Japanese Canadian Internment
Camps
A Personal Perspective
By: Stefeni Higuchi
Backround Information
 After the bombing of Pearl Habor in Dec.17th 1941, in
the US, racial profiling occured
 In 1942, 22,000 Japanese-Canadians were evacuated
from BC over a 9 month period
 By October, 8 internment camps were set up in interior
BC
 Women, children and older people were sent there
while men who complained or violated the curfew were
sent to the “prisoner of war” camps in Ontario
Backround Information cont.
 The property of the Japanese-Canadians (inc. land,
business etc.) were confiscated by the government and
sold and the proceeds were used to pay for their
internment
 In 1945, the government extended the Order in Council
to force Japanese to either go to Japan and lose their
citzenship or move to eastern Canada
 Even though the war was over, it was illegal for them to
return to Vancouver until 1949
Posters
 This is an example of the
poster the government
used to evacuate all
Japanese-Canadians
during 1942
Personal Perspective from my
Great-Uncle
 My great-uncle was born in Richmond, BC around
1914
 Ever since Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, it had changed
their lives dramatically
 After Pearl Habor, the Canadian Government moved to
control feared treachery of its Japanese population by
invoking the War Measures Act against all people of
Japanese descent
Cont.
 They became the victims of extreme racial
discrimination and were blamed for everything that
went wrong. They also thought they were spies
 A lot of people in BC didn’t want the Japanese living
there so Mackenzie King incarcerate all Japanese males
between the age of 14 and 45
 Around 1942, that is when many Japanese-Canadians
were sent to internment camps in abandoned mining
settlements
Cont.
 During this time, the government had taken their land,
businesses, and basically everything they had
 The valueables they owned were sold without their
consent and for far less than their value
 They were stripped of their rights, issued special
clothing, humiliated and was forced to do manual
labour
 They were being punished for a crime they didn’t
commit. It was because they weren’t white and “could”
have been spies
Cont.
 Some people were shipped out in different provinces
across Canada, especially to provinces in the west and
Ontario
 My grandfather was given the choice of either staying
here in Canada and ending up at the internment camp or
going back to Japan
 He decided to go back. However, my great-uncle
decided to just remain where he was and work there
Cont.
 Some people decided to stay where they were because
they were born in Canada and Japan to them, was like
an unknown country they knew very little of
 He learned Japanese and English at the same time
because even though he was living in Canada, he went
to a Japanese school during the time he spent in the
internment camps
 He was moved around the prairie provinces working as
farmhands
After the Internment Camps
 Afterwards, he got married to a woman who was a
Japanese-Canadian as well and had 3 children
 After my great-uncle was released from the internment
camp, they were moved to the east towards northern
Ontario in a small town called Chapleau in the late 40’s
and worked on the CPR
 My grandfather had come back from Japan and moved
there as well
Feelings about the whole
experience
 My great-uncle and his family felt many feelings when
they found out they were being forced to move out of
BC
 He felt insecure about the whole situation because he
didn’t know exactly what was going to happen
 He felt obliged to do whatever the government
instructed him to do
 There was a feeling of sadness and devestation because
they no longer owned their land and everything was
taken away from them
Feelings cont.
 It was a very depressing time for all the JapaneseCanadians. They were treated very harshly (ex. hard
labour, poor living conditions)
 He felt very discriminated against the white Canadians
who felt the Japanese-Canadians were not welcomed in
their country
Question
 It is important to note that Canada is at war with Japan,
Germany, Italy and Austria. Why then were only
Japanese-Canadians held against their will?
Ending
 In 1988, Canada apoligized for this miscarraige of
justice, admitting that the actions of the government
were influenced by racial discrimination
 The government and PM signed a redress agreement
providing a small amount of money compensation
Videos
 1. http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-71-308-162111/conflict_war/internment_apology/
 2. http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-71-5682921/conflict_war/internment/
 3. http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-71-5682918/conflict_war/internment/