There was a lot of discussion, and of course, at the time, there was continual pressure put on by the B.C. Security Commission to get people out of these camps, go east, or sign up to go to Japan. And to go back to Japan, they sort of put a little bait out there, they would pay everybody two hundred dollars plus the fact they would ship everything that they had out to Japan for them. And they, each individual would receive two hundred dollars. So this was a kind of a bait they put out to try and get them to sign up to go back to Japan. And, of course, majority of the people looked at that and said, "Why would I go -- " most of the younger people said, "Why? I'm not Japanese, I'm Canadian." And so they did get about, oh, eventually they got about, oh, seven or eight thousand people to sign up, and then about half of them said, no, they don't want to go after all.

Canada expatriations migration postwar World War II

Date: July 25 & 26, 2006

Location: Washington, US

Interviewer: Tom Ikeda

Contributed by: Denshō: The Japanese American Legacy Project.

Interviewee Bio

Henry Shimizu was born in Prince Rupert, B.C. in 1928 and was interned in New Denver during the war. After leaving the internment camp, he moved to Edmonton where he still resides. As a medical graduate, Dr. Henry Shimizu specialized in plastic surgery and has been active in the medical community by serving in numerous leadership positions. From 1989 to 2002, he served as chairperson of JCRF. He is an artist and has painted a number of scenes from his internment days. His works were exhibited in several communities. For his outstanding contribution to the community, he has received several awards including the NAJC National Award 1999, the University of Alberta Distinguished Alumni Award 2004 and the Order of Canada 2004. (July 26, 2006)