do so. There are many Japanese Canadians who no longer want to go to Japan now.
The official shakes his head. “You already signed up to go,” he says. “The government will not let you stay.”
[Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] says, “My daughter is Canadian. She was born here. She should stay if she wants to.”
“No,” the official says. “She signed up to go home.”
“This is my home,” you say, but the official has already moved on to the next family in line. Even though Japan has been bombed, no one in Tashme is allowed to stay in Canada.
[[FINAL GOODBYE->finalgoodbyealtSB]]...
<img src="http://www.nikkeimuseum.org/files/nikkeImgFMP12/JCNM%20Database/files/ARTEFACT/Image_Image%201/8451/1994-60-26.jpg" width="500" height="300">
NNM 1994.60.26
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
A train takes you to the waterfront in Vancouver, where you board a large boat with all of the other Japanese Canadians. You smell the sea spray and ocean brine for the first time since you were forcibly removed from Nanaimo, and the sound of the seagulls makes you yearn for home.
The boat attendant secures your belongings, the same single suitcase you packed years ago. You stand outside on the deck and let the wind whip your hair around. You can see fishermen out on the water. It reminds you of your all the mornings you saw [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] and the others leave Nanaimo each morning.
When the boat blows its horn and pulls away from the shore, people on the boat cry, and you do too. You raise your hand to Canada, your country, and say farewell. It breaks your heart to say goodbye.
[[EPILOGUE]]...
<img src="https://www.landscapesofinjustice.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Exile_-LAC_PA-119024.png" width="900" height="500">
Credit: Library and Archives Canada / PA-119024
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
How to play:
Read through each passage. The last sentence of each passage will have words in blue in all capital letters. This is the connector to the next passage.
Sometimes in this game, you will have the option to choose how to move forward. Some choices will have a big impact on the path your story goes!
Now that you know how to play, click [[START]] to begin. (enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
On the walk to school, you see notices posted around town. It looks to be a government Proclamation from the Prime Minister on the war. You’re in a hurry to get to school so you and Midori keep walking.
Throughout the day, you hear people talking about war with Japan. You notice some of your classmates glancing over in your direction while talking in hushed tones.
You and Midori hurry straight home from [[SCHOOL->home]].
(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
At the dinner table, your parents look stressed and Midori asks what’s wrong.
[Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] explains that Imperial Japan attacked British and American allies yesterday. Canada has now declared war on Japan.
Your parents look at each other and speak in rapid Japanese. You only catch words like, [kodomotachi]<shout4|(click: ?shout4)[(replace:?shout4)['children']] and [abunai]<shout5|(click:?shout5)[(replace:?shout5)['danger']]. A heaviness enters your chest, and you feel something big has changed in the room.
[Goro Oji-san]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Uncle Goro]] calls the house, but you can’t understand everything your parents say. Your mother tells you not to go outside. Stewart Avenue is quiet.
[[DAYS LATER->Two days]]...
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Community members talk about buying Victory Bonds as a way to help Canada in the war effort. From delivering tofu you have just enough money of your own to buy one.
With your father gone, [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace: ?shout2)[Mother]] has taken on all the roles in the household, working twice as hard. She looks tired from trying to keep the house warm and clean. You want to support your family and give the money to your mother, but you also want to prove your loyalty by helping the war effort.
Will you buy a [[VICTORY BOND->buy a Victory Bond]] or support your [[FAMILY->support your family]]?
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On February 26th, a curfew goes up and you are no longer allowed outside your house from dusk to dawn. Officers also demand that all radios and cameras be turned into the Royal Canadian Mounted Police office in Nanaimo. This means that you can no longer listen to baseball or hockey games. You take the radio in but Midori refuses to turn in her camera, as a precious gift from [Goro Oji-san]<shout3| (click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Uncle Goro]], opting to hide it instead.
In [[MARCH 1942->forwardmarch]]...
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On the walk to school, you see notices posted around town. It looks to be a government Proclamation from the Prime Minister on the war. You’re in a hurry to get to school so you and Midori keep walking.
Throughout the day, you hear people talking about war with Japan. You notice some of your classmates glancing over your direction while talking in hushed tones.
You and Midori hurry straight home from [[SCHOOL->homealt]].
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At the dinner table, your parents look stressed and Midori asks what’s wrong.
[Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] explains that Imperial Japan attacked British and American allies yesterday. Canada has now declared war on Japan.
