From left: Athena Asklipiadis , Krissy Kobata, and Jeff Chiba Stearns. Krissy is 27 years old and part Japanese/part Caucasian with Myelodysplastic Syndrom (MDS) and is actively searching for a bone marrow donor.

In 2007 filmmaker Jeff Chiba Stearns heard from a friend of his, who was a cancer survivor, about a young SFU student who was looking for a bone marrow donor. What complicated things was the man’s race. Part Chinese and part Caucasian, it made it more difficult to find a match. Stearns’ friend pointed out that as a hapa—part Caucasian, part Japanese—Stearns would have a good chance of being a match. Since matching is based on genetics, they were looking for more hapas to join the registry. Ultimately, Stearns says, he didn’t join the registry, “partly for a lot of the same reasons other people don’t join. I was busy, I didn’t know how to, and I really didn’t understand the complexities associated with multiethnic matches and how hard it is for mixed people to find a match.”

The experience resonated with Stearns, though, and he is serving as Director and Executive Producer of Mixed Match, a documentary currently in production that looks at the issue of finding bone marrow matches for mixed race people facing life-threatening blood diseases.

The Bulletin talked to Stearns about Mixed Match and the issues the film raises.

You’re known primarily as an animator. What made you decide to make Mixed Match?
Around a year ago I was approached by Athena Asklipiadis, founder of Mixed Marrrow (www.mixedmarrow.org). She mentioned that she wanted to create a documentary to raise awareness for this cause and the complexities associated with finding matches for multiethnic people. Hers is the only group in the US that specifically targets multiethnic people to join the national registry in the US, which is Be The Match. After I talked to Athena and learned more about the topic, as well as read articles about patients who were searching and read research on the science behind it, I realized it was something I had to take on as a documentary subject.

This is very different from other film projects you have been involved with—does it signal a new direction for you?
This is the first medically-related documentary I’ve ever worked on. But I don’t want this to feel like a medical documentary. I want this to be a character-driven documentary that captures the stories of the patients and subject we’re working with. I want their stories to resonate with the audience and so the call to action is to get more people to join their national registries and consider donating cord blood to stem cell banks. I am trying to find a way to incorporate animation into the film, since I have a huge love for the medium of animation. I love animation and I love documentary so it’s great when I can create this hybrid of both in one film. What I also like about this topic is it continues to explore my love of the topic of multiethnic identity.

It sounds like you’ve become emotionally invested in the topic.
A lot of these patients are at a crucial stage in their lives where identity is starting to play a role in how they understand the world around them. It’s difficult when their mixed heritage is the direct reason why they are having such a hard time finding a match. As well, with the increasing number of mixed kids being born today, especially in the Japanese Canadian community, it’s difficult to find enough mixed people of my generation to join the registry since you have to be over 17 in Canada to join the registry.

You talk about not knowing the issues when you were first asked to join the registry. I’m with you there. What are the issues?
Race and ethnicity play a big role when it comes to finding a marrow match for those suffering from fatal blood diseases. A lesser-known fact is that in order for a marrow or stem cell match to occur between a patient and a donor, genetic markers on cells must line up. These markers are inherited from parents, so their children are a blend of both their parents’ markers. This means that for mixed patients, their mono-racial parents and relatives will not likely be a match, and their siblings only hold about a 1 in 4 chance of being a match. Many markers on the cells are specific to certain ethnic groups so multiethnic people have a difficult time when their tissue typing has unusual or uncommon combinations. To put this in perspective, if your background is Egyptian, Japanese, and Russian, there is a likely chance that only another person with a similar ethnic blend could be a possible donor if you are diagnosed with leukemia.
Our film addresses the fact that every year over 30,000 people in North America are diagnosed with life threatening blood diseases. For many of them, a bone marrow transplant is their only chance at survival. Of the seven million registered bone marrow donors and 100,000 cord blood donors in the US, less than 3% are multiethnic. This statistic, although proportionate to the population of mixed people in the country, is a real challenge for a mixed patient, given the endless variety of possible genetic combinations in the registry. Finding a multiethnic marrow match in the public registry is akin to finding a needle in a haystack or winning the lottery.
According to the 2010 US Census, the number of people who associate with having more than one ethnic background has increased by almost 50% since 2000. But despite the rapid growth of the multiracial population all over the world, people don’t realize the risks that lie ahead for mixed people when it comes to blood diseases, and the almost endless search for a donor match.

Those are sobering statistics, how will you bring the subject matter to life?
As I said, I don’t want this just be another medical documentary and it’s the human angle that will ultimately  touch viewers and keep them engaged. We’re going to show the lives of young patients and their families as they struggle to overcome life-threatening blood diseases. Mixed Match will be a character-driven documentary highlighting a number of exceptional, courageous, and inspiring people. The film will follow recently-diagnosed multiethnic patients in search of donors. Some of them are struggling to hold on to hope through countless rounds of chemotherapy while also searching for a match. We also look at a patient who is in remission after a successful stem cell/marrow donation. Another patient, who ultimately succumbed to his illness story, has his story told through his surviving family members. On an uplifting note, the documentary will feature an emotional reunion between a donor and patient after a successful transplant, with the two meeting for the very first time.
Mixed Match is ultimately a human story told from the perspective of youth who are forced to discover their identities through their illnesses. Their mixed backgrounds threaten their chance at survival, highlighting why in this day and age, race still matters.

The patients are looking for mixed race donors and you’re looking for donors of any race to finish the project. What’s your goal?
We have been able to secure enough funding to start the project, but we don’t have enough to complete it, which is why we decided to try this venue. There are still so many more stories we need to capture and more footage to film with the subjects we’re working with now. We have a number of perks we’re offering on our website (www.indiegogo.com/mixed-match). The contribution amount that you are able to fund will determine the perks you will receive. It is our hope to raise $25,000 to cover expenses in the production and post-production stages.

