Discover Nikkei

https://www.discovernikkei.org/en/interviews/clips/407/

Interviews

Kutsukake,Rose

(1918-2004) Interned in Slocan during World War II. Active member of the Japanese Canadian community.

Experiences during World War II

I*: And then, and then did you, did you go to, were you evacuated to go into Hastings Park? When they --

I was not in Hastings Park.

I: You didn't go into Hastings Park?

Never went to Hastings Park.

I: Oh, and where did you go then?

From the home right to ghost town. To... where was that? To Slocan. From Slocan I went to... no, because we had a home in Vancouver. Lot of people came out to Vancouver without a home. They were shipped out to, like, where was it? Hastings Park. But we had no second home to go to, so they kept us where we stayed. Not a good place, but...

I: So you stayed at the home, and then from there, you went directly to Slocan?

Yes. Where we were, we got a room on Powell Street, rooming house. I: And then, and when you were in Slocan, what, what did you do in Slocan? Another job. Another sales job, 'cause they have to have stores.

I: So you were working in a store?

Store, yeah.

I: And how, how did you find the internment camp?

Huh?

I: How did you find the internment camp, the housing and the food?

Oh, they, they sent you there. You were allotted to one place, you know.

I: And did your family go with you?

Yes.

I: Your father and mother?

Mother, uh-huh.

I: The father went, too, with you?

Uh-huh, at that time, 'cause all the younger fathers were shipped away. It was our old... well, in fact, I had no father. It was my, my brother-in-law, which was, who was my brother-in-law?

Female voice: You were with your brother.

Huh?

Female voice: Weren't you with your brother?

I: Was your brother, was your brother --

No, my brother was old, I mean, he was, he was not allowed to go to a house. It was these old men over sixty or young kids. Yeah.

*"I" indicates an interviewer (Peter Wakayama).


British Columbia Canada Slocan City internment camp World War II World War II camps

Date: December 2004

Location: Canada

Interviewer: Peter Wakayama

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

Interviewee Bio

Rose Mieko Sato was born on May 28, 1918, in Vancouver, British Columbia, where her parents ran a boarding house. She attended public school and the Japanese Language School in Vancouver. Prior to the war, she worked in sales in a Japanese department store. When the Japanese were removed from the British Columbia coast during World War II, Rose was interned with her family at Slocan, in the British Columbia interior. The family relocated to Toronto, Ontario in 1948, where Rose worked at various jobs in the garment industry. Rose married Ken Kutsukake in 1953 and was married for fifty years. Her husband was a member of the famous Asahi baseball team in prewar British Columbia. Both Rose and her husband were active members of the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre and the community. Rose passed away in Toronto in 2004.

Eric Nakamura
en
ja
es
pt
Nakamura,Eric

Father in camp but learning from history books

Giant Robot co-founder and publisher

en
ja
es
pt
Mas Kodani
en
ja
es
pt
Kodani,Mas

Fun at concentration camp

Senshin Buddhist Temple minister and co-founder of Kinnara Taiko.

en
ja
es
pt
Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston
en
ja
es
pt
Houston,Jeanne Wakatsuki

The only Japanese family in Ocean Park

(b. 1934) Writer

en
ja
es
pt
Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston
en
ja
es
pt
Houston,Jeanne Wakatsuki

Impact of Pearl Harbor on her family

(b. 1934) Writer

en
ja
es
pt
Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston
en
ja
es
pt
Houston,Jeanne Wakatsuki

Initial impact on life at camp

(b. 1934) Writer

en
ja
es
pt
Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston
en
ja
es
pt
Houston,Jeanne Wakatsuki

Mixed blood people at camp from a child's point of view

(b. 1934) Writer

en
ja
es
pt
Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston
en
ja
es
pt
Houston,Jeanne Wakatsuki

Embarrassed to talk about camp

(b. 1934) Writer

en
ja
es
pt
Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston
en
ja
es
pt
Houston,Jeanne Wakatsuki

The birth of a novel through a conversation with her nephew

(b. 1934) Writer

en
ja
es
pt
Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston
en
ja
es
pt
Houston,Jeanne Wakatsuki

Documenting family history for future generations

(b. 1934) Writer

en
ja
es
pt
Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston
en
ja
es
pt
Houston,Jeanne Wakatsuki

Not a "camp story" but a human story

(b. 1934) Writer

en
ja
es
pt
Fujima Kansuma
en
ja
es
pt
Kansuma,Fujima

Neighbor took care of hotel business during the World War II

(1918-2023) Nisei Japanese kabuki dancer

en
ja
es
pt
Fujima Kansuma
en
ja
es
pt
Kansuma,Fujima

Different learning style in Japan and the United States

(1918-2023) Nisei Japanese kabuki dancer

en
ja
es
pt
Aiko Yoshinaga Herzig
en
ja
es
pt
Herzig,Aiko Yoshinaga

Lack of political power led to camps

(1924-2018) Researcher, Activist

en
ja
es
pt
Aiko Yoshinaga Herzig
en
ja
es
pt
Herzig,Aiko Yoshinaga

Family separated in the camps

(1924-2018) Researcher, Activist

en
ja
es
pt
Aiko Yoshinaga Herzig
en
ja
es
pt
Herzig,Aiko Yoshinaga

Feeling imprisoned at camp

(1924-2018) Researcher, Activist

en
ja
es
pt