This year, all Canadians, especially those of us of Japanese descent, should take a special moment to meditate on what happened to our community just 70 years ago when our right to be Canadian was challenged in ways that are unimaginable for anyone born after we were “Enemy Aliens.”
I’ll never forget the morning when I heard about the earthquake and tsunami that happened on March 11, 2011. It was a school day.
Friday, December 12, 1941“We’ve heard about some awful things happening to Jewish people in Germany because of the Nazis. That sounded so far away until now. I keep telling myself at least we live in Canada and those things can’t possibly happen to us.” —Susan Aihoshi, Torn Apart: The Internment …
I can’t imagine coming through a more turbulent year than 2011.
Seventy years ago, 76 University of British Columbia students were not able to complete their degrees simply because they were of Japanese descent.
I am very proud to say that my friend film maker/poet/artist Linda Ohama of Vancouver has spearheaded some of the most ambitious relief efforts for the Tohoku tsunami and earthquake victims in Japan.
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