What other projects do you have in your back pocket?
Right now along with Mixed Match, I’m also working on another incarnation of my animated short film Yellow Sticky Notes. This time, it’s an animated anijam called Yellow Sticky Notes: Canadian Anijam. It’s where I get 15 animators from across Canada to contribute their own section of animation and together they form one big animation, although no animator knows what the other animators are doing. It’s going to be a really amazing showcase of animation talent from across Canada and we’ve got some super talented animators working on the project, some of whom have even been nominated for an Academy Award for their animation work, like Cordell Barker, who created the NFB hit, The Cat Came Back. As well, I’ll also developing another feature length doc, entitled Mixed Media about multiethnic representation in film and TV. We’ve already interviewed some mixed Canadian actors such as Julie Tamiko Manning and Glee’s Patick Gallagher. That said, Mixed Match is my main priority right now and we’re really hoping to get back to filming this summer when we can secure a bit more of a budget. So we really appreciate if people could helps us out by donating at www.indiegogo.com/mixed-match. We’ve got some amazing perks and incentives for their generosity.

‘Life is a journey,’ or so they say. This is not just in the metaphysical sense, I believe. It is also about our actual physical movements over the years from one country, city or locality to another, and even about short family holidays or business trips. ‘Journeys are also part of life,’ might be one way to put it. That’s why we enjoy good travel writing, as I came to discover while editing and writing for an airline inflight magazine in Singapore back in the 1990s. I’ve also found that given Britain’s long history of colonial rule during which some of her brightest youth went out to all corners of the globe as administrators, soldiers, merchants—and de facto correspondents—travel writing has to be one of the things Britons excel at. One gem of an example I came across in the UK daily Guardian a while ago. It’s about the difference between “travelling alone” and “travelling solo.”

Author and veteran traveller Jenny Diski writes: ‘You travel alone, you do exactly as you want.This surely needs no further explanation.’ It sounds to me like the very essence of the “spirit of freedom” with which the English, along with their Irish, Scottish and Welsh “cousins,” seem able to behave and act at ease wherever they go, helped considerably by the widespread use of English, today’s global language of business. I think that mindset behind their confident attitude is relevant to our Canadian Japanese cultural context, because it stands in such clear contrast to the way we Japanese think and behave when we are abroad. Outside our cultural context, we tend to be reserved, non-assertive and sometimes even out of our elements.

Language is obviously a big factor. As one who picked up English as a child, I believe I can relate to and function within the mainstream Anglo-American culture as well as any Nikkei person. But having had many Japanese-Canadian and -American friends and acquaintances over the decades in Tokyo and San Francisco as well as Vancouver, I sense that they, like me, retain some Japanese traits and values that transcend language, such as those above.

Ms Diski notes that ‘there are those who find the word “alone”’ distressing, and quotes a line from the classic French movie Les Enfants du Paradis (1952, Director Marcel Carné): ‘Vous êtes toute seule (all alone), madame?’ which makes toute seule sound like ‘a lifelong terrifying prospect.’ ‘Well then, try “solo,”’ she admonishes, declaring: ‘The difference between traveling solo and traveling alone is a STATE OF MIND (capitals mine).’

A middle-aged single-mother, Ms Diski, who has done a lot of writing and traveling on her own, has noticed that some people become curious and even suspicious when they encounter her. “You tell them you’re a writer and not only is everything explicable but people will stay and talk to you, telling you sometimes wonderful stories about their lives. Use the writer excuse with a different look on your face, and people will understandably leave you alone.”

You may very well say ‘She’s a seasoned professional writer, that’s why she can feel so secure in her solitude.’ Hence the words “STATE OF MIND” in capital letters above. If you make believe you are a “writer” of some kind, then you are. You don’t have to be writing a real book or be on assignment for a newspaper or travel magazine. You could be out looking for observations to scribble down in your own journal or website. You might be just out strolling on a fine spring day, hoping cherry blossoms in their full splendour might inspire you to a line or two of haiku.

And all you camera buffs out there, have you ever “sort of pretended” to be on some kind of a photo assignment? With a camera in hand, you can physically approach things differently in public places. I take my trusted Sony digital camera on walks from time to time, vaguely hoping to capture something beautiful or quaint. With development projects large and small constantly going on here and their, our multicultural, international city Vancouver never lacks for variety of things to shoot.

Coal Harbor on a fine day is one of my choice spots for strolls even if I only have an hour to spare. The presence of large numbers of out-of-towners from near and far makes it easier for me to indulge in one of my favourite pastimes—looking at different parts of my own city anew through the fresh eyes of a tourist. The sea, the trees and the cityscape look as enticing as the first time I saw them 16 years ago.

During one recent stroll along that waterfront, I ran into an old acquaintance, the father of one of my son’s highschool classmates. He happens to be from Penang, Malaysia, where we used to vacation while living in Singapore. Mr Lai and I used to enjoy brief chats while waiting for our sons at school. Several years have elapsed since, but we still appreciate our brief chance encounter. The talk this time turns to an old pond at the botanical garden in Penang, the island city knicknamed “Pearl of the Orient.” It was one of the most relaxing spots on the island for me, and Mr Lai used to go fishing there as a little boy.

Back to Ms Diski. Having ‘chilled out in the Caribbean, encircled America by train, cargo-shipped across the Atlantic and explored the Antarctic peninsula, all solo and at ease,’ she says just think of yourself as a writer on an assignment and ‘the unease falls away.’ With her laptop (It could also be the old, analog notebook and pen, I suppose) ‘as a flag of peace and quiet,’ she never feels awkward in such circumstances as ‘eating alone in a restaurant full of holiday couples and families, lizarding on a beach hoping for perfect peace, ordering a drink at a bar in a small town.’

