Interviews

1. Building Japanese style fishing boats in Canada

2. Japanese fishermen town in Steveston, Canada

3. Grandmother convinced his mother to return to Canada

4. No immediate impact after Pearl Harbor

5. Treatment of Japanese fishermen in Canada during World War II

6. Government's permission to publish Japanese newspaper in Canada during World War II

7. Japanese newspaper supported by Canadian government during World War II

8. Sneaking out of the Hastings Park camp during World War II

9. Fire started by illegal sake still at the camp

10. Building a Japanese rock garden inside an internment camp

11. Government urged Japanese Canadians to go to Japan

12. Japanese Canadians get the right to vote in 1949

13. Government sold Japanese Canadian properties for little money

14. Developing senior housing for Japanese Canadians

(b. 1928) Doctor. Former Chair of the Japanese Canadian Redress Foundation.

No immediate impact after Pearl Harbor

I didn't think anything of it (Pearl Harbor) myself at the time. It didn't, it didn't mean... immediately, it did not register in me that there was that big a change. I mean, we had been at war already, it was, maybe the war had extended but it didn't, I knew that it would mean it was... my brother -- not my brother, but my uncle in Japan was a soldier. He was an officer in the Japanese Imperial Army at that time, and I knew about him being there, so I knew that that would mean he was going to be fighting against the Allies, which included Canada and now the United States was joining the Allies. It wasn't like it was, like immediately I knew all what it meant. I didn't know all, in all the little bits and pieces of what was happening. I didn't even know what effect it would have on me at that time.

Canada World War II

Date: July 25 & 26, 2006

Location: Washington, US

Interviewer: Tom Ikeda

Contributed by: Denshō: The Japanese American Legacy Project.

Interviewee Bio

Henry Shimizu was born in Prince Rupert, B.C. in 1928 and was interned in New Denver during the war. After leaving the internment camp, he moved to Edmonton where he still resides. As a medical graduate, Dr. Henry Shimizu specialized in plastic surgery and has been active in the medical community by serving in numerous leadership positions. From 1989 to 2002, he served as chairperson of JCRF. He is an artist and has painted a number of scenes from his internment days. His works were exhibited in several communities. For his outstanding contribution to the community, he has received several awards including the NAJC National Award 1999, the University of Alberta Distinguished Alumni Award 2004 and the Order of Canada 2004. (July 26, 2006)

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Keywords

Importance of education in achieving redress for incarceration

(1919-2014) Activist for civil rights and redress for World War II incarceration of Japanese Americans.

Her experience as a Japanese-American schoolchild in Oceanside, California, after the bombing of Pearl Harbor

(1924-2018) Artist and playwright.

Loss of happy-go-lucky adolescence in Puyallup Assembly Center

(b. 1923) Nisei from Washington. Resisted draft during WWII.

Memories of dusty conditions at Minidoka incarceration camp

(b. 1923) Nisei from Washington. Resisted draft during WWII.

Making the decision to resist the draft

(b. 1923) Nisei from Washington. Resisted draft during WWII.

Discharged from the U.S. Army after Pearl Harbor

(b. 1918) Founder Azumano Travel

Reaction to a 1942 speech by Mike Masaoka, Japanese American Citizen League's National Secretary

(1915 - 2011) Nisei florist who resettled in New York City after WW II. Active in Japanese American civil rights movement

Death of sister in October 1942

(1915 - 2011) Nisei florist who resettled in New York City after WW II. Active in Japanese American civil rights movement

First impression of New York City during war time

(1915 - 2011) Nisei florist who resettled in New York City after WW II. Active in Japanese American civil rights movement

Neighbors' sympathy after Pearl Harbor

(1915 - 2011) Nisei florist who resettled in New York City after WW II. Active in Japanese American civil rights movement

Reaction of Japanese American community toward draft resistance stance

(b. 1925) Draft resister

The role of the media in influencing people's opinions

(b. 1925) Draft resister

Living conditions in prison while serving time for resisting the draft

(b. 1925) Draft resister

Talking to children about decision to resist the draft during World War II

(b. 1925) Draft resister

Deciding whether to answer "yes-yes" on the loyalty questionnaire in order to leave camp

(b. 1925) Draft resister

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No immediate impact after Pearl Harbor

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