In 1996, David Fujino compiled and designed this third iteration of the Resource Listing originally compiled by Aiko Suzuki as a supplement to the Japanese Canadian in the Arts directory of 1994. Fujino (1945-2017) was a sansei with a remarkably evolving background in the arts: he was a painter, photographer, trumpet player, poet, and actor. He was also one of the early explorers of post-internment JC identity and culture in the early 1970s. In the ensuing years, he developed a broad, critical perspective of arts activity both in and outside the JC community which he shared in published reviews and articles. The NAJC arts award is named after him.

The following bibliography was originally assembled as a companion to Aiko Suzuki’s 1994 print directory, Japanese Canadians in the Arts. Below is the text of its third edition, produced by David Fujino and Aiko Suzuki, and completed in January 1996. While the listings have not been updated since 1996, the information included remains a valuable resource for anyone who wishes to research the Japanese Canadian experience. Please note that some of the organizational information, as well as listings for periodicals and works in progress, may be out of date. It is presented here in unrevised form as a historical archive.

Resource Listings III

About  Japanese Canadians

This is a resource listing about Japanese Canadians—our history, culture, experiences, art, organizations, newspapers, music, and films. It was originally intended for inclusion in the publication Japanese Canadians in the Arts, but as the number of entries grew, a separate booklet was needed. It is as up-to-date, complete, and detailed as time and money have permitted.

These entries deal only with the Japanese Canadian experience, thereby including some entries about our community by non-Japanese Canadians and excluding some entries by Japanese Canadians that do not directly relate to the Japanese Canadian experience. (For more complete information on works by Japanese Canadians, please refer to Japanese Canadians in the Arts.)

We acknowledge the wealth of resource material gathered from The Forgotten History of the Japanese Canadians: Volume 1.

David Fujino and Aiko Suzuki January 1996

Toronto Nikkei Archive and Resource Centre
382 Harbord St Toronto, ON M6G 1H9 Telephone (416) 516-1375 Fax (416) 516-8402

First printing: June 1994
Revised/third printing: January 1996

Originally compiled by Aiko Suzuki. This revision by David Fujino
Research assistance by Gabrielle Nishiguchi and Frank Moritsugu
Originally designed and edited by Katherine Adachi
This revised design by David Fujino
Editorial assistance by Jennifer Hashimoto
This printing proofed by Toshi Oikawa and Aiko Suzuki


Contents

General Histories

Specialized Histories
Pre-War Era Accounts
Wartime Accounts
Post-War Topics

Autobiographies and Biographies

Conference Reports

Redress Campaign Histories and Reports

Sociological Studies

Thesis and Conference Proceedings

Miscellaneous Publications

Fiction

Plays

Poetry

CD ROMs

Children’s Books

Art Exhibition Catalogues and Art Directories

Japanese Language Publications

Periodicals

Films

Video Documentaries

Recordings

Organizations


General Histories

Adachi, Ken
The Enemy That Never Was, A History of the Japanese Canadians
Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1991
A comprehensive study (1877 to 1975) examining the course of Japanese immigration, aspects of transplanted cultural traditions and beliefs, the growth of social, economic and political organizations, and the ongoing struggle against discrimination that the immigrants and their descendants endured. In an afterword, historian Roger Daniels updates the events that took place since the book’s original 1976 publication, events that culminated in the Canadian government’s apology and redress settlement.

Roy, Patricia E.; Granatstein, J. L.; lino, Masako; Takamura, Hiroko
Mutual Hostages: Canadians and Japanese during the Second World War
Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1990
The Second World War was not so long ago for Japanese Canadians who lived on the west coast at the outbreak of the war, and for Canadian service personnel and civilians who survived Japanese POW camps. The wounds are still fresh.

Japanese Canadians cannot forget the revocation of their civil rights, the confiscation of their homes and businesses, and their forced return to the country they had left behind. Canadian veterans cannot forget the harsh treatment they endured, or their friends who did not survive it. This study by a team of historians, two Canadian and two Japanese, presents the story of a deeply painful episode in the history of two countries.

They begin with an account of the migration of Japanese to Canada. Then, in the focal years of the story, they discuss preparations for war in both countries, the outbreak of war, the disaster at Hong Kong in December 1941, the experiences of Canadian POWs and internees in China and Japan, and, finally, the experience of Japanese Canadians: evacuation, dispersal, and repatriation.

The authors draw on Canadian archival material, much of it never before published, and on what remains in Japanese archives (much was destroyed in the last months of the war). From this material they are able to explain what happened in both countries and why.

Mutual Hostages offers the most detailed account yet to emerge of the fate of the Issei and Nisei, the Canadian POWs, missionaries, and civilians in Japan. It is a compelling and controversial story of a heart breaking time in the histories of both Japan and Canada.

Editorial comment: A strongly revisionist account of the wartime internment of Japanese Canadians. The principal thesis suggests the possibility of Nisei spies on the west coast prior to the outbreak of the Pacific War. Further, the comparison between the situation of Canadian POWs and missionaries and Japanese Canadians, is simply insupportable. The foot notes provide a basis for further archival research and hope fully, an objective and sensible use of facts.

Sunahara, Ann Gomer
The Politics of Racism, The Uprooting o Japanese Canadians during the Second World War
Toronto: James Lorimer & Co, 1981
One of the first books to fully document the politics behind the 1942 expulsion order that saw 20,000 Japanese Canadians evicted from their homes in BC and sent inland to work camps, detention centres, and farms in Alberta and Manitoba.

Takata, Toyo
Nikkei Legacy: The Story of Japanese Canadian from Settlement to Today
Toronto: NC Press, 1983
The first Japanese immigrant to Canada was Manzo Nagano. In 1877 he stowed away on a British ship and landed in New Westminster, BC. He eventually settled with his bride in Victoria, BC.

By the end of the 19th century, Japanese settlers were farmers in Mission and Haney, BC, shop keepers in Vancouver, fishermen in Steveston at the mouth of the Fraser River, loggers on Vancouver Island, and coal miners in Cumberland, BC. Visiting Japanese dignitaries were officially welcomed after the Russo- Japanese war and although there were serious under lying problems of racism, the future for Japanese Canadians appeared bright.

Then came the internment and dispersal of World War II.

Today, citizens of Japanese origin are making significant contributions to Canadian life. Toyo Takata has interviewed hundreds of these early settlers and their descendents and presents an exciting collection of photographs, many from family albums.

Wakayama, Tamio
A Dream of Riches: The Japanese Canadians 1877-1977
photo-text (English/Japanese/ French), Vancouver: Japanese Canadian Centennial Project, 1978
A permanent record of the photography exhibit, The Japanese Canadians 1877-1977, this book honours the Issei, the pioneers of our community. 171 sepia-tone photographs.


Specialized Histories

Pre-War Era Accounts 

Adachi, Pat
Asahi: A Legend in Baseball, A Legacy from the Japanese Canadian Baseball Team to its Heirs
photo- text (English/Japanese), Asahi Baseball Organization, Toronto: Coronex Publishing, 1992
This book is dedicated to all who wore the Asahi uniform. Through the Asahi Baseball Team the Japanese Canadians entered the Caucasian world with pride. The Asahi’s were lauded by the local sports writers as the greatest drawing card at any stadium —true champions of baseball.

Ito, Roy
Stories of My People: A Japanese Canadian Journal
300 photographs, maps and charts
Hamilton: R. Ito, 1994
A highly readable history of Japanese Canadians as told through individual stories.

Kobayashi, Audrey
Memories of Our Past: A Brief History and Walking Tour of Powell Street
Vancouver: NRC Publishing, 1992

Marlatt, Daphne, ed.,
Steveston Recollected, a Japanese Canadian History
photo-text, oral history, Victoria: Provincial Archives of British Columbia, 1975.
This book is an attempt to understand the role of the Japanese Canadians in the Steveston community through the words and thoughts of the Japanese Canadians themselves. The approach is oral history, a method for studying the recent past.

Morita, Katsuyoshi
Powell Street Monogatari
Vancouver: Live Canada Publishing, 1988

Wartime Accounts

Awmack, Win
Tashme, A Japanese Relocation Centre 1942-1946
Victoria: Provincial Archives, 1993
Written by one of the teachers at Tashme High School, this memoir was instituted by the United Church of Canada.

Barris, Alex and Ted
You’ll Get Used to It (pp. 109-118), about Japanese Canadians)

Days of Victory: Canadians Remember 1939-1945
Toronto: Macmillan Canada, 1995
Chapter 6 of this book deals with Japanese Canadians. Some of the notable persons who reflect upon those days of World War II are Toyo Takata, Frank Moritsugu and Tommy Shoyama.

Ito, Roy
We Went to War
The Story of the Japanese Canadians who served during the 1st and 2nd World Wars, S-20 and Nisei Veterans Association, Stittsville: Canada’s Wings Inc., 1984

From Vimy Ridge and Passchendaele to Singapore and Malaya, Japanese Canadians served alongside their countrymen. Their stories tell how some Canadians went to war and won the victory “to walk with honour and with dignity as Canadians among all Canadians”.