It’s all about our state of mind. You and I may not go on an Antarctic expedition or a trans-Atlantic voyage, but we can still enjoy the subtle thrills of “traveling solo.” Just make believe you’re a tourist and check out some part of town you haven’t visited lately. The journey of life is spatial travel as well as travel in time. Even for an instant, even just to make believe, you might enjoy “traveling solo” once in a while.

My response to the first question surprised me a little, as it was something I’d never articulated before. And it was this: I care about Japan and Japanese culture in the sense that it is the country and culture of my ancestors on my mother’s side. I am also attracted to the culture in the way that many non-Japanese are drawn to it. It is an easy culture to tap into, at least on a number of superficial levels, not the least of which is aesthetics, which have always been important to me. I certainly don’t feel any ownership of the culture—I have no innate claim to being Japanese. To be honest, I know many non-Japanese that are far more “Japanese” than I am—they’ve lived there, speak the language, understand the customs and social mores and can navigate the culture with ease. Does that override any claims that I have on the culture and identity that are based on ethnicity? I’m not sure, but I’d probably lean towards yes.

Did I cheer for Japan in the 2009 World Baseball Classic once Canada has been eliminated? Sure. I consider it a bit of harmless jingoism.

Do I enjoy visiting Japan? I’ve only been there twice for a total of about six weeks but I’ve enjoyed both visits. Like comedian Russell Peters on his first trip to India, though, I knew the minute I stepped off the plane that I was 100% Canadian and was “just visiting.”

So in terms of caring so much about a culture that is far removed from my own, that’s not really what it’s about for me. But while I don’t consider myself Japanese in any way, I do consider myself Japanese Canadian. It is a culture that was passed down to me through my mother; it is a culture I immersed myself in during my formative years and have absorbed through my skin; it is a culture that is born out of hard work and perseverance in the face of great hardships on the part of many who came before me; it is a culture that I have had a hand in perpetuating in my small way; it is a culture that has a proud legacy and it is a culture that I am passing on to my children. It’s not a culture that sits in a museum to be taken out for special occasions, it’s a living breathing culture that continues to evolve and grow and transform. It’s a culture that you can marry into or be adopted into. You can call it Japanese Canadian. You can call it Nikkei. You can call it Canadian Nikkei (my favourite). Whatever you choose to call it, it is not exclusive and there are no rules for admittance.

As for the second question, “why is it not enough just to identify as Canadian?” I can’t speak for anyone else, but for me it’s a matter of defining an identity, of saying this is who I am, of refusing to simply be absorbed into a homogeneous, characterless culture. What is “being Canadian” anyway? Beyond the hockey and the poutine and the toques that we see in commercials for mediocre beer, what is Canada?

One of the wonderful things about Canada is that there are no hard and fast rules. We aren’t weighed down by century upon century of history and the baggage that comes with it. We are a work in progress. As such, we are all little threads in a wondrous fabric being woven minute by minute, day by day. It’s a fabric that isn’t just trotted out at Canada Day festivities and multicultural fairs, it’s a fabric  that stretches across the country from sea to sea to sea. It’s not a smooth, uniform sheet of cloth either, it a riotous, multi-coloured, textured fabric with uneven seams and little threads sticking out here and there and holes in that have been patched many times over. And one of the seams running through this fabric is called Japanese Canadian. It doesn’t start at the beginning, it starts somewhere in the middle. And it’s not big, but its strong. And it’s bright. And while it meshes beautifully with the surrounding fabric it also stands out proudly. So pardon my mixed and ungainly metaphors, that is why I call myself Japanese. And Canadian. Proudly.

Forming the coming year’s GVJCCA Board of Directors for 2012/13 will be:
Ron Nishimura
Gary Matson
April Shimizu
Mieko Amano
Jack Matsushita
Paul Esslinger
Sayaka Suemine
Morgan Elander
Gabe Nutley
Takako Higuchi
Brian Tomlinson
Harry Aoki (Honorary Board Member)

This coming year we will be without the talents and services of two long-time Board members, Shag Ando and May Hamanishi. Shag will be missed for her many years of organizing the JCCA Golf Tournament, Keiro-kai, and helping with the Salmon BBQ at the Powell Street Festival. Shag has provided the JCCA with many years of help at these and other events and her invaluable support and years of experience will be greatly missed.

May has been on the JCCA Board since Copani XIII and her support and help with Keiro-kai, Salmon BBQ and other JCCA events throughout the years will also be greatly missed. Both Shag and May were both instrumental in making the 2009 National Association of Japanese Canadians Annual General Meeting a great success. We will miss you both!

On a positive note, this year’s Board welcomes some new, younger members who will bring fresh perspectives, insights, creativity, and possibly a new direction. As the GVJCCA struggles with its finances, there is a true need to improve membership strength and donations.

The Human Rights Committee still remains very active, especially in their work producing DVD’s and a book based on the Honouring Our People Conference held in 2009, the Hastings Park Commemoration Project, UBC Grads 1942, plus many more issues concerning the Japanese Canadian community.

The Nihongo Committee, although needing additional members, works actively with their Translation and Interpreting Workshops, plus Intermarriage Workshops.

The Bulletin/Geppo with John Endo Greenaway as primary Editor and writer continues to provide an invaluable resource of arts, culture, and history to Nikkei in Canada through the print edition and website. Future growth and maintenance will be dependent upon acquiring additional sources of funds.

The Greater Vancouver Japanese Canadian Citizens’ Association will soon begin taking applications for the following summer student positions, dependent on funding from Human Resources Development of Canada: Administrative Assistant; and Historical Research Technical Archivist Specialist.  Please submit your resumes this month to gvjcca@shaw.ca or fax 604.777.5223.

