Interviews

1. Japanese school

2. Daily life in his childhood

3. Sugar-beets farm in Alberta

4. Chose to go back to Japan

5. Getting a job at the British Army camp in Hiroshima

6. Redress Movement in Canada

Ito,Mitsuo

(b.1924) Japanese Canadian Nisei. Interpreter for British Army in Japan after WWII. Active in Japanese Canadian community

Redress Movement in Canada

I*: How did you feel about the whole redress movement, the fact that your family lost that property in Mission?

Well, I didn't think too much about it. I didn't worry about it because if we'd stayed on the farm, I guess we'd be, still been strawberry farmers. So I've been pretty lucky, that's right.

I: What did you think about the compensation that you received for that?

It wasn't very much, for the property we had. But if that's all they want to give us, well, you can't do anything about it.

I: How much did you get?

Twenty-thousand dollars. Twenty-thousand dollars.

* "I" indicates an interviewer (Mary Ito).

Date: March 23, 2005

Location: Toronto, Canada

Interviewer: Mary Ito

Contributed by: Sedai, the Japanese Canadian Legacy Project, Japanese Canadian Cultural Center

Interviewee Bio

Nisei male. Born August 20, 1924, in Mission, British Columbia, Canada. Grew up in Mission, attending school and helping on family farm. Left home to work several jobs, including in a sawmill and on a sugar beet farm. After World War II, moved to Japan, worked as an interpreter for the British Army, and got married. Moved to Toronto, Canada, in the 1950s and raised two sons. Active in Toronto's Japanese Canadian community, and is involved with charitable foundations. (March 23, 2005)

*The full interview is available Denshō: The Japanese American Legacy Project.