Nakano, Takeo with Nakano, Leatrice
Within the Barbed Wire Fence, A Japanese Man’s Account of His Internment in Canada
Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1980
Upheaval, civil disobedience, jailing, and months with in the double barbed wire fence, this is a personal account of one of the blackest episodes in Canada’s history. Nakano is an accomplished poet and several of his tanka appear in the text. With an afterword by W. Peter Ward.

Shimizu, Yon
The Exiles, An Archival History of the World War II Japanese Road Camps in British Columbia and Ontario
Wallaceburg: Shimizu Consulting & Publishing, 1993
A chronicle of Japanese-Canadian men exiled to road camps in 1942, told primarily through first hand reports written by men to The New Canadian (a Japanese-Canadian newspaper), and through Public Archives of Canada documents.

Post-War Topics

Wakayama, Tamio
Kikyo, Coming Home to Powell Street
photo-documentary with oral histories gathered and edited by Linda Uyehara Hoffman, Madeira Park BC: Harbour Publishing, 1992

This book is a rare record of how the Japanese-Canadian community, a diminishing visible minority, has worked towards cultural self-determination. Afterword by Paul Wong. 151 photographs.

Fowke, Edith
They Made Democracy Work, The Story of the Co-operative Committee on Japanese Canadians

pamphlet, The Co-operative Committee on Japanese Canadians and The Japanese Canadian Citizens’ Association, Toronto, 1951
… the acid test of our democracy was whether we were going to treat our Japanese Canadians as citizens or continue to discriminate against them solely because of their racial origin. Fortunately a group of Canadians who believed that democracy was more than a word determined to do something about it. This little pamphlet is the story of what they did.


Autobiographies and Biographies

Broadfoot, Barry
Years of Sorrow, Years of Shame, The Story of the Japanese Canadians in World War II
Toronto: Doubleday Canada Ltd, 1977
This is the fourth in this journalist’s series of tape-recorded recollections of Canadians about different aspects of this country’s history. Many of the recollections fully recapture the feelings of the victims of the wartime experience.

Kitagawa, Muriel, ed. Roy Miki
This is My Own, Letters to Wes and Other Writings on Japanese Canadians, 1941-1948
Vancouver: Talonbooks, 1985
At the heart of This is My Own are the letters Nisei journalist Muriel Kitagawa wrote to her brother Wes in the midst of the evacuation. The book also contains passionate articles and essays written in the aftermath of the initial uprooting.

Knight, Rolf and Koizumi, Maya
A Man of Our Times: The Life-History of a Japanese Canadian Fisherman
Vancouver: New Star Books, 1976
Through 60 years of work—as fisherman, logger, plant worker—Yoshida lived with the racism and exploitation which have been daily facts of life for Canadian immigrant workers. In his activities as a labour organizer among Japanese Canadians, as editor of a Japanese language union daily, as opponent of racially segregated trade unions, he tirelessly struggled against the di visions which racism seeks to create among workers. His story is a recognition of the shared interests of working people, whatever their origin.

Miyazaki, M.
My Sixty Years in Canada
self-published, 1973
Dr. Miyazaki was born in Japan and arrived in Vancouver in 1913, at the age of thirteen. This 137 page book is a chronicle of the Japanese in British Columbia and a record of a small-town physician’s correspondence and reminiscences.

Nakayama, Gordon
Issei, Stories of Japanese Canadian Pioneers
Toronto: NC Press, 1984
This collection of brief biographies gives us the perspectives and memories of some of Canada’s earliest Japanese immigrants. Born in Japan in 1900, Canon Gordon Nakayama (1900-1995) was Canada’s last surviving Issei clergyman from pre-war times.

Oiwa, Keibo, ed.
Stone Voices: Wartime Writings of Japanese-Canadian Issei
Montreal: Vehicule Press, 1991
With the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941 all persons of Japanese descent were declared “enemy aliens”. Their assets were seized and most of the Japanese-Canadian population was relocated or sent to internment camps. Stone Voices is a selection of memoirs, diaries, and letters written by Issei, the first generation of Japanese to settle in Canada. Keibo Oiwa presents to us, for the first time in English, the writings of Koichiro Miyazaki, Kensuke Kitagawa, Genshichi Takahashi, and Kaoru Ikeda, four remarkable indivi duals who do not fit any stereotype.

These three men and one woman describe in very personal and touching ways the post-Pearl Harbour experience of uprooting, incarceration, and dispersal of the Japanese-Canadian-community.

Patton, Janice
The Exodus of the Japanese
Toronto: McClelland and Stewart Limited, 1973
In conversation with Pierre Berton on his The History We Lived Through television series, Japanese Canadians recalled the horror and injustice of their expulsion from British Columbia’s coast in the 1940s. In a shameful and excessive reaction, the people of Canada—panicked by fears of sabotage after Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor —uprooted a whole population, moving innocent people to work camps with no regard for their personal rights or family ties. Racist sentiment ran high, ruining businesses, belongings, and lives. A unified and immediate impression of this unpleasant episode in Canadian history is here presented through interviews from the Pierre Berton Show, a wealth of contemporary photographs and archival material, and a factual, forthright commentary by Janice Patton.

Omatsu, Maryka
Bittersweet Passage, Redress and the Japanese Canadian Experience
Toronto: Between the Lines, 1992
Through legends, anecdotes, and sometimes bitter memories, Omatsu tells how the Japanese-Canadian community finally won redress and was resurrected through a struggle that won civil protection for all Canadians.


Conference Reports

Art Committee of the Toronto NAJC
Ai: a symposium for Japanese Canadians in the arts, symposium proceedings
Toronto, 1994
A symposium for Japanese-Canadian visual artists, writers, performers and cultural theorists, Ai was organized as a regional (Eastern Canada) event and participants came from mostly the Toronto area, but also from Quebec and the Maritimes. Keynote speakers were architect Bruce Kuwabara, filmmaker Midi Onodera and photographer Tamio Wakayama.

Enomoto, Randy, ed.
Where the Heart Is, Homecoming ’92
conference proceedings, Vancouver: NRC Publishing, 1993f
The Japanese-Canadian community—where we’ve been, where we’re going. With photographs by Tamio Wakayama.

Gender Sensitivity Conference, conference proceedings, Toronto, 1994
The NAJC’s undertaking of this Toronto conference provided an opportunity for Japanese Canadians to explore their attitudes towards sexual orientation, women’s concerns and gender issues.

Hayami-Stevens, Jacqueline
The Best Years, The First Japanese Canadian Conference on Aging
National Association of Japanese Canadians, Vancouver, 1990

Immigration Committee of the NAJC
Nikkei Heritage in Transition, symposium proceedings, Montreal, 1994
Initiated by the post-World War II immigrants of the Japanese-Canadian community, this two-day symposium focused upon: sharing experiences between Japanese Canadians who lived in Japan and the post-war Nikkei in Canada; promoting mutual understanding between Japanese Canadians born in and outside of Canada; heightening majority Canadians’ awareness of today’s Japan.

Kobayashi, Cassandra and Miki, Roy
Spirit of Redress, Japanese Canadians in Conference
Vancouver: JC Publications, 1989
In May, 1987, sixteen months before the historic Redress Settlement on September 22, 1988, Japanese Canadians from across Canada gathered in Vancouver for a national conference. While the justice struggle continued at a high pitch, they turned inward to assess the personal and social impact of the mass uprooting and internment of their community during the 1940s. The conference concluded with a journey back to the past on a bus tour through the BC Internment Camps—from Tashme through to Kaslo, New Denver, Slocan City, Sandon, and Green wood. On the road, many recalled the internment camp days and spoke about their involvement in the movement to redress the injustices of the 1940s.


Redress Campaign Histories and Reports

Economic Losses of Japanese Canadians After 1941
a study conducted by Price-Waterhouse Vancouver, Winnipeg: National Association of Japanese Canadians

Miki, Roy and Kobayashi, Cassandra
Justice in Our Time, The Japanese Canadian Redress Settlement
Vancouver: Talonbooks, 1991
A celebration of Japanese-Canadian redress. From the historic injustices, through the redress movement, to the final events leading up to the settlement day on September 22, 1988, the dramatic story of redress is told through a rich interweaving of commentary, photographs, quotations, and historic documents.


Sociological Studies

Ashworth, Mary
“Japanese Children”
in Children of the Canadian Mosaic, a Brief History to 1950, (pp. 131-142, with photographs)
Toronto: OISE Press, 1993
Drawing on both primary and secondary sources, the author discusses the place of children in society and the effects of industrialization. She tells how education was seen as the panacea for poverty and crime, and she explores the motives of those who determined the kind of education children should receive.

Davis, Morris and Krauter, J. F.
The Other Canadians: Profiles of Six Minorities
Toronto: Methuen, 1971
An examination of the social conditions and political problems of six Canadian groups: Indians, Eskimos, Negroes (sic), Chinese and Japanese (pp 55-72), Doukhobors, and Hutterites.

Kurokawa, Minako
“The Japanese Family in Tradition and Change”
in The Canadian Family, (pp. 11-125), ed. K. Ishwaran, Toronto: Holt Reinhart & Winston (Canada), 1971.
A comparative study of the contemporary Japanese family in Japan and the Japanese-Canadian family in Toronto.

