Mary Murakami Kitagawa — TAIKEN Education
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Activities
LOOK
Watch the interview with Mary Murakami Kitagawa and read the transcript below. What are her main messages? Does anything surprise you?
THINK
Take the perspective of Mary Murakami Kitagawa at the age of seven. How do you think she would have felt about being forcibly removed from her home, never to return? To inform your answer, use the historical evidence provided, including this video.
THINK
Compare Mary Murakami Kitagawa’s interview with the propaganda film Of Japanese Descent. How do their descriptions of internment camps differ?
DO
Do some external research on Japanese immigration policies in Canada before 1939. How do these policies reflect discrimination against Japanese Canadians?
Details
Date Unknown
Materials Transcript
I remember when the RCMP officer came and literally manhandled my dad and shoved him onto the back of a pickup truck. And in my child’s mind, I was sure that he was going to be taken away to be shot.
We were taken to Hastings Park. And after they registered us, my mother couldn’t believe what was happening to us. And what we saw was just unbelievable. Packed rows of those bunk beds and the floors were still filthy with straw and feces. Our bathroom, so to say, was those troughs with running water that the animal waste were washed away. Mother was saying that we were all hungry, but they didn’t feed us that night. She had a pound of butter in her suitcase. The only thing she could do to keep my brother from crying from hunger, was to let him lick this butter.
But we stayed there for about a month and we were told that we were going to be transported to a place called Greenwood in the Interior. They sent us to… I think these were abandoned living quarters of the miners who used to live in Greenwood. And it was just filthy. And we were given a little cubicle, for six people where we slept on floors, lined up like sardines. My mother got a really badly censored letter from my father. That’s the first time we found out where he was, that he was still alive.
Historical Context
Choose one of the three levels below to match your needs.
- Japan attacked the United States in 1941. As a result, the Canadian government ordered more than 21,000 Japanese Canadians to move away from the West Coast.
- Many families — including Mary Murakami Kitagawa’s — had to abandon their farms and businesses, which were seized and sold by the government.
- In this video, Kitagawa describes the arrest of her father and how it affected her.
Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, in December 1941, transformed the lives of Japanese Canadians.
In 1942, the War Measures Act was invoked to order more than 21,000 Canadians of Japanese origin, 75 per cent of whom had Canadian nationality, to move a minimum 160 kilometres away from the West Coast.
The majority — including Mary Murakami Kitagawa’s family — had to abandon homes, businesses and jobs to settle in improvised camps. Their assets were seized and sold by the government.
In this video, Kitagawa describes the arrest of her father in March 1942, and the family’s precarious living conditions in Hastings Park and Greenwood, British Columbia.
The farm belonging to Mary Murakami Kitagawa’s parents was never returned.
Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in December 1941, transformed the lives of Japanese Canadians.
In March 1941, the Canadian government demanded that all Canadians of Japanese origin, age 16 or older, register with the RCMP. Each received a registration card (with photograph and fingerprints), which they were required to carry at all times.
In 1942, the War Measures Act was invoked to order more than 21,000 Canadians of Japanese origin, 75 per cent of whom had Canadian nationality, to move a minimum 160 kilometres away from the West Coast.
The majority had to abandon homes, businesses and jobs to settle in improvised camps. Their assets were seized and sold.
In 1942, the home and farm belonging to the father of seven-year-old Mary Murakami Kitagawa were taken by the government. The family was forced to move a dozen times between 1942 and 1946, and was subjected to difficult conditions in British Columbia camps, and hard labour on Alberta beet farms.
In this video, Kitagawa describes the arrest of her father in March 1942, and the family’s precarious living conditions in Hastings Park and Greenwood, British Columbia.
The farm belonging to Mary Murakami Kitagawa’s parents was never returned. In 1946, they settled in Magrath, Alberta.
- Japan attacked the United States in 1941. As a result, the Canadian government ordered more than 21,000 Japanese Canadians to move away from the West Coast.
