by John Endo Greenaway
How do stories and history pass from one generation to another? What relevance do these stories have for people today, particularly young people? These are some of the questions that Lucy Komori and Connie Kadota had been asking themselves over the years.
In February 2020, just before COVID shut down the world, Lucy and Connie organized a workshop titled Tsunagu (to connect) to pose these questions to other Japanese Canadians. The session was held at the Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre in Burnaby with the support from the Nikkei National Museum. Over 100 registrants and volunteers made up of mainly nisei, sansei, yonsei, and gosei shared their family stories and personal reflections, many touching on the impacts of the incarceration of Japanese Canadian families during World War II. Given that many families had not previously shared much or any of their wartime experiences, the workshop was an opportunity for participants to talk and perhaps begin their own explorations into their family histories.
Encouraged by the success of the Tsunagu event, a website, tsunagu.ca, was created as a platform for Japanese Canadians from different generations to share their thoughts and experiences. Contributors were asked to address specific questions, which were posted on the site, shedding light on the complexity and variety of perspectives of our shared history.
In recognition of the various perspectives of the contributors, the website is organized by generation. The contributing nisei all experienced the wartime dislocation firsthand. The sansei are post-war children who may or may not have been aware of the treatment of their parents. The yonsei and gosei are the grandchildren of the nisei survivors of the incarceration, far removed from the wartime trauma.
In 2022, Lucy was awarded a TELUS STORYHIVE grant to produce a short documentary film, also called Tsunagu. In 2024, the film was screened at community events including the Powell Street Festival, the Vernon Japanese Canadian Film Festival, the Kamloops multicultural film series, and at the Momiji Active Living Centre in Toronto. Tsunagu was shortlisted at the 2024 Vancouver Asian Film Festival in the category of best short documentary for director, cinematography and film.
In 2024, Connie and Lucy applied for and received a Japanese Canadian Legacies grant for a project titled Tsunagu: A Deep Dive, looking deeper into the issues that came up in previous Tsunagu projects and digging into the emotional impacts of our shared histories.
Tsunagu the film will screen in Nanaimo at Vancouver Island University on February 26, tentatively at 3:30pm, as part of the Global Citizens Forum. Please visit international.viu.ca/mobility/global-citizens-forum for the most up-to-date information.
I spoke to Lucy and Connie via email.
I was surprised how emotionally the younger generation of yonsei were connecting in discovering their family histories. And also, how interested sansei were becoming, in trying to know and talk about their histories, even though it seemed to be coming so late in their lives. And how Japanese Canadians are so similar in their reluctance to share feelings within families, even up to the younger generations. – Connie Kadota
Interview: Lucy Komori | Connie Kadota
I’ve been really moved by the work you and Connie have done with Tsunagu, in all its many permutations. Both of you have been involved with the Japanese Canadian Legacies Society in various capacities, particularly around the sharing of our history and intergenerational healing. What was it that inspired the two of you to begin this journey?
Lucy: Going back to my teen years, I’ve always been curious about my family’s stories. The Komoris in particular were not talkers except for two of my uncles who were sent to Japan for education. This knowledge gap is a mystery that I wanted to unravel. Through the process of organizing community gatherings, I learned that many JC families, particularly sansei and beyond, share the same disconnect with our family histories. I think it’s important that the JC stories are not forgotten as the nisei who experienced the harsh impacts of racism pass away. Not to be preachy, but JC stories include important lessons about the devastating impacts of intolerance on us personally and as a community. We need to share our stories, thoughts and emotions because unfortunately history does repeat itself.
Connie: It probably began for me back in my UBC days with the Asian Canadian Coalition, when I knew next to nothing about Japanese Canadian history and my family history, and we students discovered and explored our histories through the lens of photography and identity. For the first Powell Street Festival in 1977, Lucy and I and other sansei got together to create a slide tape show on the history of the Japanese in Canada, to celebrate the 100 years since they had settled here. And when we both retired and began giving workshops on sharing and preserving our JC stories, we discovered there was a strong interest on the part of Japanese Canadians to know and explore their histories, since there had been so much silence in the community for decades. And there was the additional component of needing to share these stories between generations.
In working on these various projects, is there anything that surprised you, or perhaps upended previously held beliefs?
Connie: I was surprised how emotionally the younger generation of yonsei were connecting in discovering their family histories. And also, how interested sansei were becoming, in trying to know and talk about their histories, even though it seemed to be coming so late in their lives. And how Japanese Canadians are so similar in their reluctance to share feelings within families, even up to the younger generations.
Lucy: In one of our sessions, we talked about expressing feelings and veered into a discussion about love. The participating nisei parents never outrightly said to their sansei children that they loved them or hugged their children. The nisei presumed their children understood their love through their actions. I kept thinking about this conversation. We’ve been trying to dig down and have participants, particularly nisei, express their emotional responses to their family stories. But culturally perhaps we have been conditioned and raised to not overtly express emotions positive or negative.
I know each family’s experience is different. Is there a common thread that runs through them, do you think?
Connie: There is a great diversity of experiences, especially depending on what kind of community one grew up in. I grew up just surrounded by my extended family, in a mostly white Christian community, so I didn’t know or understand the social/cultural part of my heritage. But there still is that common thread of needing to work hard and be better, in the face of racism and injustice. And also that common feeling that I mentioned, about not being able to express emotions and feelings within family, as well as not talking about their family or JC history.
