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

Daily life in his childhood

We always had to go back home and pick strawberries. Farming was more important than school, I think, in those days.

I*: Is that right? So what was your day like?

Oh, we went to school, and then when we come home, we go and pick strawberries 'til dark. And that's about it.

I: What about homework?

Yeah, we did some homework sometimes. [Laughs]

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

agriculture farming strawberries

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.