LaViolette, Forrest E.
The Canadian Japanese and World War II: A Sociological-Psychological Account
Toronto: University of Toronto, 1948
This is a study of the crisis created by the Pacific War and its effects on Japanese Canadians in the “protected areas” of the Canadian West.

Nakamura, Mark
“Social History of the Japanese Canadians” (pp. 288-335)
in Many Cultures, Many Heritages, Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson Limited, 1975

Patton, Janice
The Exodus of the Japanese
Toronto: McClelland and Stewart Limited, 47 pp, 1973
This small book is a narrative of Canadian social history between the two World Wars. Patton succeeds in capturing the history of Japanese Canadians by combining personal accounts (excerpts from videotaped interviews with both male and female participants) and photographs.


Thesis and Conference Proceedings

Anderson, Ian Douglas
Tashme, BC, an Existing Non-Entity
unpublished MA Thesis, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, 1971

Armstrong, John
Japanese Canadians in Toronto: The Formation of a Community 1940-1965
unpublished MA Thesis, University of California, Los Angeles, 1991

Balanger, Peter Webster
Problems and Prospects of Increased Japanese Emigration to Canada: a Case Study of the Attitudes of a Selected Sample of Japanese Canadians to Immigration from Japan
unpublished MA Thesis, Carleton University, Ottawa, 89 pp, 1967
The purpose of this study is to “determine the attitudes of selected groups of Japanese Canadians in Vancouver and Toronto towards the problems and prospects of increased Japanese emigration to Canada … to help clarify the problematic effects of increased Japanese emigration to Canada”.

Cottingham, Mollie E.
The Japanese Relocation Settlements in History of the West Kootenay District in British Columbia
unpublished MA Thesis, University of British Columbia, 1947

Hattori, Tomo
“National Motherhood in Joy Kogawa’s Obasan”
Unravelling our Silences: Works in Progress by students of Feminism(s) Conference proceedings, University of Western Ontario, 1992

Makabe, Tomoko
Ethnic Group Identity: Canadian-Born Japanese in Metropolitan Toronto
unpublished PhD dissertation, University of Toronto, 283 pp, 1976

Mitsui, Tadashi
The Ministry of the United Church Amongst Japanese Canadians in BC 1892-1949
unpublished Thesis, Union College of BC, 347 pp, 1964
This is a history of the Japanese Canadians. The author starts with the dawn of the Christian missionary movement among Japanese in British Columbia from 1892 to 1917. He then examines the church during its period of settlement and gives an account of the activities of such church leaders as the Rev. K. Shimizu of Vancouver and the Rev. Y. Akagawa of New Westminster. The book is a good study of Japanese Christians before and during the war.

Morris, Philip Alvin
Conditioning Factors Molding Public Opinion in British Columbia Hostile to Japanese Immigration into Canada
unpublished MS Thesis, University of Oregon, 111 pp, 1963
As a student of Political Science, the author attempts to analyze anti-Japanese public opinion in BC, from 1890 to 1941. His primary sources are statements by members of the Legislative Assembly and local newspaper editorials. Examining various possible conditioning factors (racial differences, the fear of “peaceful penetration” by Nisei, etc.), he concludes that the economic factor was most crucial in moulding anti-Japanese public opinion.

Nakashima, Kimiaki
Economic Aspects of Japanese Evacuation from the Canadian Pacific Coast: a Contribution of Social Groups and Displaced Persons
unpublished MA Thesis, McGill University, 130 pp, 1946
This paper attempts to study some of the economic consequences of relocation by giving a detailed analysis of the mass evacuation of Japanese from the coastal strip of British Columbia. It tries to show that controlled movements of population may often result in economic as well as social and psychological disorientation. Furthermore, that such disorientation is not always limited to the groups relocated but has repercussions on the overall economic life of the country.

Oikawa, Mona
Driven to Scatter Far and Wide: The Forced Resettlement of Japanese Canadians to Southern Ontario, 1944-1949
unpublished MA Thesis, University of Toronto, 1986
This is a description and analysis of the Canadian Federal Government’s policy of the forced resettlement of Japanese-Canadians based on the study of documents from the Public Archives in Ottawa and the Ontario Public Archives.

Oketani, Hitomi
Subtractive to Additive Bilinguality: A Study of Relations Among Bilinguality, Academic Achievement and Socio-Psychological Factors in Post-War, Second Generation Japanese Canadian Youths
unpublished PhD Thesis, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, U of T, 333 pp, 1995
Oketani’s interviews with the children—about 20 years old—of post-war immigrants, present a surprising range of views about their dual cultural backgrounds. Their feelings towards Japan, Canada and the Japanese Canadian community are frank and refreshing. These are voices that haven’t been heard from much before. This is a valuable contribution towards building understanding among the community’s different generations in this country.

Sumida, Rigenda
The Japanese in British Columbia
unpublished MA Thesis, University of British Columbia, 632 pp, 1935
This is an intensive study of the social and economic status of the Japanese Canadians (naturalized and Canadian-born) in British Columbia, with particular focus on assimilation problems of the Canadian-born. A student of economics, the author traces the history and main characteristics of Japanese immigration to Canada, and provides detailed statistical data on the income, occupational, and industrial distribution of this minority group. Since his main interest is assimilation, the author gives little attention to the psychological aspects of his subjects. This area should be explored further to complete the survey.

Thurlow, Setsuko
Cultural Influence Upon Decision-Making in Toronto Japanese Canadian Groups
unpublished MSW Thesis, University of Toronto, 1960

Ujimoto, Victor Koji
Post-War Japanese Immigrants in Canada: Job Transferability, Work, and Social Participation
unpublished PhD Thesis, University of British Columbia, 249 pp, 1973
The major objective of this thesis is to explain differences in levels of participation by post-war Japanese immigrants in voluntary organizations, and to examine the networks of personal affiliations which possibly affected the adjustment of Japanese immigrants to Canadian society.

Ujimoto, Victor Koji
Contrasts in the Pre-War II and Post-War Japanese Community in British Columbia: Conflict and Change
a revised version of a paper presented to the CSAA Regional Symposium, University of Victoria, Feb 1974


Miscellaneous Publications

Shibata, Yuko; Matsumoto
The Forgotten History of the Japanese Canadians: Volume 1, The Role of Japanese Canadians in the Early Fishing Industry in B.C. and an Annotated Bibliography
,

Shoji; Hayashi, Rintaro; Iida, Shotaro
Vancouver
New Sun Books (for the Japanese Canadian History Group), 1977

Shibata, Yuko
Volume 2, A Complete, Annotated Bibliography of the History of Japanese Canadians, Vancouver
New Sun Books (for the Japanese Canadian History Group), 1977

Nakagawa, Roy K.
Ocean Falls Recollection (A story of the town where I was born)
Toronto, 1995
This 65-page book describes life in the pre-war Japanese-Canadian community in Ocean Falls. Contents include a history of the early town, Japanese Town, the Evacuation period; two Ocean Falls reunions; and a directory of former Japanese-Canadian residents.

Our Favourites in Canadian Japanese Cooking
Kamloops Japanese Canadian Association, Overland Press, 1983

Bill Hoshizaki, ed. 
The Vision Fulfilled (Kanae Rareta Yume) 1894-1994
Kelowna, The Kelowna & District Association of Japanese Canadians, 312 pp, 1995
Of particular interest to the Japanese-Canadian community, this volume contains more than 150 Japanese-Canadian family histories, 600 family and historic photos, history articles, family trees, school records, community organization histories, deceased persons lists, and a 30-page Japanese section.


Fiction

Beatie, Jessie L.
Strength for the Bridge
Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1966
The story of the uprooting of the Japanese people from Canada’s West Coast during World War II.

Goto, Hiromi
Chorus of Mushrooms
Alberta: NeWest Press, 1994
A novel of the intertwining stories of three generations of Japanese-Canadian women who live in rural Alberta. Canadian-born Murasaki must come to terms with how her mother and her grandmother have adapted to life in Canada after their post Second World War immigration. Chorus of Mushrooms is a blend of folk legend, personal myth and Asian-western.

Jess
Ignomy
An Autobiography by Jess
Vancouver: Jess Publications, 1993
Ignomy is an autobiographical novel about the life and times of a young Nisei and the feelings arising from his encounters. The novel spans the period from 1929 when the four-year old Jess sails for Japan on the Hikazva Maru, and it closes on June 1942, the day Jess’s family is evacuated.

Kogawa, Joy
Obasan
Toronto: Lester & Orpen Dennys, 1981; Toronto: Penguin Canada, 1983; New York: Anchor Books, 1994=
A powerful, passionate novel that tells the moving story of the Japanese Canadians during the Second World War through the eyes of the child, Naomi. Used in many senior high school English courses, and a key contribution to the successful Japanese Canadian redress campaign.

Kogawa, Joy
Itsuka
Toronto: Penguin Canada, 1992; New York: Anchor Books, 1994
Naomi, grown to adulthood, joins the fight for redress, an emotional and political journey that takes her deep into her own soul, and deep into the soul of Canada.