Have a great month!
Ron Nishimura
President GVJCCA

Happy Springtime everyone. Yes, this is the nicest time of the year—my favorite season!

BEST BANANA MUFFINS
This recipe was kindly sent in by Margie Hardy (Programme coordinator for older adults at Steveston Community Centre. She’s responding to my request for family favorite and have been baking this since 1981 and her son still requests it all the time. I tried it and it is Good! Thanks Margie.

Preheat oven to 375 degree.

Make topping first:
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup granola or crunchy cereal
1/4 cup melted butter
Stir in small bowl and mash it up till crumbly.

Mash 2 ripe bananas and stir in !/2 cup brown sugar and 1 egg.

Add: 1 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
Pinch of salt
4 Tbsp. melted butter
Fold dry ingredients into the banana and then fold in the melted butter.
This makes the muffin very tender.
Add 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans, if you like nuts.
Put mixture in 12 muffin cups, sprinkle on the crumbly topping .
Bake for 15-20 minutes until brown and firm on top.

Trouble shooting cooking tips:

Apples. When using apple slices in a tossed salad or as garnish, dip in lemon juice or any other high-acid fruit juice to prevent them from darkening.

Bacon. To separate thin slices of bacon, simply roll the entire package crosswise before you open. The slices will separate in an instant.

Baking Powder. If baking powder picks up moisture from the air, it loses its leavening power.
To test the powder before using, mix a teaspoon in 1/2 cup water.If it bubbles furiously, the powder is still usable.

Bread: To slice homemade bread without squashing, pop the loaf in the freezer for a short while, until the bread is slightly firm but not solid. It will slice as thin as you like.

Cheese. The best way to keep hard cheeses that you’ve purchased in bulk for an extended period of time is to cut into smaller pieces and dip into hot paraffin wax. Rewrap and store.
Cutting thin slices from soft cheeses can be difficult unless you dip you knife in hot water before each slice.

Coffee: Make your instant coffee taste like perked. Boil for about 30 seconds , then turn off heat and let stand for a minute before serving.

Eggs: To find out how fresh your eggs are, place an egg in cold water. If it sinks, it’s fresh, If it bobs up at one end it’s fairly fresh. Stale eggs float.

Flour: Store a bay leaf in your flour to keep it insect free, or keep large quantities in the freezer.

Gravy: The trick to no lump gravy is “browned” flour. Place a little on a cookie sheet and brown in the oven. Store in a jar in your refrigerator until ready to use. It also gives a rich color to your gravy.

Honey: If your liquid honey crystallizes, remove the lid and place jar in a saucepan filled with several inches of hot water. Leave until melted.

Meat: To keep meat juices in your next roast or hamburger patty, do not salt before cooking.

Meat loaf: When you’re in a hurry, form meat loaf mixture into several small loaves. Bake in miniature foil pans or muffin tins. In about 15 minutes the meat will be cooked through.

Molasses: Measuring molasses needn’t be a slow affair. Begin by rinsing your measuring cup in cold water or brush the inside with vegetable oil. The molasses will be easier to pour.

Mushroom: Add a dash of lemon juice to the butter in which you’re sauteing mushroom to keep them white.

Onions: For tearless chopping, refrigerate or place onions in freezer for a little while before chopping.
Remove onion odors from hands by scrubbing with salt before washing.
If odor persists, rub hands with parsley or celery leaves.

Oranges: The white pith beneath the peel is bitter. If you drop the orange in a boiling water before peeling the pith will pull away with the rind much easier.

Pasta: Make pasta perfect by cooking in a very large pot of boiling water with a tablespoon of salt and vegetable oil added. Cook uncovered and stir often. Pasta is ready when medium firm.
Drain but do not rinse. If not serving immediately, return to pot .
Lightly coat with oil or butter to keep strands separated.

Puddings: To prevent skin from forming. press a piece of plastic wrap into the surface before refrigerating, but do not seal tightly.

Tea: Enhance the flavor of iced tea by adding ice cubes made from fruit juice.

Tomatoes: Drop into a bowl of boiling water to loosen skins, then immediately transfer to cold water before peeling.

I hope some of these suggestions will be of some value to you.  

Tuesday, October 27

Kay and Emma went to a meeting about the teaching jobs after breakfast, so I was on my own. I took a long walk along the main road until there were no more houses. The only traffic was a big truck loaded with logs. I noticed a sign to Rosebery, another internment camp north of here, and another sign pointing east to Sandon and Kaslo. I kept going as far as the railway tracks and nearly jumped out of my skin when a boy my age suddenly appeared and asked if I was lost!

I told him I wasn’t. Then he asked me whether I was from Rosebery or The Orchard, because if I was from Rosebery, it was faster following the tracks than using the main road. I thanked him and said I was from The Orchard, even though that’s not entirely true! He smiled and said he might see me there. His father is one of the Doukhobor farmers in the area who sell vegetables to the Japanese. They’re usually at The Orchard on Thursdays.

The boy’s name is Alex Davidoff. He likes walking the tracks because he often sees birds and deer. We headed back to the road together just as a bearded man in a horse-drawn wagon pulled up. Alex said it was his father and went to meet him. But before he did, he tipped his cap and wished me good day! I waved as the wagon went by and Alex waved back. It’s strange he wasn’t in school.

After lunch, my sisters and I went to visit the Yamasakis. I was stunned when we went inside but tried not to show it. It’s tiny, yet Mrs. Yamasaki said it’s really a two-family cabin. There’s no electricity and no running water here either. The wooden kitchen sink has a hole that drains straight outside!

Mrs. Yamasaki sent her daughters to fetch water for tea so I went along to help. It’s quite a distance to the village. The full buckets were very heavy but Mrs. Yamasaki gave the youngest girl a metal teapot to carry instead. Now I understand why Sachi wrote that this was such hard work.