Lucy: Indeed, each family experience is varied. For the most part, I think that many families are very resilient. They endured adversity and moved forward. If they had children, it was for the sake of their children that they carried on.
One issue we heard many times was that nisei parents emphasized to their children that they had to be better than their non-JC counterparts to succeed in their careers or in life in general. For the most part, this teaching has motivated many sansei, but I wonder about the personal impact of this way of thinking. As Dona shares in the film, she was told she had to be better. And she wonders: Better than what? Do we sansei then internalize the feeling that we’re not good enough? Do we then develop a sense of inferiority? I don’t know the answer.
I’m curious about Tsunagu, a Deep Dive. What shape did it take? And what did you take away from it?
Lucy: Tsunagu: A Deep Dive, was an attempt to look at the emotional impacts of our JC history. We recruited three intergenerational family groups: yonsei, sansei and nisei. The first in-person meeting was a family collaging session where each family worked together to create a photo collage of their family histories and relationships. They talked about the photos they had gathered, the significance and shared stories with the other family groups. One yonsei participant was so surprised how participants found instant connections with each other even though they had never met before. The talking portion of the session was led by a trained therapist.
The second session was a more traditional talk session. Connie and I circulated possible questions before the meeting about identity and the impacts of racism and trauma. Again, the session was led by two trained therapists who guided the discussion to ensure everyone felt heard and safe.
I was really impressed that you were able to a) get a grant to make a film, and b) make the film, and a good film at that. What inspired you to make this film, and how did you learn the skills that you needed?
Lucy: When you work in the community, you often get slotted into a certain persona. Even people close to me in the JC community might actually not know what I did in my 9– 5 job. For more than 30 years, I worked in the non-profit sector in fund raising, acquiring skills in grant writing and also project management which certainly helped to successfully produce the film. Plus, once the grant was awarded, I was fortunate to have my cousin’s son Trevor willing to jump in. He is my ace in the hole with the training and experience in filmmaking. He was my Director of Photography and brought his network of contacts into this project. I was so impressed with the dedication and professionalism of the crew.
I have an MBA and you learn about the elements of running a successful operation. You might not be expert in any one area, but you’ll have knowledge about what it takes to bring everything together. Why do I mention this? Connie and I took the Asian Canadian and Asian Migration Studies 350 community filmmaking course at UBC in 2017. Similarly, the course provided an overview of all the elements needed to produce a film. We may not have mastered every aspect, but we learned what was needed to pull everything together. After taking the course, I produced two short films about my paternal and maternal sides of the family before I applied to the STORYHIVE grant. For my family films, I did everything: the interviewing, the videography, the editing, etc. Tsunagu was the first project where I had the great opportunity to work with a professional crew. And I think the film shows the result.
The work Connie and I did on the previous Tsunagu initiatives was critical but limited in scope. I felt that the film could reach a wider audience in the JC community particularly. Also a film can touch audiences in a way that other media perhaps cannot.
You’ve been screening the film for a while now. What kind of reaction have you been getting from audiences?
Lucy: Reaction to the film for me has been surprising. People actually tell me that parts of the film brought them to tears. I’ve seen the film so many times that I personally don’t feel this emotion any longer. So I’m really heartened when I hear these comments. I’m so happy that it resonates and validates what other JC’s have been thinking and feeling.
I’ve known you and Connie for 45 years now. I was in my early twenties when I became involved in the community, you two and the others were all ten years or so older than I was. Now that we are entering the senior years ourselves, what is your perspective on the younger generations of Japanese Canadians?
Lucy: Younger generations of JCs that I’ve met are impressive. Maybe it’s just a unique set of yonsei and gosei I’ve met, but they seem committed to social justice and are trying to understand how their family history fits into the work they are doing and the paths they are pursuing. They have the language to articulate themselves and don’t seem hesitant to have their voices heard. I can’t say that when I was their age that I had the same confidence.
Connie: I agree with Lucy. The yonsei I’ve met are keen to be involved in the JC community and to know more about JC history, as well as their own family histories. I am glad to see how confident they are, but I can also see that we sansei, growing up in the 50s and 60s faced a society that often othered us and did not value diversity or other cultures. . . so it was hard to be confident. And since the intermarriage rate of sansei was so high (over 90%), I wonder how the mostly mixed race yonsei see themselves, and how others see them. I think they are learning a lot about the issei and nisei generations, as those are mostly the stories that have been collected, but I wonder how much they know and wonder about our sansei generation.
Lucy, you’ve recently become a grandmother, congratulations! As a newish grandfather myself (you can call me Jiji) I know there’s a really special bond. What are your hopes for her future?
Lucy: My beautiful, engaging granddaughter is of Afro-Caribbean-Asian descent. I’m hoping that she can embrace all her cultural heritages and feel confident in who she is. I’m not sure if she’ll be engaged with any particular community. She’s a one-year-old, but I’m hoping that she’ll find a nurturing place where she can be who she wants to be.
For anyone who is interested in taking steps with their own family to explore the impact of the wartime years and beyond, how would you suggest they begin?
Lucy: Talk to your family members particularly your elders. Record and transcribe your interviews. Try to get other family members involved particularly younger members. I worked with my cousin Rachel on a Komori family website, inspired by Connie’s family. I’ve shared photos and interviews on this website so other family members can find out more about the Komori history. The information is there whenever any of my relatives is ready to take the step to learn more about our family.
Tsunagu is available to screen online at
