Masako Fukawa: Stories of Nikkei Canadians

During World War II, the Canadian government forcibly removed Japanese Canadians from coastal areas to internment camps, seizing and selling their homes and possessions, fishing boats and farms. What was it like for Japanese Canadians to live through this dark chapter, and then reestablish themselves in Canada after the war? In Stories of Nikkei Canadians, respected Nikkei historian Masako Fukawa gathers years of photographs and stories to shed new light on the decades-long struggle of Japanese Canadians to establish themselves in British Columbia. Masako will appear in conversation with Susanne Tabata. -- Masako Fukawa is an award-winning educator and historian of the Japanese Canadian community. Invited to manage the archives documenting Nikkei fishermen, she has produced two books: Nikkei Fishermen on the BC Coast and Spirit of the Nikkei Fleet, which won the Canada-Japan Literary Award from the Canada Council (2010). She has also published articles on the Nikkei community and resource books for BC schools. With Pamela Hickman, she is co-author of Righting Canada’s Wrongs: Japanese Canadian Internment in the Second World War. Fukawa was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Law from Vancouver Island University in 2023. She lives in Burnaby, BC. Susanne Tabata is the CEO of the Japanese Canadians Legacy Society and a renowned documentarian and digital media producer. She was born in Nanaimo, and lived in Tokyo and Victoria before moving to Vancouver in 1978 to study International Relations at UBC. Tabata’s father is a Japanese Canadian who was interned during and after WWII, which has impacted Susanne’s choices of projects. Among her many works, Tabata designed, wrote, produced and directed a 10-part ethnography series for the Japanese Canadian National Museum called Ohanashi: Stories of Our Elders – a detailed examination of the experiences of Japanese Canadians who were interned during World War II. – Accessibility: VPL is committed to making our programs accessible for all. If you have an access need that we have not addressed here, please email us at programs@vpl.ca. Elevator access to the Alice MacKay Room is available in the concourse near the bank machine. There will be designated spaces for wheelchairs and patrons with mobility devices. For more information on physical access, view the Accessibility information on the Central Library page.