Kogawa, Joy
The Rain Ascends
Toronto: Knopf Canada, 1995
The Rain Ascends tells the story of a woman—the loyal, devoted daughter of an eminent and popular minister of the Church—who discovers in middle age that the elderly father she adores has abused small boys throughout his life. Written with profound grace and humanity, … this is above all a heartrending novel about love—a vivid story of a girl growing up to discover an impossible truth.


Poetry

Irie, Kevin
Burning the Dead
Toronto: Wolsak & Wynn, 1992
Kevin Irie’s poem, “The Camps: Burning the Dead” reminds us that the evacuation is pure drama in its emotional violence, its philosophical ironies, and its cultural revelations …. Irie adopts an Asian-objective tone for the poem. This tone—artfully achieved by carefully manipulated juxtapositions—gives the same sense of bald, irrefutable truth as the lean brevity of the haiku. They are both hands-off poetry: the author seems to efface himself and his opinions, and the resultant eloquence can be shattering.

Ito, Sally
Frogs in The Rain Barrel
Gibsons BC: Nightwood Editions, 1995
In this first book of poetry, Sally Ito’s poems reflect her rich experiences as a Japanese Canadian living and writing in Alberta, the Northwest Territories, the West Coast and Japan. Written in simple, fresh language, these poems build from diverse images and end in a state of awe and understanding.

Kisagari Poem Study Group
Maple, Tanka Poem by Japanese Canadians (English/Japanese)
Toronto: The Continental Times, 1975
Despite isolation and hardships, Japanese Canadians, with their indomitable spirit and sensitive qualities, retained a love of nature which they often expressed in nostalgic sentiments through tunica and haiku to soothe their yearning for their homeland.

“It is my hope and desire that our descendants and other members of Canadian society will read and understand the sentiments and emotions of the early Japanese Canadians as expressed in these poems and that this book will be preserved as representative of Japanese Canadian literature and culture.” – Takeo Nakano

Kiyooka, Roy
Kyoto Airs (designed and printed by Takao Tanabe)
Vancouver: Periwinkle Press, 1964

Kiyooka, Roy
Pacific Windows
Vancouver: The Capilano Review, Issue 3, 1990
Pacific Windows is “a Photoglyphic Narrative of a Neighbourhood with Autographical Images.” Through the summer and the fall of 1990, Kiyooka finished the printing of the photographs and worked on several versions of the text. This text is a poignant, tender and reverent homage to his mother and an evocation of his experience as an artist and a Japanese Canadian living in Vancouver East. Running as a continuous ribbon that reads from front to back, and repeats from back to front, the text offers two different experiences. It should be read in both directions, as each journey affords a new series of juxtapositions with the photographs, and therefore a completely new set of evocations.

Kobayashi, Tamai and Oikawa, Mona
All Names Spoken
Toronto: Sister Vision Press, 1992
Two emerging Japanese Canadian lesbian writers sensitively articulate their separate lives and different paths. All Names Spoken is an arresting and diverse collection. Extremely provocative and uninhibited, its pages shimmer with beautiful imagery and sensual, sexy eroticism. The book is well-crafted, with the tough humour of street-wise dykes fusing with lyrical descriptions of Japanese customs.

Livesay, Dorothy
Call My People Home (A Documentary Poem for Radio)
Toronto: The Ryerson Press, 1950
Call My People Home was broadcast as a radio documentary over the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation network in August, 1949. An excerpt from the poetic text follows.

NOW after thirty years come from a far island

Of snow and cherry blossoms, holy mountains,

To make a home near water, near

The blue Pacific; newcomers and strangers

Circled again and shaped by snow-white mountains,

These put down their roots, the Isseis:

The older generation. This is their story.

Miki, Roy
Saving Face
Winnipeg: Turnstone Press, 1991
Roy Miki’s first collection of poems is a brilliant discourse which sounds the originary, unheard voices of family and community from the perspective of a “sansei” or third-generation Japanese Canadian. These exquisitely balanced poems trace the fragility of ancestral bonds. Diamond-edged, they expose those subtle connections which tie the personal to a collective past scarred by the old wounds of internment and denied identity.

Miki, Roy
Random Access File
Red Deer: Red Deer College Press, 1995
In their investigation of language, these searching poems access the idea of home …. from seemingly idyl lic digressions to the destructive internment of Japanese Canadians during and after World War II. Restless and ironic, Miki’s poems are always on the move towards a sense of home that must always remain elusive.

Ohama, Baco
RED POEMS OF RAIN AND VOICE
Montreal, 1995
Ohama’s poems are built from memory and daily experience. As she writes through stages of vulnerability and strength, she discovers the close connection between emotional and physical states of being. Her patient sense of craft and eye for detail are evident throughout the unique design of this book.

Okano, Haruko
Come Spring: Journey of a Sansei
(with photographs of artwork) Vancouver: Gallerie Publications, 1992
Come Spring is the strong story of a child’s survival through the most painful conditions human beings inflict on one another. It is the story of a woman’s incredible achievement. Okano battles private anguish and a mean society to discover her capacity for peace and joy. She fights racism and internalized racism to uncover her personal history and reclaim her Japanese-Canadian culture and heritage. Come Spring is an honest story, clearly told in images, poems, and narrative. And it is a story of the role art can play in healing and revealing the most important aspects of human life.

Gerry Shikatani and David Aylward,ed. 
paper doors, an anthology of Japanese Canadian poetry (English/Japanese)
Toronto: Coach House, 1981
This unique collection presents the work of thirteen Japanese-Canadian poets, spanning three generations.
It is a landmark book which brings together not only the English-language poetry of Japanese Canadians, but also introduces to the general audience originals and translations of the Japanese-language verse. Here is a verbal landscape of images, sounds and feelings formed by the interface of Anglo-Canadian speech and the vertical calligraphic rhythms of Japanese. Alongside the work of highly-regarded poets Joy Kogawa and Roy Kiyooka, are the remarkable tanka and haiku poems of unknown poets such as Midori Iwasaki and Choichi Hando Sumi with sharply evocative translations by David Aylward.

As an anthology of Canadian poetry written in both English and Japanese, paper doors provides an insight into the nature of a peculiarly Japanese- Canadian sensibility revealed not so much through social history as through the mythic roots of their unique languages.

In gathering this collection, the editors have made a significant advance in the exploration of ethno-Canadian literature, an area of our literary arts destined to become increasingly important in the years ahead.

Watada, Terry
A Thousand Homes
Stratford: The Mercury Press, 1995
In the deeply affecting poems about childhood, a long piece told from the viewpoint of the poet’s mother, and in poems dealing with the parents’ final days, A Thousand Homes creates a coherent picture of Japanese-Canadian life and history. Dreams, and memories from the past, are ambitiously essayed in this collection.


CD ROMs

In Pursuit of Justice: The Japanese-Canadian Story (CD ROM)
NAJC, Winnipeg, 1994
This CD ROM presents the Japanese-Canadian story as an interactive and educational experience. For use in the school classroom, the Educational Kit contains In Pursuit of Justice: The Japanese Canadian Story CD ROM (this software only for use on MAC/Apple computers with CD ROM drive), a Teacher’s Guide, Knowledge Builder™ software and user’s manual, the NAJC’s The Case for Redress information booklet, and a detailed bibliography and copies of primary documents from the NAJC.


Children’s Books

Fujiwara, Alan
Baachan! Geechatt! Arigato (illustrated by Tom McNeely)
Toronto: Momiji Health Care Society 1989
This story of Japanese Canadians is dedicated to all immigrants, and particularly to those who endured pain and hardship to earn the rights of citizenship.

Kogawa, Joy
Naomi’s Road
Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1986
Based on her award-winning novel, Obasan, this book is Kogawa’s first book for children and the first Canadian novel for young readers to deal with an important and painful episode in Canadian history. Drawings by Matt Gould.

Takashima, Shizuye
A Child in Prison Camp (illustrated by the artist)
Montreal: Tundra Books, 1971
The artist describes the experiences of Japanese Canadians who lived on the West Coast of Canada during World War II through the eyes of a young girl, Shichan, the author herself. The smooth flowing rhythm of the book does not reflect her anger or hatred. Yet, her simple poetic writing gains the reader’s empathy for the Japanese Canadians who were stripped of all civil rights. This book is difficult to classify— it combines the quality of an autobiography with the accuracy of historical documentary.

Tanaka, Shelley
Michi’s New Year (illustrated by Ron Berg)
Toronto: Northern Lights, Peter Martin Associates Limited, 1980
On New Year’s Day, ten-year old Michi becomes home sick for Japan. Her doll, Yuki, is her only companion, but with the arrival of the Yamada family, Michi’s day brightens up.


Art Exhibition Catalogues and Art Directories

The Japanese Canadian Centennial Art Exhibition, in Ontario (black & white photographs) ed. Bryce Kanbara, pub. Japanese Canadian Centennial Society, 1977
To celebrate the centennial, an exhibition was assembled, which would be a survey of art being produced by artists of Japanese descent living in Ontario. … this exhibition enlarges and invigorates the popular concept of an “ethnic show”.

Japanese Canadians in the Arts: A Directory of Professionals (251 pages) ed. Aiko Suzuki, Toronto: SAC/rist, 1994
Up-to-date selected biographies of 221 Canadians of Japanese ancestry working in all arts and arts-related disciplines in Canada and abroad. Nine sections, including “Emerging Artists”; three indices; with an introduction by Bryce Kanbara.