The girls are so polite, not yancha like Harry. Dori is nine, Joy is seven and Bonnie is five. The older lady, Mrs. Imai, is Mrs. Yamasaki’s mother and the girls’ baachan. Mr. Yamasaki owned a Vancouver dry cleaning shop, but like Mas, he was sent to Angler for protesting back in May. His family hasn’t had a letter from him since September.

The cabin has two wood stoves, one for heating and one for cooking. My sisters helped Mrs. Yamasaki start the fire in the cooking stove because she was so used to her electric stove in Vancouver. The ocha was good and Mrs. Imai brought out a tin of senbei to munch on. Mrs. Yamasaki apologized for not having any nice teacups but, like everyone else, the family left their good dishes behind at home. We had a nice visit all the same and made some new friends. And I think I may have made friends with a Doukhobor today too!

from Torn Apart, The Internment Diary of Mary Kobayashi, by Susan Aihoshi.

The latest book in Scholastic Canada’s Dear Canada series, Torn Apart, The Internment Diary of Mary Kobayashi, is by Toronto’s Susan Aihoshi. Written in the voice of a fictional 12-year-old girl, the first entry is May 24, 1941, Mary’s birthday—several months before the events that would change the lives of all Japanese Canadians living on the British Columbia coast. From there it goes on to chronicle the building tensions in Vancouver, fanned in large part by the media and anti-Japanese politicians. The story itself is familiar but what sets it apart is the age and gender of its narrator.

The book is poignant in its depiction of a community swept up in events beyond their control as seen through the eyes of young girl trying to make sense of it all. Labelled an enemy alien even as she is affirming her own sense of self, Mary is by turns bewildered, outraged and powerless. She watches her father lose his job as the government tightens the restrictions on those of Japanese descent, leading eventually to their removal from the coast to internment camps in the interior, all of which she chronicles in her diary.

The Dear Canada series, which recently celebrated its tenth anniversary, is aimed at Canadian girls, with each volume written in the voice of a young girl and covering a portion of Canadian history. As such this book is good way to introduce young people, particularly girls, to the wartime experience of Japanese Canadians.

Susan talked to The Bulletin by e-mail from her home in Toronto.

Susan Aihoshi: In her Own Words

Your parents and grandparents were interned in New Denver during the War.  Tell me about your family’s history in Canada prior to that.
I am the only daughter of James Naotaka Aihoshi, who died in 1967. My father’s father, Naosuke Aihoshi, was a tailor in Vancouver. I am unsure when my grandfather came to Canada from Kagoshima-ken in Japan but he first worked on the railroads and quit soon after when he saw how the Chinese workers were being exploited as cheap labour. He decided he would learn to be a tailor instead and set up his own business. His wife died shortly after the last of my father’s five siblings was born. I always thought my father had been born in Vancouver but as I only recently learned, he was actually born in Japan and came to Canada as an infant. It was a struggle for my grandfather to raise his family and earn a living. He adopted a young Japanese woman, Mary Wari Shimodozono,  to look after his children, someone we always regarded as part of our family.

My mother is Marie (Molly) Aihoshi, nee Iwasaki. My mother’s mother, Sakai Kusu, died when my mother was three years old. Mum had an older brother and two older sisters when her father, Yoriki Iwasaki, remarried the woman I knew as my maternal grandmother—Midori Iwasaki. They had another daughter and son, and later adopted another girl who was left without family in the internment camps. Before he remarried, my Iwasaki grandfather worked at Powell Drugs in Japantown.

My Iwasaki grandparents both worked at the Tairiku Nippo Sha or Continental Daily News because my grandmother’s uncle, Yasushi Yamazaki, owned the newspaper. Great-Uncle Yamazaki was famous for organizing the WWI Japanese Volunteer Corps that eventually enlisted in Alberta and fought bravely overseas.

Did you grow up hearing about the War years, or did your family, like many others, keep generally silent?
My grandparents never talked about Vancouver or the internment. Even if they had, my inability to speak Japanese would have hindered any real communication. My parents, aunts and uncles occasionally mentioned New Denver or the ghost towns but that was all. My mother did tell me about her childhood growing up in Vancouver but those stories were pleasant—being in Girl Guides, playing tennis with her friends, cycling to Lion’s Gate Bridge. And even though my mother and her two older sisters had been teachers in New Denver and Rosebery, I never thought to ask them why. The past, especially that of my older family members, did not interest me in my callow youth! I was so ignorant that, growing up in urban Toronto, I looked at the photos in my mother’s album and envied what I thought was my parents’ idyllic time in the beautiful Slocan Valley.

Are there parts of this book that mirror your family’s history or experience?
There are many aspects of the book that reflect my own family’s experiences, from small domestic details to real-life incidents. For example, my aunt told me that once, when she picked up her family’s party-line telephone to make a call, someone actually said: “Get off the line, you dirty Jap!”

Were various characters based on real individuals?
Because of the nature of the Dear Canada series, I had the liberty of creating my own fictional family, the Kobayashis. But Mary and the others are loosely based on my mother and her immediate family, as well as my father and his brother closest to him in age. Mary’s parents are roughly modelled on my maternal grandparents, with a bit of my paternal grandfather thrown in for good measure. I certainly had to rely a great deal on my mother’s and her oldest sister’s memories to bring Mary’s story to life.

From a young age, I have always enjoyed reading and someday hoped to become a writer. I studied creative writing and English literature at the University of Toronto and have worked in publishing most of my life, but had never written a book before. I’d quit a full-time editorial position in an attempt to become a writer back in 2002 but ended up as a freelance editor before I was offered a contract to write this book in 2009. Most people in my family were pleased and excited to learn I’d finally be writing one, particularly on this subject.

