This thesis examines Alberta and Manitoba sugar beet farms as carceral sites for displaced Japanese Canadians during the Second World War. Previous literature has focused on the relocation of Japanese Canadians but has not addressed the many distinct sites that marked the boundaries of incarceration for Japanese Canadians. By exploring issues of citizenship and history, this thesis examines the many ways that regulation was imposed on Japanese Canadians by state and extra-state organizations and individuals. This subject was explored using critical discourse analysis of the Calgary Herald and the Winnipeg Free Press for a twelve month period beginning February 1, 1942, two months prior to the announcement of the Sugar Beet Programme and ending January 31, 1943, as original beet contracts covered only the 1942 crop year. My analysis follows two major themes: sugar beet farms as carceral sites and the use of citizenship narratives to both legitimize and erase Japanese Canadian labour. Utilizing Fbucault's notion of 'carceral', I show how disciplinary strategies were used to strip Japanese Canadians of their social, economic and political citizenship. While Japanese Canadians were never formally incarcerated, I argue that the term carceral needs to be reworked in order to include losses of liberty that are not formally sanctioned. I examine newspaper reports regarding official state policy, local community responses, protests and individual letters to the editors, and conclude that, indeed, Japanese Canadians underwent surveillance, supervision, constraint and coercion, all markers of incarceration. Citizenship discourses were a crucial tool of both state and non-state agencies. Further, 'whiteness' was central to these discourses. Citizenship discourses such as patriotism and duty were directed at 'white' citizens to encourage their acceptance of Japanese Canadian relocation. Further, these same discourses were used to recruit a volunteer 'white' labour force. However, despite the significant contributions of Japanese Canadians to this wartime industry, never were these types of discursive rewards or the subsequent material benefits offered to them. Further, the voices of Japanese Canadians were also silenced by the media. Thus, Japanese Canadians became invisible and silent workers who could claim no voice and thus, no membership in the nation. / Arts, Faculty of / Sociology, Department of / Graduate

This study discusses the influence of history on identity for those who are involved with the Vancouver Japanese Language School and Japanese Hall (also know as the VJLS). The historical significance of a recognized landmark such as the VJLS creates a unique atmosphere that allows the past to be very much part of the present. In addition to many types of commemoration, memory and imagination provide links to the past. The community at the VJLS was very diverse including both recent immigrants and those with family connections to the Internment of Japanese Canadians during World War II. As a result, the feeling of a connection to the past was discussed in many different ways. These discussions are used in this study to explore the question of what it means to be Japanese Canadian and to be Canadian. At the VJLS, the history of Japanese Canadians is shown to belong to all Canadians rather than just to a separate ethic group within Canada.

This study discusses the influence of history on identity for those who are involved with the Vancouver Japanese Language School and Japanese Hall (also know as the VJLS). The historical significance of a recognized landmark such as the VJLS creates a unique atmosphere that allows the past to be very much part of the present. In addition to many types of commemoration, memory and imagination provide links to the past. The community at the VJLS was very diverse including both recent immigrants and those with family connections to the Internment of Japanese Canadians during World War II. As a result, the feeling of a connection to the past was discussed in many different ways. These discussions are used in this study to explore the question of what it means to be Japanese Canadian and to be Canadian. At the VJLS, the history of Japanese Canadians is shown to belong to all Canadians rather than just to a separate ethic group within Canada. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Graduate

The present thesis is a study of the women involved in the Anglican mission to the Japanese Canadians between 1903 and 1957. Drawing on a variety of primary source documents housed in the Anglican church archives in Toronto and Vancouver, as well as information gathered in interviews with three former missionaries, the study aims to determine who these women were, what their work consisted of, their reasons for choosing to work among Japanese Canadians, and what effects their efforts had, not specifically on the intended recipients, but on the women themselves. The thesis argues that much of the success of the mission, as measured by the number of Japanese Canadians who utilized its facilities and programmes, is due to the high level of involvement of local women. Until the World War II evacuation of Japanese Canadians from the coast of British Columbia, the mission's main facilities were located in Vancouver. In 1917 a male-dominated governing board took over the work, and attempted to 'professionalize' the mission during the interwar period. Still, of the over fifty middle-class Anglo-Canadian women, the majority were drawn from the local community, and a further seventeen Japanese Canadian women, originally from the mission's clientele, became involved in the work. A number of these women were employed as lay workers, and those who had the requisite training were engaged as professional missionaries, but more than half of the workers worked as volunteers. Work in the mission offered an attractive outlet through which these women channelled their energy, skills, and humanitarian propensities. It allowed Anglo-Canadian women to take on a public role while upholding contemporary notions concerning appropriate behaviour for their sex, "race" and class, while the Japanese Canadian workers gained the acceptance and esteem of their Occidental colleagues, and access to a respectable occupation at a time when they had few options to choose from. Thus by creating and largely maintaining the mission, a number of Anglican women, working within the confines of the maternal feminist ideology, built a sphere for themselves which encouraged their personal growth. / Education, Faculty of / Graduate

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Alberta, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references.

