A New Home
Middle: Hana Kawasoe. Hana and her family came to Toronto from Victoria, B.C. After arriving in Toronto, Hana and her mother worked as cooks at the Japanese Mens’ Cooperative Residence. (Courtesy of the Kawasoe Family)
Right: Clare F. Wood. C.F. ran Hobbs Glass Co., headquartered at Campbell House when the building was located at the intersection of Duke and Adelaide (before its move to Queen and University in 1972). (Courtesy of David Wood)
Harold and Hana Kawasoe, a young Japanese Canadian couple, lived in the attic of Campbell House, from 1948 to 1951. Harold and Hana met at a Toronto boarding house, married in 1948, and began their new life together in Campbell House’s attic.
At the time, Harold worked as a gardener for Clare F. Wood, a prominent Canadian businessman. Campbell House served as an office for C.F. Wood’s business, Hobbs Glass Co. But for Harold and Hana, it was home.
During the Second World War, over 22,000 Japanese Canadians were exiled from their homes in British Columbia. Many were forced into internment camps, as well as self-supporting, labor, and prisoner-of-war camps. Others were forcibly moved to sugar beet farms in Alberta and Manitoba to keep their families together, or even deported to Japan. Harold and Hana, like many Japanese Canadians, eventually relocated to Toronto.
Elements of Harold’s and Hana’s story are shared by Japanese Canadian families across Canada – a story of loss and rebuilding. After being forced away from all that was familiar, they established new lives in an unknown city.
A common phrase in the Kawasoe household, as it was for many families, was shikata ga nai – “it cannot be helped”. Harold and Hana, like many Japanese Canadians, chose to assimilate into English Canadian culture. Their story is one example of Canada’s complex history whose effects are still felt today.
Evicted
Beginning in 1942, 22,000 Japanese Canadians – including Harold’s and
Hana’s families – were banned from living in the 160-km-wide “protected zone” along British Columbia’s coast. They were evicted from their homes and declared, in the language of the day, “enemy aliens”. Their properties and possessions were sold by the Canadian government to fund their incarceration.
Harold and his brothers, Mitsuo (Mits) and Muneo (Mune), left for Schreiber Labour Camp in Ontario, in 1942. Their parents, Munezo and Haru Kawasoe, and younger sister, Grace, were interned at Slocan Camp in the B.C. interior.
Hana and her family, the Sakanashis, were first detained at Hastings Park, a holding site in the Vancouver area. In 1942, she and a group of friends left for Hamilton, Ontario. Her family remained in British Columbia and were later interned in Tashme.
Despite perceived security concerns, the RCMP consistently found no proof that any Japanese Canadians or Japanese nationals were a threat to national security.
“We have had no evidence of espionage or sabotage among the Japanese in British Columbia. The fact remains however, that we have searched without letup for evidence detrimental to the interest of the state…but to date, no such evidence has been uncovered.”
– S.T. Wood, Commissioner of the RCMP, 1942. (No relation to Clare F. Wood)
Bottom Left: Japanese women and children dining at Hastings Park. Hana hated living in Hastings Park- especially the cramped, noisy, unsanitary conditions and terrible food/ (Courtesy of the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre, JCCC Original Photograph Collection, 2001.3.24)
Right: Grace and parents in Slocan, 1943. Harold’s sister, Grace, and his parents moved to Ontario in August of 1946. Written on back of photograph: “Dad (66), Mom (56) and Grace (15)”. (Courtesy of the Kawasoe family)
“The fear, loss, and confusion, the distrust and desperation, the humiliation, all of this is reworked and remade over the years, sediments of grief and hope, of determination and loss, permeating over the years… ”
– Kirsten Emiko McAllister
Author, Terrain of Memory
To Ontario
At Schreiber Labour Camp in Northwestern Ontario, Japanese Canadians, including Harold and his brothers, built the Trans Canada Highway. Harold and Mits found the frigid winter conditions and spring black flies to be particularly difficult. As soon as they could, they relocated to a farming camp, owned by Stokely–Van Camp, in Essex County, Southwestern Ontario.
Hana initially found employment as a domestic worker for families in Hamilton. She later moved to Toronto and began working as a typist at Manufacturers Life Insurance Co. Hana was one of the first Japanese Canadian individuals hired by the company.
Families Reunite
As Japanese Canadians found employment and housing in Ontario after the war, they encouraged those remaining in British Columbia to join them. Both Harold’s and Hana’s family members came to Ontario in 1946. Harold’s parents and sister moved into a house in Kitchener-Waterloo, purchased for them by C.F. Wood.
lived at the Japanese Man’s Cooperative Residence in Toronto. There he met Hana. They would go on roller skating and picnic dates. Harold and Hana married in 1948. (Courtesy of the Kawasoe family)
Right: August, 1942, probably Essex Farming Camp. Harold and Mits found their way to Essex County after leaving Schreiber Labour Camp. They farmed tomatoes, peas, and sugar beets and were paid by the amount they picked. Harold’s first pay cheque was $1.39. (Courtesy of the Kawasoe family)
Arriving in Toronto
Toronto Mayor F.J. Conboy banned Japanese Canadians from living in the city between 1942 and 1945. Those adamant about settling in the city sought sponsorship from businesses, churches and individual supporters.