Your parents look at each other and speak in rapid Japanese. You only catch words like, [kodomotachi]<shout4|(click: ?shout4)[(replace:?shout4)['children']] and [abunai]<shout5|(click:?shout5)[(replace:?shout5)['danger']]. A heaviness enters your chest, and you feel something big has changed in the room.
[Goro Oji-san]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Uncle Goro]] calls the house, but you can’t understand everything your parents say. Your mother tells you not to go outside. Stewart Avenue is quiet.
[[DAYS LATER->new yearalt]]...
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By the middle of January, the government draws a 100 mile radius zone along British Columbia’s coast, stating this is the protected area.
In February, [Goro Oji-san]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Uncle Goro]] calls your father to talk about the road camp ‘volunteers,’ men who want to prove their loyalty to Canada by signing up to work in road camps. [Otoosan]<shout2|(click: ?shout2)[(replace: ?shout2)[Father]] wants to go because he thinks it will keep the family safe in Nanaimo, sheltering [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[ (replace:?shout2)[Mother]] and you from hardship.
Do you tell him this is a [[GOOD IDEA->good ideaalt]] or to [[NOT LEAVE->dont leavealt]]?
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“It’s for the family,” he tells you. [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] pats you on the head. “Be good to Kenji, and look after your mother.”
A few days later, he boards a big boat with the other men who volunteer, and you watch it leave the harbour.
One day you get a letter from him, and learn he is somewhere called Revelstoke. Large sections of the letter are blacked out from the censor, but you’re glad to learn that he’s safe.
[[A WEEK LATER->Victorybondsalt]]...
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Community members talk about buying Victory Bonds as a way to help Canada in the war effort. From taking family portraits with your camera, you have just enough money saved up to buy one.
With your father gone, [Okaasan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Mother]] has taken on all the roles in the household, working twice as hard. She looks tired from trying to keep the house warm and clean. You want to support your family and give the money to your mother, but you also want to prove your loyalty by helping the war effort.
Will you buy a [[VICTORY BOND->victorybondalt]] or support your [[FAMILY->supportfamilyalt]]?
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On February 26th, a curfew goes up and you are no longer allowed outside your house from dusk to dawn. Officers also demand that all radios and cameras be turned into the Royal Canadian Mounted Police office in Nanaimo. This means that you can no longer listen to radio shows. Kenji takes the radio in but you refuse to turn in your camera. It was a precious gift from [Goro Oji-san]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace: ?shout3)[Uncle Goro]] and instead you hide it.
In [[MARCH 1942->forwardmarchalt]]...(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
<img src="https://digital.lib.sfu.ca/islandora/object/vpl%3A372/datastream/OBJ/view" width="500" height="800">
VPL 372
In March, the federal government announces that an organization called the British Columbia Security Commission will remove all Japanese Canadians within a 100 mile radius of the British Columbia coast: “It shall be the duty of the Commission to plan, supervise, and direct the evacuation from the protected areas of British Columbia of all persons of the Japanese race.”
Notices go up around Nanaimo telling Japanese Canadians that they will be forcibly removed from Vancouver Island, causing agony within the community. You are confused by this because you were born in Canada, making you a Canadian citizen. You have never even been to Japan.
On [[MARCH 21, 1942->One dayalt]]...
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A letter comes saying that [Otoosan]<shout3|(click:?shout3)[(replace:?shout3)[Father]] is on his way back to you.
The day he is supposed to arrive, your whole family waits at the train station. You do not recognize him at first; it’s been five months since he left Nanaimo. [Otoosan]<shout2|(click:?shout2)[(replace:?shout2)[Father]] is thinner than you remember, his hands dark from the dirty work of building the highway in Revelstoke. As he approaches, you rush up to hug him tightly.
“I’m proud of you Kenji,” [Otoosan]<shout1|(click:?shout1)[(replace:?shout1)[Father]] says, his hand on your shoulder. “You took care of the family.”
For the first time, you feel sure that you made the right decision not to go to the sugar beet farms.
It is now October 1942 and so much has changed since you were forcibly removed from your home in Nanaimo. Winter will soon [[ARRIVE->winter1nd]].(enchant:?page,(text-colour:black)+(background:#e3fafc))
Thank you for playing Into the Interior! We hope it was thought-provoking and you learned something new.
The team would like to thank Landscapes of Injustice, the Victoria Nikkei Cultural Society, and the National Association of Japanese Canadians Endowment Fund for their generous funding which enabled the creation of this game.
THE END