Shikata ga nai, Contemporary Art by Japanese Canadians (Black and white photographs) ed. Bryce Kanbara, Hamilton: Hamilton Artists Inc., 1988
This exhibition is an inspection of the work of ten Japanese-Canadian artists against the common backdrop of their ethnic heritage. Ultimately, the project is about identity, and the sociological, political and ra cial realities that are brought to bear in the making of a life, and of art, with an essay by Jewel Foster.

Visions of Power, Contemporary Art by First Nations, Japanese Canadians and Inuit (63 pages, 15 colour reproductions, 4 black and white), ed. Aiko Suzuki, Toronto: The Earth Spirit Festival, 1991
This exhibition centres on the shared experiences of the three cultural groups who, through their history in Canada, have faced a power structure that has devastated their respective cultural values. Their art is a quest to come to terms with a society which has preferred, in the past, not only to exclude them, but also to exclude their cultural traditions. It is an art that continues to evolve, through the artists’ faith in their own ethnicity, to new and ever more powerful images and ideas. Introduction by Tom Hill, essays by Bryce Kanbara, Ingo Hessel, and Alfred Young Man.


Japanese Language Publications

Hayashi, Rentaro
Kuroshio no hate ni (At the End of Black Current)
Nikka Publishing, 1974

Kawamura, Yutetsu
Kanada Arubahta shu Kauboi Songu no Sato (Alberta, Town of Cowboy Song)
Doho-sha, Japan, 1988

Ko-Shimizu
Kosaburo-bokushi-omoidasu (A Memory of Reverend Shimizu)
Fukuon-sha, Japan, 1965
A collection of articles written in commemoration of Reverend Shimizu who was active in the Japanese Christian Church in Vancouver from 1926 to 1941.

Kogawa, Joy
Obasan, translation by Sari Nagaoka
Futami-shobo, Japan, 1983

Koyama, Kiyoko
Surokan no Omoide (Memory of Lake Slocan Shore)
Yuri Church Branch, 1959

Kudo, Miyoko
Kiiroi Heishitachi (Yellow Soldiers)
Kohbun-sha, Japan, 1983

Kudo, Miyoko
Kanada Yugirou ni furu Yuki ha (Snow Falling on a Canadian Brothel)
Shobun-sha, Japan, 1983

Makabe, Tomoko
Shashin Kon no Tsumatachi-Kanada
Imin no Josei-shi (Picture Brides, History of Canadian Immigrant Women)
Mirai-sha, Japan, 1983

Maruoka, Hideko
Tamura Toshiko to Watashi (Toshiko Tamura and Me)
Domesu Publishing, Japan, 1977

Mitsui, Yoshi and Shinpo, Mitsuru
Kattada Nikkeijitt no Shakai to Kyoukai (Japanese Canadian Society and the Church)
1970

Mori, Kenzo and Takami, Hirohito
Kanada no Manzo (Manzo in Canada)
Oreisann Shobo, Japan, 1977

Omatsu, Maryka
Bittersweet Passage
translation by Dierdre and Yusuke Tanaka
Gendai Shokan, Japan, 1994

Sato, Tsutae and Sato, Hanako
Kodomo to tomoni gojunen: Kanada Nikkei kyoiku shiki (50 Years with Children: Our Personal Accounts on the Canadian Nikkei Education)
Higa Publishing, 1969
Autobiographies of Mr. & Mrs. Sato based on their fifty years of teaching experience in Vancouver. Mr. Sato was a principal of the Japanese Language School.

Sato, Tsutae and Sato, Hanako
Zoku: Kodomo to tomoni gojunen: Kanada Nikkei Kyoiku shi (50 Years with Children, History of Canadian Nikkei Education, Part 2)
Higa Publishing, 1976

Sato, Tsutae and Sato, Hanako
Kanada BC shu, Bankuhba Nikkeijin no Kodomo (British Columbia, Canada, Children of Nikkei)
Higa Publishing, 1974

Sato, Tsutae and Sato, Hanako
Kansha no Isshou—Kanada Nikkei Kyoiku Shishi (Lifelong Thanks—Private Thoughts on Nikkei Education)
Mitaka-sha, Japan, 1980

Shinpo, Mitsuru
Ishi o mote Owaruruga Gotoku—Nikkei Kattadajin Shakai shi (Like being chased out by stones—Sociological History of Japanese Canadians)
Tairiku Jiho-sha, Japan, 1975

Shinpo, Mitsuru
Nihon no Imin—Nikkei Kanadajinn ni mirareta Haiseki to Tekiou (Japanese Immigrants— Discrimination and Adaptation seen in Japanese Canadians: Japanese Behaviour and Philosophy)
Hyoronn-sha, Japan, 1977

Shinpo, Mitsuru
Kanada Imin Haiseki shi (History of Discrimination against Immigrants in Canada)
Mirai-sha, Japan, 1985

Shinpo, Mitsuru
Kanada Nihonjin Imin Monogatari
(Stories of Japanese Immigrants), Tsukiji Shokan, Japan, 1986

Shoji, Eiji
Sukina gawa no Yanagi (Willow on the Banks of the Skeena River)
Sobun-sha, Japan, 1976

Takahashi, Koichiro
Kanada Imin—Akeyu Hyakunen (Canadian Immigrants—A Hundred Years of Development)
Vanity Publication, 1974

Takahata, Sudo
Kanada to Jodo Shinshu (Canada and Jodo Shinshu)
Hyakka en, Japan, 1978

Takami, Hirohito
Kanada no Nihonjin (Japanese in Canada)
Canada Research Group, 1968 (not for sale)

Tanaka, Tonaro
Kanada no Tsuchi, Amerika no Tomo (Canadian Soil and American Friends)
Asahi Shimbun, Japan, 1954

Tsuji, Shin’ichi
Nikkei Kanadajin (Redressing the Past, Self-Portraits of Japanese Canadians)
Shomon-sha, Japan, 1990

Tsuji, Shin’ichi
Kanada Nikkei Imin no Kiseki (Path of Japanese Immigrants in Canada)
Ningen no Kagaku-sha, Japan, 1993

Tsurumi, Kazuko
Sutebusuton Monogatari—Sekai no Naka no Nihonjin (The Story of Steveston—the Japanese in the World)
Chuoh-koronsha, Japan, 1962
Tsurumi describes her personal impression of Canada from her own research on Steveston in the summer of 1959, expanding ideas into a cultural comparison between Japan, the United States, and Canada. She discusses the concept of “sekai-shimin” (international citizen).


Periodicals

Asiattadiatt: A Journal of Current Writing by Asian- Canadians, 1977-1984
(no longer published), back issues available from Momoye Sugiman
The Asianadian Resource Workshop, PO Box 1256, Stn Q Toronto, ON M4T2P4

The Bulletin/Geppo, a Journal for and About the Nikkei Community (monthly, English-Japanese)
pub. Greater Vancouver JCCA,

Canada Times
312 Dundas Street West, Toronto, ON M5T 1G5 Tel (416) 593-2777

Canadian Japanese Cultural Centre Newsletter
45 Hempstead Dr, Hamilton, ON L8W 2Y6 Tel (905) 383-5755

Hamilton Community News
Hamilton Chapter of the NAJC
45 Hempstead Dr,
PO Box 20252
Hamilton, ON L9C 7M8
Tel (905) 383-4257, Fax (905) 383-4257

Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre Newsletter
PO Box 191
123 Wynford Dr, Don Mills, ON M3C 2S2 Tel (416) 441-2345, Fax (416) 441-2347

Japanese Family Services Newsletter
789 Don Mills Rd, Suite 615 North York, ON M3C 1T5 Tel (416) 467-6609

Momiji News
3555 Kingston Rd
Scarborough, ON M1M 3W4
Tel (416) 441-2345, Fax (416) 261-9384

Montreal Bulletin (monthly)
Rei Nakashima
4628 Melrose Ave
Montreal, PQ H4A 2S9,
Tel (514) 481-6795, Fax (514) 481-6795

The New Canadian, A NC Journal (weekly, Japanese- English)
pub. Japan Communication Inc., 524 Front St. West, 2nd Floor, Toronto, ON M5V 1B8 Tel (416) 593-1583, Fax (416) 593-1871

The Nikka Times, The Japanese Weekly Newspaper of Canada (weekly, Japanese only)
pub. Nobuo Iromoto,
720 Spadina Ave., Suite 420,
Toronto, ON M5S 2T9
Tel (416) 923-2819, Fax (416) 923-1970

Nikkei Voice, A National Forum for Japanese Canadians (monthly, English-Japanese)
pub. Nikkei Research & Education Project of Ontario,
382 Harbord St., Toronto, ON M6G 1H9 Tel (416) 516-1779, Fax (416) 516-8402

Pacific Citizen (English)
pub. Japanese American Citizens’ League, 2 Coral Circle #204, Monterey Park, CA 91755, USA

The Pomelo Project
(previously known as Variasians: An Asian Canadian Journal of Commentary, Criticism and Culture), The Pomelo Project, PO Box 21593, 1850 Commercial Drive, Vancouver, BC V5N 4A0

The Powell Street Review, A Journal of the Japanese Canadian community 
1972, Toronto, (only Vol. 1 No. 1 published), photocopy of single issue available from Toronto Nikkei Archive and Resource Centre, 382 Harbord St., Toronto ON M6G 1H9, Tel (416) 516-1375, Fax (416) 516-8402

TORA, a Japanese forum of the asian community, 1972-1974
Toronto, (no longer published), incomplete back issues available from Toronto Nikkei Archive and Resource Centre,
382 Harbord St., Toronto ON M6G 1H9,
Tel (416) 516-1375, Fax (416) 516-8402


Plays

Yellow Fever
Rick Shiomi
Premiered at Asian American Theatre Company, San Francisco, 1982
This play is a detective comedy that follows a Japanese-Canadian private eye, Sam Shikaze, on the trail of the missing Cherry Blossom Queen. Along the way he encoun ters deception, racism and political intrigue. It won the Bay Area Theatre Circle Critics Award. Later it was produced “off broadway” by Pan Asian Repertory and subsequently all over North America.