C.F. Wood – Friend and Ally
While working in Essex County, Harold met Clare F. Wood, who hired Harold and Mits as gardeners for his London estate, Woodeden. In 1945, they left to work at Wood’s new home in Toronto’s Rosedale neighbourhood. For Harold and Wood, this was the start of a long friendship.
Wood disapproved of the Canadian government’s treatment of Japanese Canadians and advocated for equal treatment. During the war, he hired 50-100 Japanese Canadians at one of his companies,
Federal Aircraft Ltd.
Right: Brothers David and Monty Wood on tricycle. C.F. Wood’s son David recalls the strong bond he had with Harold. He remembers playing with Harold in the garden and getting piggy back rides as he worked. David and Harold maintained their friendship as David grew up. (Courtesy of the Kawasoe family)
Toronto’s Cultural Landscape Begins to Shift
Discrimination against Japanese Canadians still abounded after the Second World War, but allies, such as Wood, welcomed their fellow Canadians, setting a precedent for others to do the same.
Churches, the Jewish community, and the YMCA/YWCA facilitated community gatherings, such as dances, sports leagues, and group outings. These activities connected Japanese Canadians to one another and helped them plant roots in Toronto.
Rebuilding
Centre: Metropolitan Badminton Club. Young Japanese Canadian men and women enjoying a game of badminton, 1948. Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre, Dawn Miike Collection, 2014. 02.14.01
Right: Nisei Hockey Club. A Japanese Canadian Hockey Team sponsored by the Danforth Cleaners, c. 1950s. Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre, Joyce Matsumoto Collection, 2011.298.02.06
When Japanese Canadians were allowed to move freely throughout Canada in 1949, some returned to British Columbia, but many stayed in Ontario. Dispersal and intermarriage have led to a natural loss of cultural traditions among generations of Japanese Canadians. Harold’s and Hana’s children, Arlene and Don, were not given Japanese names and do not speak Japanese. This is common amongst the Sansei (third) and Yonsei (fourth) generations. At 79%, Japanese Canadians also have the highest rate of intermarriage of any cultural group in Canada.
Creating a Community
Despite community dispersal, a network of centres across Canada has developed to promote Japanese Canadian cultural life. Toronto’s Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre was founded in 1963, and continues to be a community hub for celebrating the culture, history and legacy of Japanese Canadians. Many other Japanese Canadian organizations have formed in Toronto, adding to the growing sense of community.
Right: Honest Ed’s Nisei Baseball Team. 1956. Baseball was a classic Canadian sport. Many Japanese Canadians participated in leagues in British Columbia and it became a common past-time in internment camps. Ed Mirvish, owner of the landmark Honest Ed’s discount store in Toronto, established the Honest Ed’s baseball team, welcoming Japanese Canadians to participate. (Courtesy of Nikkei National Museum and Cultural Centre, Ken and Rose Kutsukake Collection)
Seeking Redress
Right: Brian Mulroney, Prime Minister of Canada, and Art Miki, 1988 The Prime Minister and Art Miki sign the Japanese Canadian Redress Agreement. (Courtesy of Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre)
The National Association of Japanese Canadians was founded in 1947. In the late 1970s and 1980s, under the leadership of Arthur (Art) Miki, the organization led the fight for the Canadian government to acknowledge the mistreatment of Japanese Canadians in the 1940s.
On September 22, 1988, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney officially acknowledged in the House of Commons the government’s unjust treatment of Japanese Canadians. The Redress Agreement included individual compensation for confiscated property, a fund to rebuild destroyed community infrastructure, and the creation of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation.
Like many Japanese Canadians who suffered, Harold and Hana applied for and received compensation under the Redress Agreement.
“I think there was a feeling of guilt – that they [Japanese Canadians] must have done something wrong to be treated the way they were. And so, the apology, the acknowledgement and the compensation really said to them that they weren’t at fault.” – Art Miki, 2016. Interview with Canadian Museum of Human Rights
Moving Forward
Right: Arlene and Don as children (Courtesy of the Kawasoe family)
Harold and Hana moved out of Campbell House’s attic in 1951. They found another house in East York (Toronto) where they lived with their two children, Arlene and Don.
Home at Last
In coming to Toronto, Japanese Canadians were forced to redefine the concept of home. Home was not defined by where you came from, but instead by how you worked to build a life in spite of immeasurable loss and senseless discrimination. In Toronto, Japanese Canadians like Hana and Harold established new homes through hard work, determination, and perseverance.
Hana passed away in 1995 at the age of 75, and Harold in 2001, at 85 years old. C.F. Wood died in 1998, at the age of 94. Harold and Wood remained friends to the end of their lives.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We would like to thank all the organizations and individuals who have made this exhibition possible.
University of Toronto Faculty of Information
Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre
Arlene and Don Kawasoe
David Wood
Dr. Heather Read
Bryce Kanbara
Dance Collection Danse
Nikkei National Museum and Cultural Centre
National Association of Japanese Canadians
(Toronto Chapter)
Daniel et Daniel Catering
We also extend thanks to all our generous funders.