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Witness to LossRace, Culpability, and Memory in the Dispossession of Japanese Canadians |
eBook Available
A Japanese Canadian participated in the government’s destruction of his own community. How should he be remembered?
When the federal government uprooted and interned Japanese Canadians en masse in 1942, Kishizo Kimura saw his life upended along with tens of thousands of others. But his story is also unique: as a member of two controversial committees that oversaw the forced sale of the property of Japanese Canadians in Vancouver during the Second World War, Kimura participated in the dispossession of his own community.
In Witness to Loss Kimura’s previously unknown memoir - written in the last years of his life - is translated from Japanese to English and published for the first time. This remarkable document chronicles a history of racism in British Columbia, describes the activities of the committees on which Kimura served, and seeks to defend his actions. Diverse reflections of leading historians, sociologists, and a community activist and educator who lived through this history give context to the memoir, inviting readers to grapple with a rich and contentious past. More complex than just hero or villain, oppressor or victim, Kimura raises important questions about the meaning of resistance and collaboration and the constraints faced by an entire generation.
Illuminating the difficult, even impossible, circumstances that confronted the victims of racist state action in the mid-twentieth century, Witness to Loss reminds us that the challenge of understanding is greater than that of judgment.
In Witness to Loss Kimura’s previously unknown memoir - written in the last years of his life - is translated from Japanese to English and published for the first time. This remarkable document chronicles a history of racism in British Columbia, describes the activities of the committees on which Kimura served, and seeks to defend his actions. Diverse reflections of leading historians, sociologists, and a community activist and educator who lived through this history give context to the memoir, inviting readers to grapple with a rich and contentious past. More complex than just hero or villain, oppressor or victim, Kimura raises important questions about the meaning of resistance and collaboration and the constraints faced by an entire generation.
Illuminating the difficult, even impossible, circumstances that confronted the victims of racist state action in the mid-twentieth century, Witness to Loss reminds us that the challenge of understanding is greater than that of judgment.
Details
Part of the McGill-Queen's Studies in Ethnic History Series (number 2.44 in series)
320 Pages, 6 x 9
27 photos, 14 figures
ISBN 9780773551213
October 2017
Formats: Paperback, eBook
“This extremely valuable memoir offers a thought-provoking new perspective on the logics of dispossession, and the complex questions it raises are sure to animate public debate for many years to come. The memoir and accompanying essays should be essential reading for scholars of Canadian history.” Sean Mills, University of Toronto, and author of A Place in the Sun: Haiti, Haitians, and the Remaking of Quebec
“In Witness to Loss, one finds a full portrait of the events of the war years. . . [the book] leaves one with the urge to walk the streets of pre-Second World War Vancouver where the Japanese-Canadian community was well established: Powell Street, East Cordova Street, Alexander Street and Hastings Street.” Canadian Jewish News
“Kimura's 100-page memoir is an enigmatic text, in part because his reasons for writing it are debatable. Did he write to inspire pride - as he says, to let younger Japanese Canadians know his generation quietly resisted? Or does he write to absolve himself of the sense he betrayed his people? …It is in [the] details that he reveals the sleight of hand by which a discussion of insurance policies, for example, morphs into the federal government's forced sale of Japanese Canadians' fishing vessels at below-market prices. Evil can indeed be banal.” The Globe and Mail
“Editors Jordan Stanger-Ross and Pamela Sugiman present the memoir-in-translation of Kishizo Kimura… His was an internal struggle, a careful negotiation with institutional racism, grounded in his belief that his “obedience” was an act of quiet advocacy for his community ….These essays push the discussion beyond simplistic binaries of right or wrong, victim or collaborator. For readers, the experience is illuminating and challenging - unsettling at times, but ultimately worthwhile.” Canada’s History
“Witness to Loss is an insider’s view of the unfortunate experiences of the Canadian Japanese during World War II; the commentaries are a reminder that history, like beauty, is often in the eye of the beholder. It would inspire a lively seminar debate on memory as a source of historical knowledge. Well-chosen illustrations, brief biographies of the principal actors, and an extensive bibliography add to the book’s value. Overall, it is a significant contribution to Japanese Canadian historiography.” Canadian Journal of History
“History matters - but only if we animate it and bring it to a broad public. I am excited by the possibilities that this innovative volume presents. This is a critical historical moment to ponder how racism and fearful constructions of the Other can cause democracy to come undone. Witness to Loss is an invaluable signpost in this regard.” British Journal of Canadian Studies
“In Witness to Loss, one finds a full portrait of the events of the war years. . . [the book] leaves one with the urge to walk the streets of pre-Second World War Vancouver where the Japanese-Canadian community was well established: Powell Street, East Cordova Street, Alexander Street and Hastings Street.” Canadian Jewish News
“Kimura's 100-page memoir is an enigmatic text, in part because his reasons for writing it are debatable. Did he write to inspire pride - as he says, to let younger Japanese Canadians know his generation quietly resisted? Or does he write to absolve himself of the sense he betrayed his people? …It is in [the] details that he reveals the sleight of hand by which a discussion of insurance policies, for example, morphs into the federal government's forced sale of Japanese Canadians' fishing vessels at below-market prices. Evil can indeed be banal.” The Globe and Mail
“Editors Jordan Stanger-Ross and Pamela Sugiman present the memoir-in-translation of Kishizo Kimura… His was an internal struggle, a careful negotiation with institutional racism, grounded in his belief that his “obedience” was an act of quiet advocacy for his community ….These essays push the discussion beyond simplistic binaries of right or wrong, victim or collaborator. For readers, the experience is illuminating and challenging - unsettling at times, but ultimately worthwhile.” Canada’s History
“Witness to Loss is an insider’s view of the unfortunate experiences of the Canadian Japanese during World War II; the commentaries are a reminder that history, like beauty, is often in the eye of the beholder. It would inspire a lively seminar debate on memory as a source of historical knowledge. Well-chosen illustrations, brief biographies of the principal actors, and an extensive bibliography add to the book’s value. Overall, it is a significant contribution to Japanese Canadian historiography.” Canadian Journal of History
“History matters - but only if we animate it and bring it to a broad public. I am excited by the possibilities that this innovative volume presents. This is a critical historical moment to ponder how racism and fearful constructions of the Other can cause democracy to come undone. Witness to Loss is an invaluable signpost in this regard.” British Journal of Canadian Studies
Jordan Stanger-Ross is professor of history at the University of Victoria and director of the Landscapes of Injustice project.