- Many families — including Mary Murakami Kitagawa’s — had to abandon their farms and businesses, which were seized and sold by the government.
- In this video, Kitagawa describes the arrest of her father and how it affected her.
Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, in December 1941, transformed the lives of Japanese Canadians.
In 1942, the War Measures Act was invoked to order more than 21,000 Canadians of Japanese origin, 75 per cent of whom had Canadian nationality, to move a minimum 160 kilometres away from the West Coast.
The majority — including Mary Murakami Kitagawa’s family — had to abandon homes, businesses and jobs to settle in improvised camps. Their assets were seized and sold by the government.
In this video, Kitagawa describes the arrest of her father in March 1942, and the family’s precarious living conditions in Hastings Park and Greenwood, British Columbia.
The farm belonging to Mary Murakami Kitagawa’s parents was never returned.
Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in December 1941, transformed the lives of Japanese Canadians.
In March 1941, the Canadian government demanded that all Canadians of Japanese origin, age 16 or older, register with the RCMP. Each received a registration card (with photograph and fingerprints), which they were required to carry at all times.
In 1942, the War Measures Act was invoked to order more than 21,000 Canadians of Japanese origin, 75 per cent of whom had Canadian nationality, to move a minimum 160 kilometres away from the West Coast.
The majority had to abandon homes, businesses and jobs to settle in improvised camps. Their assets were seized and sold.
In 1942, the home and farm belonging to the father of seven-year-old Mary Murakami Kitagawa were taken by the government. The family was forced to move a dozen times between 1942 and 1946, and was subjected to difficult conditions in British Columbia camps, and hard labour on Alberta beet farms.
In this video, Kitagawa describes the arrest of her father in March 1942, and the family’s precarious living conditions in Hastings Park and Greenwood, British Columbia.
The farm belonging to Mary Murakami Kitagawa’s parents was never returned. In 1946, they settled in Magrath, Alberta.
Summary
- Japan attacked the United States in 1941. As a result, the Canadian government ordered more than 21,000 Japanese Canadians to move away from the West Coast.
- Many families — including Mary Murakami Kitagawa’s — had to abandon their farms and businesses, which were seized and sold by the government.
- In this video, Kitagawa describes the arrest of her father and how it affected her.
Essential
Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, in December 1941, transformed the lives of Japanese Canadians.
In 1942, the War Measures Act was invoked to order more than 21,000 Canadians of Japanese origin, 75 per cent of whom had Canadian nationality, to move a minimum 160 kilometres away from the West Coast.
The majority — including Mary Murakami Kitagawa’s family — had to abandon homes, businesses and jobs to settle in improvised camps. Their assets were seized and sold by the government.
In this video, Kitagawa describes the arrest of her father in March 1942, and the family’s precarious living conditions in Hastings Park and Greenwood, British Columbia.
The farm belonging to Mary Murakami Kitagawa’s parents was never returned.
In-Depth
Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in December 1941, transformed the lives of Japanese Canadians.
In March 1941, the Canadian government demanded that all Canadians of Japanese origin, age 16 or older, register with the RCMP. Each received a registration card (with photograph and fingerprints), which they were required to carry at all times.
In 1942, the War Measures Act was invoked to order more than 21,000 Canadians of Japanese origin, 75 per cent of whom had Canadian nationality, to move a minimum 160 kilometres away from the West Coast.
The majority had to abandon homes, businesses and jobs to settle in improvised camps. Their assets were seized and sold.
In 1942, the home and farm belonging to the father of seven-year-old Mary Murakami Kitagawa were taken by the government. The family was forced to move a dozen times between 1942 and 1946, and was subjected to difficult conditions in British Columbia camps, and hard labour on Alberta beet farms.
In this video, Kitagawa describes the arrest of her father in March 1942, and the family’s precarious living conditions in Hastings Park and Greenwood, British Columbia.
The farm belonging to Mary Murakami Kitagawa’s parents was never returned. In 1946, they settled in Magrath, Alberta.