Transcript File

Internment of Japanese
Canadians
Japanese Aggression…


Japanese expansion in East Asia began in 1931
with the invasion of Manchuria and continued in
1937 with a brutal attack on China.
On February 24th, 1933, Japan stuns the world
and withdraws from the League of Nations.
The Tripartite Pact

On September 27,
1940, Japan signed
the Tripartite Pact
with Germany and
Italy, thus entering
the military alliance
known as the "Axis."
Question #1

How do you feel about this? Should you
be concerned? Should something be
done?
Embargo Against Japan

the United States, Britain
and the Netherlands froze
all Japanese financial
assets. The effect was to
prevent Japan from
purchasing oil, which
would, in time, cripple its
army and make its navy
and air force completely
useless.
Japanese Bomb Pearl Harbour!

December 7, 1941, President Roosevelt declares
it “The Day of Infamy”.
Infamy: “strong
condemnation as
the result of a
shameful, criminal,
or outrageous act”
The Battle of Hong Kong


Hong Kong surrendered
on Christmas Day 1941.
Of the 1,975 Canadians,
290 were killed and 493
wounded. A further 260
died in the awful
conditions of prison
camps in Hong Kong and
Japan.
Question #2

Has your stance changed? What are some
of the potential implications for Canada?
Anglo-Canadian Reactions



Resentment against
Japanese Canadians
exploded into panic and
anger in British Columbia.
1,200 fishing boats were
seized by the Canadian
navy in fear of spying
The war offered a
convenient excuse for
Canadians to move
Japanese Canadians into
camps
The Canadian War Measures Act
1914 – “gave the government
sweeping powers to ensure the
security, defence, peace, order, and
welfare of Canada.”
 Used to imprison CANADIANS of
German, Ukrainian, and Slavic
descent in WWI.
 See p.256-257 in textbook

Japanese Internment in Canada
■ The movement of 23,000 Japanese Canadians during the war
was the largest mass exodus in Canadian history.
Notice: Regions in Canada prohibited to Japanese
Internment Timeline

1941 (December 8): 1,200 Japanese Canadian fishing boats are
impounded. Japanese language newspapers and schools close.

1942 (January 16): Removal begins of Japanese immigrant males
from coastal areas.




1942 (February 24): All male Japanese Canadian citizens between
the ages of 18 and 45 ordered to be removed from 100-mile-wide
zone along the coast of British Columbia.
1942 (February 26): Mass evacuation of Japanese Canadians
begins. Some given only 24 hours notice. Cars, cameras and radios
confiscated for “protective measures”. Curfew imposed.
1942 (March 4): Japanese Canadians ordered to turn over property
and belongings to Custodian of Enemy Alien Property as a
“protective measure only”.
1942 (March 25): British Columbia Security Commission initiates
scheme of forcing men to road camps and women and children to
“ghost town” detention camps.
Conditions in the Camps



Housed in huts with
two bedrooms and a
kitchen
shared by two families
No electricity or running
water until 1943
Camp Conditions continued



Hundreds of women and
children were squeezed
into livestock buildings
Slept on beds covered in
straw for comfort
Conditions were so poor
that food packages were
sent from Japan through
the Canadian Red Cross
to those suffering in the
camps
Imagine…

Imagine being dropped off in an unfamiliar place, far
from home and everything you know. Some of your
family members are sent elsewhere, miles away, and
you are told you can’t leave to find them. Your days are
now spent in animal stalls, sleeping on a bed of straw,
with the unbearable stench of animal waste in the air.
There are no walls to your new home. No door to shut
out the rest of the world. Instead, hundreds of other
people share your same floor, with only hanging sheets
separating you. You discover your home, business and
most of your possessions have been either sold off
without your consent or looted. You have nothing to go
back to. And the country you love and the government
that was supposed to protect you is responsible.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki



Following FDR’s death,
Harry Truman becomes
President of the United
States
Truman decided to use the
bomb on Japan because he
believed that it was the
only way to get the
Japanese to surrender and
save American lives
On August 6th, 1945 a lone
B-29 Superfortress called
the Enola Gay by its crew
took off and headed for
Hiroshima
Video
Fat Man and Little Boy




At 8:15am the atomic
bomb nicknamed “Little
Boy” was dropped on
Hiroshima
Within seconds two
thirds of the city was
flattened and thousands
were dead
On August 11, a bomb
called “Fat Man” was
dropped on Nagasaki at
11:02 am
At noon, August 15th,
1945 – Emperor Hirohito
spoke directly to his
people to tell them
Japan had surrendered
The War is Over!
Question # 3

What does this mean for Japanese
Canadians?
Outcomes of Internment



After the war, the federal government decided
to remove all Japanese Canadians from British
Colombia.
The Japanese were forced to choose between
deportation to war ravaged Japan or dispersal
East of the Rocky mountains.
Public protest would eventually stop the
deportations, but not before 4000 Japanese left
the country.
Acknowledging Wartime Wrongs


Forty-three years after the end of the war,
Prime Minister Brian Mulroney
acknowledged the wrong doings of the
Canadian government and announced the
awarding of $21,000 for each individual
directly wronged.
Is this an acceptable redress to the issue?
Video

http://www.japanesecanadianhistory.net/o
ther_resources.htm#tr