During World War Two, 77 Japanese Canadians were uprooted from Saltspring Island, and eleven properties were taken from them and later liquidated. The largest belonged to Torazo Iwasaki, and was purchased by the agent for the Custodian of Enemy Property, Gavin Mouat. In contradiction to the widely held view that Japanese Canadians were stoic and accepting of the injustice they faced, a number of Japanese Canadian Saltspringers fiercely resisted what was being done to them. The Iwasaki family launched a court case against the government in 1967 that went all the way to the Supreme Court, and in the face of continued racism the Murakami family returned to Saltspring to rebuild their lives. This thesis investigates the position of the Japanese Canadians in the settler society on Saltspring and how racisms were manifested within it, the government’s decision to liquidate Japanese Canadian properties, and the resistance and resilience of some of the island’s Japanese Canadians. Racist politicians, including the MLA representing the island, were calling for the removal of Japanese Canadians from the west coast. They led the drive to ethnically cleanse British Columbia, but their success depended on the cooperation and acquiescence of many others. This microhistory explains how this process took place on Saltspring Island, while examining the larger story of the decision to liquidate and challenging the legality of the government’s actions. Seventy-five years after the uprooting, a frank acknowledgment of past injustices will be necessary for the full reconciliation of Japanese Canadian survivors and the Saltspring community. / Graduate / 2019-03-26 / 0334 0631

During the Second World War, Japanese Canadians were uprooted from their homes along the coast of British Columbia and forced to leave the province. In 1946, almost 4,000 individuals were exiled to Japan. The Canadian government deemed their departure ‘voluntary,’ and labelled them ‘disloyal’ to Canada. However, a close reading of the evidence illustrates that ‘loyalty’ had little to do with their departure, and exposes the intent of federal and provincial officials to forcefully remove Nikkei from B.C. For those exiled to occupied Japan, life was filled with hardship and many were forced into difficult or unfamiliar situations. Many longed to return to Canada, but faced numerous restrictions, while others prospered and stayed in Japan for the duration of their lives. This thesis examines the experiences of many of those exiled to Japan, and explores the process by which the Canadian government facilitated their forced removal from B.C. and Canada. / Graduate

No description available.

During World War II, Japanese across North America were forced into internment camps out of suspicion and wartime hysteria. The historiography has chosen to focus specifically on Japanese Americans and their experiences. Academic and popular history is overwhelmingly focused on Japanese Americans, with minimal discussion ever given to Japanese Canadians or Mexicans who were interned. Tens of thousands of Japanese Canadians were interned during this tumultuous time. By ignoring their testimonies and hardships, history has forgotten these oppressed people. This thesis seeks to examine the current historiography of Japanese Canadians and compare it to that of Japanese Americans while also exploring the importance of including Japanese Canadians in the historiography. By tying together family history and academic research, this work seeks to bring greater attention to this subject so that the plights of these innocent people are no longer forgotten.

In 1938 the Canadian government approved a plan to train fishermen as naval reservists in British Columbia. The fishermen were recruited as whole crews and trained to shoot accurately, form fours, navigate, signal properly and drop depth charges – all aboard their own converted fishing vessels. On paper, and to the general public, the specialized reserve known as the Fishermen’s Reserve or “Gumboot Navy”, was a patriotic group of fishermen doing their bit and better preparing for emergencies. However, in reality, the Canadian government instituted the Fishermen’s Reserve in 1938 for a very specific reason – to round up and remove Japanese Canadians and their boats from the coast prior to the outbreak of war between Canada and Japan. This thesis explores various aspects of the Fishermen’s Reserve from 1938 to 1941 in order to better understand the Canadian Government’s wartime policies. As there are almost no secondary sources on the subject, this paper uses extensive primary sources to uncover and analyze the Royal Canadian Navy’s recruitment policy, unconventional regulations and racist underpinnings in instituting the Fishermen’s Reserve. / Graduate / 0334 / 0750 / 0740 / gregory.kier@gmail.com