How did you get hooked up with Scholastic Canada?
It was thanks to my former manager, Hugh Brewster, a well-established children’s book author in his own right, that I was put in touch with Scholastic Canada. He told me that I was capable of writing a book for the Dear Canada series about the internment years and I guess the timing was right as my proposal was accepted!

How did you research the book?
Once I was offered a contract by Scholastic, I knew I had to begin my research in earnest. Although I became more aware of the uprooting and evacuation of the Japanese community during WWII as an adult, I realized how little I really knew about how it happened. I pored over Ken Adachi’s The Enemy That Never Was as well as Barry Broadfoot’s Years of Sorrow, Years of Shame and Muriel Kitagawa’s This Is My Own. That last work was a real eye-opener for me because for the first time I was hearing the anger of the voice of a nisei writing about those terrible events at the very time they were happening. I also read other books on this subject, both historical and fictional, along with various newspapers and magazine articles of the time. And I talked to my older family members. Many were reluctant to speak to me, largely because they thought they had nothing of interest to say—how wrong they were! And I also spoke to others who were not family, as well as my mother’s close hakujin friend from those long ago days in Vancouver. They all gave me different but still valuable perspectives. I gathered a wealth of material, more than enough for another book.

Was it difficult trying to squeeze so many historical details into one girl’s diary?
It was a great challenge to cover so much historical detail in one book and in the format of a 12-year-old girl’s diary too. I knew it wouldn’t be possible to include everything relevant, but I tried to incorporate as much as possible. For example, one of my uncles had been one of the few Japanese Canadians to join the army before WWII was over, so I wanted to depict how difficult it was for young men like him to enlist at the time. That’s why Mary’s older brother wanted to sign up.

Was it a challenge writing in the voice of a 12-year-old girl?
It wasn’t as hard to imagine myself as 12 years old as it was to write in the diary voice. It is unlike any other writing I have done because you can’t simply rely on narrative description or dialogue to tell the story! My wonderful editor, Sandra Bogart Johnson, helped me to find the right tone.

Did you have people who would have been the age of Mary read through the manuscript for authenticity? Or have others got through it?
Scholastic is very thorough—the manuscript was fact-checked for accuracy and period detail. Even the candy that is mentioned had to have been available back then! An academic historical consultant, Dr. Michiko (Midge) Ayukawa also read the text. I even asked a friend’s daughter close to Mary’s age to read through a version to see if it was credible to her. She found many of the events shocking but told me that the diary seemed “real” to her.

Was there anything you came across in your research that surprised you or gave you new insights into the internment experience?
The surprising aspect of my research was learning more about the family history of both my parents. It is an unexpected gift. I also have an enormous pride in what my grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles were able to overcome as well as a greater appreciation for how I have been the beneficiary of their hard work and effort. I realize how much I had emphasized my Canadianness when I was growing up. Now I recognize how much I owe to the Japanese side of my heritage.

There have been many books written about the internment, A Child in a Prison Camp is one that comes to mind. How is your book different and why should people read it?
A Child in Prison Camp by Shizuye Takashima is a moving, lyrical work beautifully illustrated by the author’s own watercolours. Both Takashima’s book and Joy Kogawa’s retelling of her novel Obasan for children, Naomi’s Road, explore life in the camps in much greater detail than mine. Although the subtitle of my book is The Internment Diary of Mary Kobayashi, one reviewer felt somewhat misled by it. But in showing more of Mary’s life as an ordinary Canadian girl who happened to be of Japanese heritage, I hoped to more fully dramatize the sustained impact of the community’s uprooting over several months in 1942, as well as its eventual displacement. I hope I have succeeded.

Addressing Injustice: UBC’s Response to the Internment of Japanese Canadian Students – Then and Now

“70 years ago, 76 Japanese Canadian students who were attending UBC were forcibly removed and exiled from the BC coast. They were unable to complete their degrees or to graduate at convocation with their classmates. This symposium will examine UBC’s role in this injustice 70 years ago and raise questions about UBC’s responsibility.” (from the symposium program)

On March 21, almost 100 members of the Japanese Canadian community and UBC faculty met to address issues of ethics, history, responsibility, and the future. Among those present and speaking were UBC Provost and Vice President Academic Dr. David Farrar; UBC Dean of Arts Dr. Gage Averill, University of Victoria Professor Dr. John Price, UBC Professor Dr. Henry Yu, UBC Director Simon Neame, Elder-in-Residence Larry Grant; Mary Kitigawa, Stanley Fukawa, and retired professors Dr. Roy Miki and Dr. Sus Tabata

Since the issue was raised by Mary Kitigawa in 2008, the university has gone through soul searching to respond in a meaningful way for both the Japanese Canadian community and the university. In essence, the question became “What can we do to learn from the past and to educate for the future?”
UBC has responded with a three part commitment:
• Granting honourary degrees at a special ceremony on May 30 to all Japanese Canadian students of 1942, including posthumous degrees to those who have passed on
• Collecting oral histories and digitalizing newspapers and other records
• Offering an Asian-Canadian studies program beginning in September 2013

UBC’s multi-level response and willingness to work closely with the Japanese Canadian community demonstrates their commitment to Dr. Farrar’s words “social justice resides in the heart of our university.” This is momentous as it underscores a commitment that will continue for many years.
The phrase “shikata-ga-nai” was echoed by Roy Miki in his call to learn from the past while moving into the future. As with many others, he spoke of how education is paramount in the generational transfer of knowledge and in retaining optimism and human dignity.

Our deepest thanks to Mary Kitigawa. Her speech was comprehensive and from the heart. At its conclusion she received a well-deserved standing ovation from all present. We thank Mary for her commitment, tenacity, and grace.

UBC launches community-developed program as part of tribute to Japanese Canadian students of 1942

As part of UBC’s efforts to recognize Japanese Canadians affected by internment in 1942, the university is asking the Asian Canadian community to help guide the creation of an interdisciplinary program that will highlight the contributions of Asian Canadians and examine anti-Asian racism that produced events like the forced removal of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War.