Pamela Sugiman is professor of sociology and dean of arts at Toronto Metropolitan University and the chair of the Oral History Cluster of the Landscapes of Injustice project.
Pamela Sugiman is professor of sociology and dean of arts at Toronto Metropolitan University and the chair of the Oral History Cluster of the Landscapes of Injustice project.
Contents
Figures | ix
Note on Landscapes of Injustice | xi
Preface | xiii
Acknowledgments | xix
Introduction and Reflections | xxi
Jordan Stanger-Ross
Translator’s Note | lxi
Matsuki Masutani
Editor’s Note | lxv
Jordan Stanger-Ross
Memoir
Kishizo Kimura, Translated by Matsuki Masutani and Jane Masutani
Part 1: The Fishing Vessels Disposal Committee | 3
Part 2: Unusual and Exceptional Cases | 35
Part 3: Concluding the Forced Sale of Fishing Vessels | 47
Part 4: A Message to Younger Japanese Canadians | 55
Part 5: The Forced Sale of Vancouver Property | 59
Part 6: Recollections | 85
Part 7: Property-Owners in Protest | 101
Commentaries
1 A Difficult Past: Kodomono tame ni - For the Sake of the Children | 107
Masako Fukawa
2 Kishizo Kimura and the Articulations of a Society Structured
in Dominance | 123
Timothy J. Stanley
3 Resistance and Accommodation to Racism and Discrimination | 146
Vic Satzewich
4 Citizen Beings, Being Citizens: Reflections on Japanese-Canadian
Experiences in War and Peace | 167
Laura Madokoro
Afterword | 194
Pamela Sugiman
Appendix
Key Individuals and Legal Enactments | 201
Will Archibald, Monique Ulysses, and Jordan Stanger-Ross
Bibliography | 221
Contributors | 243
Index | 245
Figures | ix
Note on Landscapes of Injustice | xi
Preface | xiii
Acknowledgments | xix
Introduction and Reflections | xxi
Jordan Stanger-Ross
Translator’s Note | lxi
Matsuki Masutani
Editor’s Note | lxv
Jordan Stanger-Ross
Memoir
Kishizo Kimura, Translated by Matsuki Masutani and Jane Masutani
Part 1: The Fishing Vessels Disposal Committee | 3
Part 2: Unusual and Exceptional Cases | 35
Part 3: Concluding the Forced Sale of Fishing Vessels | 47
Part 4: A Message to Younger Japanese Canadians | 55
Part 5: The Forced Sale of Vancouver Property | 59
Part 6: Recollections | 85
Part 7: Property-Owners in Protest | 101
Commentaries
1 A Difficult Past: Kodomono tame ni - For the Sake of the Children | 107
Masako Fukawa
2 Kishizo Kimura and the Articulations of a Society Structured
in Dominance | 123
Timothy J. Stanley
3 Resistance and Accommodation to Racism and Discrimination | 146
Vic Satzewich
4 Citizen Beings, Being Citizens: Reflections on Japanese-Canadian
Experiences in War and Peace | 167
Laura Madokoro
Afterword | 194
Pamela Sugiman
Appendix
Key Individuals and Legal Enactments | 201
Will Archibald, Monique Ulysses, and Jordan Stanger-Ross
Bibliography | 221
Contributors | 243
Index | 245
Landscapes of Injustice website
Witness to Loss website with diary, photo essay, and more
Canada's History review by Sharon Hanna
Author op-ed, The Globe & Mail
Witness to Loss website with diary, photo essay, and more
Canada's History review by Sharon Hanna
Author op-ed, The Globe & Mail
Shortlisted
Wilson Book Prize
The Wilson Institute for Canadian History
2017
Wilson Book Prize
The Wilson Institute for Canadian History
2017