Once Is Never Enough
Rick Shiomi with Marc Hayashi and Lane Kiyomi Nishikawa, Premiered at Asian American Theatre Company, San Francisco, 1984
This is a sequel to Yellow Fever. It was also produced by Pan Asian Repertory in New York in 1985.

Rosie’s Cafe
Rick Shiomi
Premiered at Pan Asian Repertory, New York, 1987
This play was commissioned by Pan Asian Repertory in New York. The play is set in 1951 when Japanese Canadians return to Vancouver after the internment camps. It was produced in San Francisco in January 1989 and in Vancouver at the Firehall Arts Centre in March 1989. This play was toured across Canada in the spring of 1991 by the Firehall Theatre.

Uncle Tadao
Rick Shiomi
Premiered at East West Players, Los Angeles, 1992
This is a play about a contemporary Japanese-Canadian family, faced with the issue of Redress as they come to terms with their loss of personal freedom and property during their internment in World War II.
Commissioned by the Redress Implementation Committee, the play won the Ruby Schaar Yoshino Playwriting Award in 1990. A 1992 production was also mounted by Asian American Theatre Co. in San Francisco in 1992.

Dear Wes/Love Muriel
adapted by Terry Watada from This Is My Own: Letters to Wes & Other Writings on Japanese Canadians, 1941-1948, by Muriel Kitagawa, ed. Roy Miki, Talonbooks, Vancouver 1985
Play commissioned by The Earth Spirit Festival in 1991. Performed by Brenda Kamino, Harbourfront Centre, Toronto ON

The Tale of a Mask
Terry Watada
Premiered at Workman Theatre Projects, Toronto, 1993
The story revolves around a Japanese woman forced to immigrate to Canada by her husband. The play chronicles her mental decline in an alien environment.
Commissioned by Workman Theatre Projects, this one act play featured Dawn Obokata, Peter Kosaka and Brenda Kamino. Music by Boko Suzuki, set by Bev Horii and movement by Denise Fujiwara.


Films

A Fold of Cranes (15 min), 16mm, Eric Koyanagi, 1992
Composed in brief black and white segments, this intensely personal film is driven by a voice-over, that of a woman repeating the phrases shikataganai (“it can’t be helped”) and senba zuru (“a thousand cranes”) …. With the final release of white paper cranes pouring down from a high window ledge, the audience, too, experiences release from the film’s mood of sombre history and memory. Completed as a student film project at the University of California (UCLA) film school.

Call My People Home (20 min) 16mm, docu-drama, producers Nathaniel Massey, Raymond Massey, James E. Taylor, Massey Productions Ltd., 1991
A film dedicated to the Japanese-Canadian community and based on a long poem by Canadian poet Dorothy Livesay. Livesay based the poem on interviews she conducted with Japanese Canadians who had settled in the Steveston area and who recount their experiences since Pearl Harbor. With archival film footage from the National Film Board of Canada.

Dance to Remember (30 min), Rick Shiomi, dramatic teleplay, produced as part of the Inside Stories anthology series, CBC, 1991
A dramatic teleplay which focuses on a mother and daughter who deal with the emotional legacy of the internment camps after the Redress campaign is successful and the compensation payments are being given out.

The Displaced View (52 min), docu-drama, Midi Onodera, producer McAno Film Artists Inc/M. Onodera Productions, 1988
An examination of the emotional and cultural links between the women of one Japanese-Canadian family. A celebration of the acceptance of self, it is also a compassionate love letter. Distributed by Full Frame, 394 Euclid Ave, 2nd fl, Toronto, ON, M6G 2S9, Tel (416) 925-9338, Fax (416) 324-8268.
For information on other films by Midi Onodera, contact Full Frame, the Toronto International Film Festival, and the directory, Japanese Canadians in the Arts.

Enemy Alien (26 min, 49 sec), Jeanette Lerman, producer National Film Board of Canada, 1975
This film is about a people who dared to ask “What are they going to do with us?” The Japanese Canadians fought long and hard to be accepted as Canadians. Their long story of frustration and injustice, mistrust and hate, and eventual triumph should be remembered. This film tells that story.

Justice in Our Time: How Redress Was Won (30 min) VHS video, Jesse Nishihata Productions, Toronto, 1989
Key participants of the redress campaign recount their experiences.

The Last Harvest (50 min), Linda Ohama, producer Harvest Productions Ltd., 1993
The story of Ohama’s family members who were forcibly displaced during the war from Vancouver to rural Southern Alberta. The documentary tells the poignant tale of the family’s struggle to become Canadian prairie farmers and pays tribute to the small family farm.

Minoru: Memory of Exile (18 min), animation, Michael
Fukushima, producer National Film Board of Canada, 1993
An animation-documentary film detailing the remembrances of the filmmaker’s father, Minoru Fukushima, from December 7, 1941, until the end of the Korean War in 1953.
Minoru recounts his evacuation from Vancouver as a nine-year-old, the subsequent internment from 1942 until the end of 1946 at a relocation camp in the interior of British Columbia and, finally, his post-war deportation to war-torn Japan.

Mrs. Murakami—Family Album (24 min), 16 mm, Yantra Walker, producer Yantra Walker, 1990
This documentary enters the lives of the Murakami family of Salt Spring Island. During the relocation, sixty-five Japanese Canadians were removed from Salt Spring Island. Only the Murakami family returned. Mrs. Murakami’s granddaughter, Karen, provides the narrative link in the film: “My grandmother taught me that it was more important to look at people’s hearts than the colour of their skin.” The dignity that forgives wrong belongs to Mrs. Murakami.

Momiji: Japanese Maple (26 min), Nancy Tatebe; producers Nancy Tatebe and Kathryn Presner, 1994
This poignant documentary gives us an intimate look at three generations in a Japanese-Canadian family; from immigrant grandparents to parents and finally to the filmmaker herself, a third generation Japanese Canadian.
We are offered a private glimpse into the film maker’s family life as she brings the camera into her own home, creating a diary rather than a narrative. Through the use of candid interviews, narration, and the juxtaposition of old Super-8 home movies and archival material, the film traces the family history from immigration to the Japanese internment during World War II. The filmmaker then explores how traditional culture gradually became diluted in a sea of Partridge Family and pop culture. Momiji is a story about assimilation, racism, and shame. It is also a story about personal discovery and new-found pride in a heritage long-forgotten.

My Floating World: Miyuke Tanobe (26 min), Ian Rankin, Stefan Steinhouse, producer National Film Board of Canada, 1979
Miyuke Tanobe is a Japanese painter who has chosen to make Quebec her home. She works in the Nihonga style, applying centuries-old techniques to scenes drawn directly from the working-class neighbourhoods of Montreal. The film records the progression of one of her paintings from a preliminary sketch to its completion showing how thoroughly she has grasped the essence of her new homeland. Tanobe portrays Montreal and Quebec life in a lively and perceptive fashion.

My Niagara (40 min) 16mm, Helen Lee, director; Kerri Sakamoto, associate director, co-writer, 1992
A film probing the emotional undercurrents of a young third-generation Japanese woman whose life is shadowed by the memory of her mother’s drowning years ago.

Naomi’s Road (70 min) video, Young People’s Theatre, producer Sound Visioneering, Toronto, 1993
A video of the theatre production of Joy Kogawa’s novel, written for young people.

Of Japanese Descent (discontinued), National Film Board of Canada, 1940s
Wartime propaganda documentary which ‘justifies’ the expulsion and incarceration of the Japanese Canadians into the British Columbia interior.

The Pool: Reflections of the Japanese Canadian Internment (55 min) 16mm, Mark deValk, 1992
As a child during World War II, Joy Kogawa spent three years in an internment camp in British Columbia. The Pool is a film about coming to speech … Kogawa examines the painful memories of her childhood in relation to her political struggle and to her growth as an artist.

Throwaway Citizens (29 min, 53 sec), Gabrielle Nishiguchi, writer; Margaret Slaght, producer,

CBC-TV, Telecast as part of the Fifth Estate series, 1995
A newsbreaking documentary telecast. New archival evidence reveals that high level civil servants were the architects of the 1946 policy to significantly reduce the number of Japanese Canadians in Canada by deporting them to Japan. By December 1946, 3,964 persons of Japanese ancestry had sailed for Japan—the majority of whom were Canadian by birth or naturalization.

