Discover Nikkei

https://www.discovernikkei.org/en/interviews/clips/833/

Grandmother convinced his mother to return to Canada

I think she (my mom) was homesick. She said that herself, she wanted to go home, and she wanted to have her second [child], she wanted to have, she was homesick for her mother, so she went, well, she was fairly young, of course, like I said before. Twenty-three, yeah, she would be still in her early twenties by then. And she went home, and she went back to Japan, and she had her second child. And we stayed there for, oh, over a year. And Papa was, used to, continued to work and send, send money back. And eventually, her mother said, "You know, you have to go back to Canada because your father is very faithful to you, sending you money every month and everything. He's put up his, he's doing his part, so you have to do your part." And she, her mother convinced her to come back to Canada. And so by the time we came back to Canada, my sister was a little over one year old, I think. So we were there for about two years, three years, two or three years. 'Cause by the time I came back, I was, I went back, I was almost five, I was four and something. So we were at least two and a half, two years in Japan, came back to Canada, and then of course, we stayed.


Canada migration

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)

Akira Takashio
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Takashio,Akira

Immigration ship Brazil-maru (Japanese)

Shin Issei – owner of izakaya (Japanese-style tavern) and kappo (small Japanese diner) restaurant, Honda-Ya

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Michelle Yamashiro
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Yamashiro,Michelle

Great grandfather Asato was a sumo wrestler

Okinawan American whose parents are from Peru.

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Michelle Yamashiro
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Yamashiro,Michelle

Grandfather loved to tell her stories of her great-grandfather Arakaki

Okinawan American whose parents are from Peru.

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Michelle Yamashiro
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Yamashiro,Michelle

Parents leaving Peru to move to California

Okinawan American whose parents are from Peru.

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Monica Teisher
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Teisher,Monica

Grandfather migrating to Colombia

(b.1974) Japanese Colombian who currently resides in the United States

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Masato Ninomiya
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Ninomiya,Masato

What made your parents decide to move to Brazil?

Professor of Law, University of Sao Paulo, Lawyer, Translator (b. 1948)

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Vince Ota
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Ota,Vince

Moving to and living in Japan

Japanese American Creative designer living in Japan

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Kazuo Funai
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Funai,Kazuo

Company in Tokyo burned down (Japanese)

(1900-2005) Issei businessman

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James Hirabayashi
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Hirabayashi,James

Family interrelations between mother and father

(1926 - 2012) Scholar and professor of anthropology. Leader in the establishment of ethnic studies as an academic discipline

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Barbara Kawakami
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Kawakami,Barbara

Going back to Hawaii

An expert researcher and scholar on Japanese immigrant clothing.

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Barbara Kawakami
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Kawakami,Barbara

Picture brides and karifufu

An expert researcher and scholar on Japanese immigrant clothing.

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Roy H. Matsumoto
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Matsumoto,Roy H.

Kibei schoolchildren in Hiroshima, Japan

(b.1913) Kibei from California who served in the MIS with Merrill’s Marauders during WWII.

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Marion Tsutakawa Kanemoto
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Kanemoto,Marion Tsutakawa

Mother's immigration to U.S. as a treaty merchant

(b. 1927) Japanese American Nisei. Family voluntarily returned to Japan during WWII.

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Mitsuo Ito
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Ito,Mitsuo

Chose to go back to Japan

(b.1924) Japanese Canadian Nisei. Interpreter for British Army in Japan after WWII. Active in Japanese Canadian community

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Seiichi Tanaka
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Tanaka,Seiichi

Coming to America

(b.1943) Shin-issei grand master of taiko; founded San Francisco Taiko Dojo in 1968.

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