Blissful Ignorance
Blissful Ignorance

Illustration

Blissful Ignorance

Young boys playing baseball in an Internment Camp, oblivious to RCMP surveillance. The concept of what was really happening to Japanese Canadians was not entirely understood by younger internees.

Fishing Boats
Fishing Boats

Illustration

Fishing Boats

The seizing of property. In 1941, 1,200 Japanese fishing boats were seized by the Canadian Government.

Go East or Go Home
Go East or Go Home

Illustration

Go East or Go Home

The second uprooting of Japanese Canadians. After the internment camps shut down, those of Japanese Canadian heritage needed to decide either to go East to Ontario, or go “back” to Japan.

Japanese National Identification Card
Japanese National Identification Card

Illustration

Japanese National Identification Card

All Japanese Canadians over the age of 16 were required to carry a Japanese National identification card. Required until 1949.

Train
Train

Illustration

Train

The first uprooting of Japanese Canadians. For young children, this was the beginning of an adventure, boarding the train. For adults, this was the beginning of the alienation of those of Japanese descent.

Tuna and sugar
Tuna and sugar

Illustration

Tuna and sugar

Japanese Canadians who were not sent to internment camps were otherwise sent to work on sugar beet farms, canneries, or logging camps. This illustration reimagines this point in the Japanese Canadian uprooting.

Winter 1942
Winter 1942

Illustration

Winter 1942

Winter of 1942. There was no insulation in the dwellings that Japanese Canadians lived in in Tashme Internment Camp. This winter was particularly difficult.

Work by

Ally Adachi

illustration

“Camp follows the subject of the Japanese Canadian Internment, looking into the experiences many Japanese Canadiens lived through during the 1940s through a series of illustrations, showing a piece of...” [More]