The new Asian Canadian Studies minor program in the Faculty of Arts was announced by Dean Gage Averill at Addressing injustice: UBC’s Response to the internment of Japanese Canadians students, a symposium held by the University to

explore its own role and response to the internment of 76 Japanese Canadian students in 1942.
“The goal of the Asian Canadian Studies program is to learn from anti-Japanese and anti-Asian racism and discrimination in our history so that future generations can engage better in issues of justice, equity and inclusion,” said Averill. “Our commitment in the Faculty of Arts is to help nurture our future citizens and leaders so that they can strive to build a more tolerant and just society.”

The program will be developed by an advisory committee made up of faculty, students and community members.

“We will consult and listen to those both on and off campus who have a stake in this program so that it will reflect a genuine engagement between UBC and the communities it serves,” said Henry Yu, the UBC professor who is leading the community consultation for this program.

“Students should learn about the events of 70 years ago through the lives of those who endured the racism and discrimination, and through the actions of those who spoke out and stood up against injustice.”

In November 2011, the UBC Senate unanimously approved three measures to recognize and understand what happened to Japanese Canadian UBC students in 1942. These measures include recognizing the students with honorary degrees, preserving and bringing to life the historical record of that time, and developing initiatives to educate future students about this period in history.

Once the details for the proposed program are created out of community consultations, the Faculty of Arts will present them to the UBC Senate for final approval.

The initial framework for the program will be multidisciplinary, with courses in history, literature, sociology, and other departments in the Faculty of Arts, as well new interdisciplinary courses with a core element of community engagement. The intention is to begin a process of community consultation this spring in order to make the program available to students beginning in fall 2013.

When US President Franklyn Delano Roosevelt signed executive order 6099, he took away the civil rights of 120,000 Japanese Americans and Japanese Nationals. They were forcibly removed from their homes and sent to concentration camps. In Canada, the War Measures Act invoked by the William Lyon McKenzie King’s government followed the American lead and removed 22,000 innocent Canadians of Japanese descent from the coast to prison work camps by separating the men from their young families, sugar beet fields of the prairies, confinement camps and Prisoner of War camps in Ontario. The 76 UBC students were not exempted from this mass removal.

There was a difference in how the universities in the US and UBC reacted to the expulsion. In the US, the Presidents and members of all of the faculties of the universities protested loudly to the US Government, the inclusion of their students in Executive Order 6099. When that effort failed, the Presidents of the universities sent their faculty members to the camps to help their students write their final exams so that they could graduate or get credit for the year they were in. Arrangements were also made for many students to register at universities outside of the exclusion zone of the three coastal States. At UBC, very few spoke out for the students. Two exceptions were Economics professor Henry Angus who spoke out against the expulsion of the students and Commerce professor E.H. Morrow who advocated for his students by helping them write their final exams at other educational facilities outside of BC. He also wrote to eastern universities on their behalf but most would not accept them. In Ken Adachi’s book, The Enemy that Never Was, it is stated that,”McGill University barred Japanese Canadian students on the frank contention that serfs of an inferior race deserve no education.”
Dr. Elaine Bernard, currently of Harvard University, while studying for her Master’s degree at the University of Alberta in 1977, wrote a paper called, A University at War: Japanese Canadians at UBC during World II. She stated there were 49 male Japanese Canadian students registered in the Canadian Officers Training Corp. In January of 1942, after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, they were summarily dismissed by the Senate Committee on Military Education. These senior UBC administrators sided with the racist voices outside the gates of UBC and pushed these students out. They were President L.S. Klink, Chancellor R.E. McKechnie, Dean J.N Finlayson, Mr. B. Wood, Mr. Edward McBride and Lt. Col. Gordon Shrum. This was an example of the failure of leadership at the university that made scapegoats of these Japanese Canadian UBC students. They were shocked and devastated that UBC, the symbol of truth and enlightenment had bowed to the pressures of hostilities boiling outside of their campus. They always only thought of themselves as Canadians and wondered what their crime was. They were never charged and were never allowed to defend themselves. Shortly after, according to Adachi, “The UBC Dean of Women had gathered the Japanese Canadian women students together to explain to them that the UBC will not assist them to remain in Vancouver and continue their education.”

In the US, the State Governments stepped in to make it possible for all universities to confer honorary degrees to their former Japanese American students. I thought that the BC government could do the same. I wrote to George Abbot Minister of Education who passed my letter onto Naomi Yamamoto, Minister for Advance Education. She informed me that the BC Government does not interfere with UBC affairs. I then wrote to Michelle Mungall, NDP Critic for Advanced Education. She was most helpful in finding out what the Senate appointed Task Force was actually doing and informed me of its progress. There was some movement but not enough. Hoping to speed up the process, I started a letter writing campaign to have the wider community support my cause. People from across the nation began writing to the Tributes Committee and the President‘s office. I felt that this process was taking effect. However, I thought that I needed more people to help with this cause so I began a petition, getting signatures from all across Canada. I have hundreds of names stored in my cupboard.

Still, I was not receiving any communications from the Tributes Committee so I decided to contact the media. First, I went to the Nikkei Voice, a Japanese Canadian publication originating in Toronto. In the article I explained what I was seeking and gave the history of how the Americans had dealt with the issue. That publication brought many names of the 1942 JC UBC students or relatives to our desk. It was a beginning of the process that would last many months. I also wrote to the Japanese Canadian Citizens’ Association Bulletin, a Vancouver publication that brought in several more contacts. At this time, I thought it best to go seek wider publicity. I contacted Patricia Graham, Editor in Chief of the Vancouver Sun at that time, now VP Digital. I had met her at a Women’s Conference in Victoria in 2010 where I was one of the speakers. She thought that this topic was newsworthy so she agreed to have it published. Gerry Bellett, her reporter, wrote a half page column on August 22nd 2011 after interviewing me and several people including a former student. From that article, I received many requests for interviews from other newspapers such as The Globe and Mail and several radio stations. The articles in the student-run campus newspaper The Ubyssey gave me hope because the editor and reporters understood the rightness of our cause and supported us. I was happy to have this topic out in the public domain.