The Tides of War (60 min) 16mm, Brian Nolan & Peter Trueman, writers; Brian Nolan, producer & director; Global-TV, 1977
A documentary film about the wartime internment of Japanese Canadians, which movingly presents the plight of, in the words of the narrator, that “terrible interlude in which we sentenced 21,000 men, women and children, all of whom believed in Canadian democracy, to the limbo of the dispossessed.” Striking interviews with some of the witnesses of the time—for example, Louis St. Laurent, Margaret Foster, Grace Tucker, Howard Green, Ken Adachi, David Suzuki, Mas Takahashi, Joy Kogawa, Mrs. Ken Saegusa and Rev. Canon Naka- yama. With comments by Don Whiteside of the Canadian Civil Liberties and Human Rights Associa tion. Narrated by Peter Trueman with wartime

8 mm footage by Anglican Canon Gordon Nakayama, father of Joy Kogawa.

The War Betwen Us (92 min, 55 sec), CBC-TV, Anne Wheeler, Director, 1995
This feature-length film for televison is set during the World War II internment of Japanese Canadians in a remote town in the interior of British Columbia. The friendship that gradually develops between Peg Parnham (Shannon Lawson) and Aya Kawashima (Mieko Ouchi) is a story about their strengths and flaws and how they break down prejudices on a personal level. Features Robert Ito and Ruby Truly as the parents of Aya.

Watari Dori: Bird of Passage (60 min) 16mm, Jesse Nishihata, CBC-TV, Toronto, 1972
Using home movies and stock shot material, this personalized documentary explores the small factor of “being Japanese in Canada”. It was produced for CBC Current Affairs Television and telecast nationally twice.


Films in Progress

Gaijin (Strangers) (9 min), Michael Fukushima, 1994
An animation film exploring the rifts between the estranged members of a Japanese Canadian family subjected to an unjust exile in war-torn Japan. The film contrasts those who eventually returned to Canada with those who remained in exile, and those who sacrificed their futures in the name of family obligation with those who were only old enough to be swept up by the events of the times, unaware that a future even existed.

Tectonics (30 min), Michael Fukushima, 1996
An animation/documentary film hybrid, innovative in both its content and its technique. The film will use abstract animation techniques to illustrate many of the cares and concerns, as detailed in interviews, of the emerging generation of Japanese Canadians. The concept of Ma will be explored as it applies to the way we communicate with each other and with the outside world, and questions of sexuality, “doubles”, and the community’s future will be probed.


Video Documentaries

Homecoming ’92, conference workshop videotapes, Ruby Truly, producer-director; NAJC, associate producer. Available from Ruby Truly, NAJC, Video Out

Homecoming ’92 Overview (45 min), 3/4″ and VHS, excerpts of workshops and events
Before the Uprooting—The Community Remembered (47 min), 3/4″ and VHS
Exiled to Japan (38 min), 3/4″ and VHS
Children of Two Cultures (48 min), 3/4″ and VHS
Redress—the Community in Process (45 min), 3/4″ and VHS
Intermarriage #1 (45 min), 3/4″ and VHS
Intermarriage #2 (45 min), 3/4″ and VHS

1993 Redress Action Committee, Ruby Truly. VHS tapes at cost.
Community meeting to discuss pending and denied redress applications from both those exiled to Japan and the kika nisei.

Powell Street Festival Panels—1990, 1991, 1992, Ruby Truly. Available from the Powell Street Festival Society

  1. Nisei Panel
  2. Japanese Canadian Artists and the Community
  3. Nisei Panel #2
  4. Japanese Canadian Women’s Panel

With Our Own Eyes: The Lemon Creek Reunion ’91 (35 min), 3/4″ and VHS, Ruby Truly, producer-director; Naomi Shikaze, associate producer. Available from Video Out.
On the 17th and 18th of May 1991, over one hundred and sixty former internees of the Lemon Creek Japanese-Canadian relocation camp, their spouses, and friends, travelled to meet in Vancouver, BC, for the Lemon Creek Reunion 91. On Sunday, May 19th, a busload of reunion guests left Vancouver for a four-day BC tour of the old ghost-town relocation settlements. This tape is dedicated to those families interned, their stories and that time.

Kyowakai (20 min), VHS, New Denver Japanese Canadian Association. Available from New Denver JCA.
Box 273 New Denver, BC VOG ISO Tel (604) 358-7288, Fax (604) 358-7251

National Association of Japanese Canadians (NAJC)
404 Webb Place
Winnipeg, MB R3B 3S4
Tel (204) 943-2910, Fax (204) 947-3145

Video Out
1965 Main Street Vancouver, BC V5T 3C1

Powell Street Festival
1050 Alberni Street, #450 Vancouver, BC V6E 1A3 Tel (604) 682-4335, Fax (604) 688-4529


Recordings

Chirashi: A Mixed Menu of Asian/North American Music (CD/cassette), Uzume Taiko, Aural Tradition Records, Canada, 1990; Flying Fish Records, USA, 1991; Pan Records, Holland, 1991

Dance for The One in Six (CD/cassette), Neptune, John Kaizan Oasis Productions Ltd., Canada, 1992 NH204
Neptune masterfully combines world music and jazz in this innovative classic. Shakuhachi with a quartet of Japanese jazz instrumentalists with sitar and tabla.

Evening Snow (CD/cassette), Tani, Senzan; Tanaka,Yoko, Oasis Productions Ltd., Canada, 1988 WMS101
Evening Snow is a beautiful collection of traditional Japanese pieces by two of Osaka’s leading artists. Masterful performances on the shakuhachi (bamboo flute) and the harp-like koto are combined with digital recording techniques to produce an album of rare beauty and refinement.

Japanese Mysteries (CD/cassette), Korb, Ron; Sakaguchi, Hiroki, Oasis Productions Ltd., 1993 OASIOO8
Japanese Mysteries explores many aspects of Japanese music: Zen, Folk, Kabuki, and even the rarely heard ancient court music called Gagaku. Set against a contemporary backdrop, the sounds, textures, and traditional instruments are used in a way that is true to their nature. From the grandeur of Todaiji, through the folky Tokaido, to the quiet sensitivity of Winter Night, all tracks feature a fascinating blend of East and West with Korb’s trademark melodic style.

Katari Taiko Live at the Queen Elizabeth Playhouse (Cassette) Katari Taiko, Independent, Oct. 21, 1984 (no longer available)

Words Can’t Go There (CD/cassette) Neptune, John Kaizan, Oasis Productions Ltd., Canada 1992 NH203
Neptune’s first release of original and traditional shakuhachi solos explores the repertoire of the various shakuhachi schools.

Takeo Yamashiro (vinyl/cassette), Takeo Yamashiro, Aural Tradition Records, 1989

Zen Spirit (CD/cassette) Tani Senzan, Oasis Productions Ltd Canada 1988 WMS 102
Zen Spirit is an album of shakuhachi solos in the style the ancient Zen priests played on this unique instrument.

Records Produced by Terry Watada
Available from Windchime Records, Toronto, Ontario

Runaway Horses (lp), 1977 Terry Watada, Martin Kobayakawa, Frank Nakashima, Garry Kawasaki, Larry Sasaki

Birds on the Wing (lp), 1978 Terry Watada, Steve Isozaki, John Saisho, Arlene Chan, Larry Sasaki, Bill Lum, Ted Lumb, Doug Kawasaki, Ken Azuma, Dave Kai, Ed Koyama, Frank Nakashima, Ying Chung, Garry Kawasaki

Night’s Disgrace (double lp), 1980 Terry Watada, Frank Nakashima, Garry Kawasaki, Larry Sasaki, Dave Kai, John Saisho, Roy Miya, Bruce Tatemichi, Ed Koyama, Ted Lumb

Yellow Fever (soundtrack), 1983 Terry Watada, Ed Koyama, Ian Nishio, Frank Nakashima, Dave Kai, Bruce Tatemichi, Ted Lumb

Living in Paradise (lp), 1986 Terry Watada, David Henry Hwang, Garry Kawasaki, Ted Lumb, Rick Shiomi, Roy Miya, Ed Koyama, John Seetoo, Dave Kai

Saigon Dreaming (cassette), 1986 Roy Miya, Terry Watada, Butch Watanabe, David Henry Hwang, Garry Kawasaki, Dave Kai, Charles Rolston, Mike Milligan, Brendan Davis

Number One Son (cassette), 1992 Sean Gunn, Martin Kobayakawa, Kuan Foo, Terry Watada, Khai Foo, Kat Hendrikse

The Art of Protest (cassette), 1994 Terry Watada, John Seetoo, Bill Asai


Organizations

National Association of Japanese Canadians

National Office
404 Webb Place
Winnipeg, MB R3B 3S4
Tel (204) 943-2910, Fax (204) 947-3145

British Columbia Chapters

Kamloops and Area Chapter of the NAJC
160 Vernon Ave
Kamloops, BC V2B 1L6
Tel (604) 376-3506, Fax (604) 376-9629

