The Japanese-Canadian World War II Experience

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The Japanese-Canadian World War II Experience (Website)

http://japanese-canadians.weebly.com/

Note to Mr. Mungar

To communicate the contributions of Japanese-Canadians during the Second World War, I invented a character named Akira to illustrate the experiences of an average Japanese person growing up in Canada.

Introduction: Early Japanese Immigrants to Canada

Japanese people have had a very vivid history in Canada. Before 1868, it was illegal for Japanese citizens to leave the country, but with a change in government in the 1870s, they were encouraged to travel overseas to earn money and learn skills that they could bring home, as Japan in the early 20th century did not hold a lot of opportunity, especially in rural areas. In many cases, they were barely making a living, struggling with famine and disease.

Who were the Japanese immigrants?

In the late 1870s, thousands of Japanese people came to Canada as fishermen, farmers, lumber mill workers, and businessmen. They were mainly young men in their teens. Some followed their fathers, had dreams of fortune and success in the new lands, or were desperate to escape the oppressive poverty in Japan. Many were known as draft dodgers, meaning that they were deliberately avoiding the two years of military service in Japan, made mandatory to all males once they reached the age of 20.

Akira's father was part of the issei, or the first generation Japanese immigrants. He immigrated to Stevenston, British Columbia, and began working hard for long hours as a fisherman. In fact, the Japanese immigrants' talent for fishing was quickly recognized, putting them in high demand. They were paid less than the average white Canadian. Akira's mother immigrated to Canada in 1911. Japane...

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...s not for the thousands of Japanese people who came, and the thousands of Japanese who stayed, the presence of Japanese culture would not be embedded with Canadian history at all. Despite the voluntary deportation and rapid dispersal of Japanese-Canadians throughout Canada, their legacy still lives on.

Works Cited

Daubs, Katie. "Walking the Western Front - from war hero to enemy alien and back again | Toronto

Star." thestar.com. The Toronto Star, 12 May 2014. Web. 14 May 2014. .

Hickman, Pamela, and Masako Fukawa. Japanese Canadian internment in the Second World War.

Toronto: James Lorimer and Co., 2011. Print.

Taylor, Mary. A Black Mark: The Japanese-Canadians in World War II. Ottawa: Oberon Press, 2004. Print.

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