Chuck Tasaka

O que é isso? Nunca ouvi falar disso enquanto cresci no Canadá do pós-guerra. Escolas de língua japonesa não existiam em Greenwood. A única palavra semelhante a isso era “Itai!” ou “Itai-na!”, quando um irmão ou irmã mais velha estavam empurrando você para o lado, para pegar o melhor assento na mesa da cozinha. Além disso, todos nós queríamos ser mais “canadenses”, que é a cultura anglo-canadense. Na Escola Sacred Heart, nós, crianças, aprendemos a cantar “Irish Eyes are Smiling” ou “Loch Lomond”. Embora a comida fosse branda em comparação com a ...

Greenwood, situada na Colúmbia Britânica no Canadá, se tornou o primeiro centro de internamento quando a população nikkei foi desenraizada e “transferida” da região costeira da Colúmbia Britânica. Em 7 de dezembro de 1941, o Japão bombardeou Pearl Harbor; pouco depois, o Canadá declarou guerra ao Japão quando Hong Kong, membro da Commonwealth britânica, foi tomada pelo exército japonês. Isto levou a uma série de decisões do governo com respeito à remoção dos nipo-canadenses das regiões costeiras. Com a implementação do Ato das Medidas de ...

Former Nelson Star editor, Greg Nesteroff, on January 21, 2015, wrote an article on names of Japanese Canadians scratched on the wall of the old ‘Slocan Hall’ or Legion/Oddfellows Hall. This building was undergoing renovation to expand the kitchen. As the contractors were peeling off the asphalt of the building, they could see the names of Japanese Canadians who were probably young teens during the internment years around 1944 or 1945. Only a handful of names were legible. The clearest one was very stylish according to Greg, “Sam Miyashita, Popoff, Slocan”. Popoff was one of the internment camps south ...

In present day Canada, the high profile Nikkei we hear of so often are people like David Suzuki, Joy Kogawa, Muriel Kitagawa, Thomas Shoyama, Santa Ono, Raymond Moriyama, Art Miki, Mary and Tosh Kitagawa, and athletes like Paul Kariya (hockey), Nathan Hirayama (Rugby 7), Vicky Sunohara (Olympic hockey), Special Olympic skier Brian McKeever and the Hall of Fame Vancouver Asahi baseball team (1914-1941).

From 1942-1949, during the forced relocation from the B.C. coast beyond the 100-mile radius east to various internment camps, who were the unsung heroes? This is my list.

Nikkei Women:

When the federal government of Canada ...

For many centuries, women fought for gender equality, especially in the political forum. As early as the late 1800’s, women in Canada struggled to gain stronghold for the “Right to Vote.” Most politicians were adamant that women’s place should be in the home, having babies, raising them, cook for their husbands, and to keep the house tidy. Nevertheless, women in Canada could run for political office.

One woman who spear-headed this movement was Nellie McClung. She and four other women delivered a petition containing almost 40,000 signatures in support of women’s right to vote. On January ...