Kelowna Chapter of the NAJC
1877 Broadview Ave
Kelowna, BC V1X 1N5
Tel (604) 763-1410, Fax (604) 762-2246

Greater Vancouver Japanese Canadian Citizens’ Association
511 East Broadway
Vancouver, BC V5T 1X4
Tel (604) 874-8187, Fax (604) 874-8164

Vancouver Island Japanese Canadian Society
1657 Bay St. Box 429 Ucluelet, BC V0R 3A0 Tel/Fax (604) 726-7037

Vernon Japanese Cultural Society
S5, C-20, RR 4
Vernon, BC V1T 6L7
Tel (604) 545-3520, Fax (604) 542-2028

Alberta Chapters

Calgary Japanese Community Association
2236-29th St SW Calgary, AB T3E 2H2
Tel (403) 289-9369, Fax (403) 250-9509

Edmonton Japanese Community Association
15207-65 St
Edmonton, AB T5A2E4
Tel (403) 475-7147, Fax (403) 478-6010

Lethbridge and District Japanese Canadian Association
1213 Eighteenth St N Lethbridge, AB T1H 3H5
Tel (403) 327-6360, Fax (403) 380-6566

Manitoba Chapter

Manitoba Japanese Canadian Citizens’ Association
180 McPhillips Ave Winnipeg, MB R3E 2J9
Tel (204) 774-5909, Fax (204) 775-6029

Ontario Chapters

Hamilton Chapter of the NAJC
45 Hempstead Dr
PO Box 20252
Hamilton, ON L9C 7M8
Tel (905) 388-6993, Fax (905) 335-7876

Lakehead Japanese Cultural Association
915 Edward St S
Thunder Bay, ON P7E 6R2
Tel (807) 577-6778, Fax (807) 622-5964

Ottawa Japanese Community Association Inc
Unit B-16, 2285 St. Laurent Blvd
Ottawa, ON K1G 4Z4
Tel (613) 523-4491, Fax (613) 731-1367

Greater Toronto Chapter of the NAJC
382 Harbord St
Toronto, ON M6G 1H9
Tel (416) 516-1375, Fax (416) 516-8402

Quebec Chapter

Quebec Chapter of the NAJC
585, chemin St. Armand Saint-Armand, PQ JOJ 1T0
Tel/Fax (514) 248-0435


Cultural Organizations

Edmonton Japanese Community Association Cultural Centre
6750-88 St
Edmonton, AB T6E 5H6
Tel (403) 466-8166, Fax (403) 437-7730

Hamilton Japanese Cultural Centre
45 Hempstead Dr Hamilton, ON L8W 2Y6 Tel (905) 383-5755

Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre
Box 191, 123 Wynford Dr Don Mills, ON M3C 2S2 Tel (416) 441-2345, Fax (416) 441-2347

Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre of Montreal Inc
8155 Rousselot St
Montreal, PQ H2E 1Z7
Tel (514) 728-1996, Fax (514) 728-5580

Kamloops Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre
160 Vernon Ave Kamloops, BC V2B 1L6 Tel/Fax (604) 376-9629

Lakehead Japanese Cultural Association
915 Edward St S Thunder Bay, ON P7E 6R2 Tel (807) 577-1946, Fax (807) 473-9055

Ottawa Japanese Cultural Centre
Unit B-16, 2285 St. Laurent Blvd
Ottawa, ON K1G 4Z4
Tel (613) 824-4088, Fax (613) 731-1367

American Organizations

Japanese American Citizens’ League
701 East 3rd St, Ste 201Los Angeles, CA 90013, USA

Japanese American National Museum
369 East 1st St
Los Angeles, CA 90012, USA

Miscellaneous Organizations

Asia-Pacific Foundation of Canada
65 Queen St W, #1100
Toronto, ON M5H 2M5
Tel (416) 869-0541, Fax (416) 869-1696

200-1175 Douglas St
Victoria, BC V8W 2C9
Tel (604) 480-1330, Fax (604) 480-1303

Asian Library
Tsuneharu Gonnami, Japanese Librarian
Asian Centre, UBC (University of British Columbia)
1871 West Mall
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2
Tel (604) 822-2023, Fax (604) 822-5207

Association of Japanese Canadian Businessmen and Professionals (Shoko Kai)
PO Box 1182, Station F 50 Charles St E Toronto, ON M4Y 2T8
315 Adelaide St W
Toronto, ON M5V 1P8
Tel (416) 977-2603, Fax (416) 977-0765

Canada Japan Society of Toronto
BCE Place, Canada Trust Tower 161 Bay St
PO Box 602, Suite 4520 Toronto, ON M5J2S1 Tel (416) 867-1162
Canadian Embassy
3-38 Akasaka 7-chome Minato-ku, Tokyo 107, Japan

Consulate General of Japan
Toronto Dominion Centre PO Box 10, Suite 2702 Toronto, ON M5K 1A1 Tel (416) 363-7038

Consulate General of Japan
Annex Office National Bank Building 150 York St., Suite 1120 Toronto, ON M5H 3S3 Tel (416) 364-1627

Embassy Of Japan
255 Sussex Dr Ottawa, ON KIN 9E6 Tel (613) 241-8541

Full Screen Coalition
Film and Video Makers of Colour & First Nations
401 Richmond St. W, #450
Toronto, ON M5V 3A8
Tel (416) 598-7993, Fax (416) 340-8458

Japan-Canada Fund
Arts Award Service
The Canada Council 99 Metcalfe St PO Box 1047 Ottawa, ON KIP 5V8
Money is available to Canadian artists who wish to go to Japan to carry out a program of work, or study, or other projects consistent with the purpose of the fund, which is designed to help reinforce cultural links between the two countries. Write to the Council for more information.
Established in 1988 through a gift of almost one million dollars from the Japanese government to the Canada Council, the fund will be used over a period of five years.

The Japan Foundation
131 Bloor St W, #213
Toronto, ON M5S 1R1
Tel (416) 966-1600, Fax (416) 966-9773

The Japan Society
Sun Life Centre West Tower 13th Floor, Suite 1301 200 King St W Toronto, ON M5H 3T4 Tel (416) 591-3696

Japanese Canadian Archives
George Brandak, Manuscripts Curator
Special Collections Division, Main Library
UBC (University of British Columbia)
1956 Main Mall
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1
Tel (604) 822-2232, Fax (604) 822-9587

The holdings of the Archives as of 1992:

  • Unpublished documents-43 linear feet (mainly in Japanese)
  • Printed books-260 volumes (English/Japanese)
  • Periodicals-8 newspapers, 3 journals (mainly in Japanese)
  • Photographs-860 in black and white
  • Films-2, 8mm black and white
  • Phonodiscs-150 (mainly in Japanese)
  • Phonotapes-155 cassette tapes and 10 open reels (mainly in Japanese)

Japanese Canadian National Museum & Archives Society Shane Foster, Archival Technician, Program Coordinator; Michael Wilson, Project Director 511 East Broadway Vancouver, BC V5T 1X4 Tel (604) 874-8090, Fax (604) 874-8164

The holdings of the Museum and Archives as of 1995:

  • Photography: ca. 1300
  • Oral history interviews: ca. 350 separate interviews
  • Textual records: ca. 7 metres; English/Japanese
  • Comprehensive information files on Japanese
  • Canadians and Japanese Canadian history
  • Printed books: Japanese/English

Other miscellaneous archival material and museum artifacts

Japanese Family Services
789 Don Mills Rd Suite 615
North York, ON M3C 1T9 Tel (416) 467-6609

The Langham Cultural Society
Box 1000 447-A Avenue Kaslo, BC VOG 1M0 Tel (604) 353-2661
Located roughly 30 miles from New Denver, the Langham project is a replication of a sleeping room in the Langham Hotel—home to approximately 80 Japanese Canadians during the World War II intern ment period.

Mission Community Archives
33201 Second Avenue
Mission, BC V2V 1J9
Tel (604) 826-1011

Momiji Health Care Society
3555 Kingston Rd
Scarborough, ON M1W 3W4
Tel (416) 261-6683

New Japanese Canadian Association
c/o Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre
PO Box 191
123 Wynford Dr
Toronto, ON M3C 2S2
Tel (416) 441-2345

Nikkei Internment Memorial Centre
Box 273
New Denver, BC VOG ISO
Tel (604) 358-7288, Fax (604) 358-7251
Conceived and sponsored by the Kyowakai (“working together peacefully”) Society, the memorial centre is the only internment camp organization still in operation. Dedicated to telling the story of the internment experi ence, the centre emphasizes the fragile nature of democ racy and the importance of civil rights for all Cana dians.

Nipponia Home
4505 Thirty Rd RR #3
Beamsville, ON LOR 1B3
Tel (l)-905-563-8312

Tonari Gumi
378 Powell St Vancouver, BC V6A 1G4
Tel (604) 687-2172, Fax (604) 687-2168

Toronto Japanese Association of Commerce & Industry
130 Adelaide St W, #3301
Toronto, ON M5H 3P5
Tel (416) 360-0235, Fax (416) 360-0236


Toronto Nikkei Archive and Resource Centre
382 Harbord St
Toronto, ON M6G 1H9
Telephone (416) 516-1375
Fax (416) 516-8402