“It is my hope that the people of Canada never lose sight of what happens when the democratic system crumbles.” Mary Keiko Kitagawa, leader in effort to get UBC to award degrees to 76 Nisei whose educations were affected by Internment
Seventy years after being forced to leave the University of British Columbia, this year’s convocation was a homecoming of sorts for 76 Nisei who weren’t able to complete their university education just because they were of Japanese descent.
Not all were there, of course. Time has taken most; many families were there in their stead.
The historical significance of May 28th is somewhat lost in 2012. There were no loud demonstrations. Only some petitions, letters and the fierce determination of Mary and Tosh Kitagawa to see that there was reparation for UBC’s allowing the government to put its innocent students, our best and brightest, into various kinds of prison camps along with women and children, for the duration of World War Two.
I drove out to the JCCC in Don Mills after school. There was already a small gathering assembled in the boardroom where they were trying to resolve a technical issue with the live internet feed. About 100 of us, mostly Nisei, middle-aged Sansei and some families including lost looking younger JCs were crowded around a large table.
As the live feed got working, we held our breath. There were a few internment survivors who I recognized in the room: WW2 veterans Min Yatabe and Frank Moritsugu, whose journalism career began with the New Canadian newspaper. A spry and dapper Akira Namba, 92, was there too.
The one person who exemplified ‘the moment’ for me was the exuberant, Shinko Mary Kato (nee Nagata), 90, sitting behind me with her sister, Fusako Ruth Cezar, 88, (1941-42, 1st year, Faculty of Arts and Science) gushing with pride and joy. However one might envision a proud UBC student who wasn’t able to graduate being 70 years later, she embodied all of those positive feelings and when I see herself as a 20-year-old (1941-42, 2nd year, Faculty of Arts and Science) on the slide show, now sitting beside her as a 90-year-old, I am somehow teleported back in time too and shudder in the shared experience. It was pure joy.
Left to right : Akira Namba, 92, Shinko Mary Kato (nee Nagata), 90; Fusako Ruth Cezar (nee Nagata), 88; and Min Yatabe, 89 at the Toronto JCCC.
A personal note...
None of this would have happened without the tireless work of people like Mary and Tosh Kitagawa (Delta, B.C.), who initiated this project, former Nikkei Voice newspaper editor Mika Fukuma and many others.
Watching the young, fresh, smart 1942 faces of the UBC students images in the intro roll by made me especially proud of the people who were of my parent’s generation: despite having their property and livelihoods taken from them, many were able to become role models for all Canadians. The names of Dr. Tom Shoyama, Dr. Gordon Hirabayashi, poet and author Joy Kogawa, Roger Obata, Harold Hirose, and many, many others truly paved the way for all of us who continue, in our many roles in society, to help guide the discussion of what “Canadian” should and must be.
I have asked a few friends who were part of the UBC ceremony to share their feelings and experiences with us.
From Vancouver’s Linda Ohama on her way back to Onomichi, Japan, for the summer:
UBC prepared a very special occasion to celebrate their former Nikkei students that was nicely paced and very meaningful. Even the music was good with opera to hit ‘40s tunes.
As I watched the few living former students gather to try on their gowns, file onto the stage, and stand up to accept their degrees…I imagined my Dad (George) walking across the stage as his name was called, to receive his degree and hood, shaking hands with the President and the Chancellor, and feeling that so much time has, and has not passed by.
The different emotions that fills one in this company, could be felt from all the faces of the former students.
I wondered what they were thinking and feeling. Between being proud, were they asking “what if they were never kicked out of UBC…?”
Linda Ohama at UBC 2012
In total, there were 76 honorary degrees given out to former Nikkei students, but most were represented by a member of the family or friend as most of these students have passed away. Of the ones that are still alive, many were in wheelchairs or walkers and white haired. This made me think about the ageing nisei generation and how we are losing so many of their stories that are an important part of our history as they pass on.
As the group of former students and representatives stood for O Canada, I watched them sing the words so proudly, and wondered what the words meant to them today as they were about to receive their honorary degrees 70 years after being students on this campus.
Just the look on their faces made me have some tears, but mostly I felt a big, big smile fill my whole body.
I wore a gown for my Dad and crossed that stage to accept his degree. I knew he would want me to do that, but I wished that it was him and not me.
I also thought that all these honorary degrees were actually earned by Mary and Tosh Kitagawa and wished that they were receiving one too.
As the UBC yearbook states, “Without Mary and Tosh Kitagawa, the University of British Columbia may have never recognized this dark part of its history.”
So, 70 years after the fact, 76 students received an honorary degree.
© 2012 Norm Ibuki