On October 5, 2011, I received an update from President Toope’s office on the process by which UBC was determining how best to honour Japanese Canadian students whose education was disrupted in 1942. I was informed that a working group struck by the UBC Senate Tributes Committee in 2010 was in the final stages of working out details of a three-pronged plan that would include providing personal recognition for the former 76 UBC students, initiative to educate future UBC students about this dark episode and for the UBC Library to preserve and bring to life the historical record.

When a request came to have me send the list of the 1942 Japanese Canadian students to the President office, I knew that a decision was near at hand. An agenda was posted on the UBC Senate website for its November 16, 2011 meeting where I saw as the last item a mention of honorary degrees for Japanese Canadian UBC students of 1942. I felt anxious for a while because I did not know how the voting would go. However, I received an email from the President’s office moments after the Senate decision was made informing me through the media release that what I was seeking had come to pass. I felt relieved and happy for the Japanese Canadian UBC students of 1942. They were finally being acknowledged and were going to be welcomed home to UBC, the university from where they were so cruelly swept away 70 years ago. By making this decision, UBC has restored the bond that was broken between her former students and the university in 1942. It also helped to validate the students’ sense of self-worth, dignity and honour. Through courage and perseverance in the face of adversity, they endured and survived. By picking up the broken pieces of their lives, they rebuilt and continued to be exemplary Canadian citizens. I hope that UBC, a symbol of truth and enlightenment will continue to stand for justice and human rights, now and into the future. The lessons learned by UBC from the experiences of the 1942 Japanese Canadian UBC students should never be forgotten again.

I would like to thank all the people of conscience who helped anonymously behind the scenes to bring this cause to this noble end. Because you believed in the nobility of justice and acted, the 1942 Japanese Canadian students will be able to enjoy this gift that you have given them: the May 30, 2012 graduation ceremony when they will finally receive a degree from UBC.

In the Hastings East district we had a close relationship with a few other families, Japanese families, and one of the members was Tatsuo Sanmiya and amongst our group who were attending UBC together, Tatsuo had a car, which was unusual, but he was a leader in that respect. We met in Tatsuo’s car at lunch with our brown bags quite a lot of the time and spent our lunch hours that way. It was probably more than timidity—we were a bit captious, being by ourselves, that was part of the support effect of attending the University of BC, so Tats was instrumental in keeping things open and certainly he introduced us to a lot of the kinds of things with mixing with other people . . . Roy Shinobu

That’s right, because for me, living in an enclosed compound, so to speak, at home, for me to go to the University of British Columbia and then having a University Japanese Canadian Nikkei Club was wonderful . . . and that’s how I got introduced to alumni there . . . and when you think about it, the Nisei Students Club was always grateful . . . you know, Vancouver was not a quiet, non-racist city in those days. and to have a Japanese Students Club at the University was magnificent . . .  Mary Shinko Kato

A Degree of Justice: Japanese Canadian UBC students of 1942 is a new half-hour film created in conjunction with the awarding of honourary degrees to Canadian Nikkei students who had their studies at UBC cut short by the forced removal of all Japanese Canadians from the west coast in 1942. Directed by Alejandro Yoshizawa, the story is told through the voices of six former students, and recounts both their pride in attending this prestigious university and the shock and dismay of being told they had to leave not only their studies, but their homes and communities.

The film ends poignantly with their thoughts on UBC’s efforts to formally recognize and honour them.

Former Students Featured in the Film
Ruth Fusako Cezar (Nagata) UBC, 1941-42
Mary Shinko Kato (Nagata) UBC, 1940-42
Tom Nishio UBC, 1939-42
Fred Sasaki UBC, 1938-42
Dr. Roy Shinobu UBC, 1938-42
Mits Sumiya UBC, 1941-42

Film Credits
Directed by Alejandro Yoshizawa
Production Coordinator Elena Kusaka
Produced by Mary Kitagawa, Tosh Kitagawa, Henry Yu, and Shirin Eshghi
Copyright: UBC Library

To view or download a high resolution version of A Degree of Justice, visit japanese-canadian-student-tribute.ubc.ca/the-people/

March 11 marks the 1 year anniversary of the fifth largest earthquake to have ever been recorded and the effects of the event are still felt today. About 40 miles off the northeast coast of Japan, the 9.0 magnitude quake wreaked carnage to the islands of Japan, triggering a devastating tsunami with waves as high as 30 feet. The crushing waves crippled the Fukushima nuclear power plant and forced the nuclear reactors to meltdown. The Fukushima disaster caused the surrounding land, air, and water to be contaminated and forced people out of their home permanently. Efforts to contain the radiation are still ongoing.

The tsunami put over 300,000 people out of homes and 20,000 people were either killed or are considered still missing. Entire towns were covered with nothing but debris and 90 percent of the population in the area was forced to flee to safety.

But Japan is resilient. The country of Japan and its people are determined to restore Japan to its original state. The government has spent billions of dollars and the people of Japan have spent countless hours restoring their devastated lands to what it once was. Workers are currently decontaminating the homes of those who were forced to evacuate by scraping the top two inches of the soil in the area. Towns that were once reduced to just rubble are now being repopulated with buildings and infrastructure at an amazing pace. No matter how long it takes, the Japanese are committed to making their lands flourish once more.

OnlineSchools.org presents Japan One Year Later

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