Mikio Ibuki, interviewed by Masumi Izumi, 16 March 2016

It’s March 16, 2016. I’m in Konan University and am going to interview Mr. Ibuki. Could you please start with things like where you were born, and also I heard that your father was the one who immigrated to Canada, so could you tell us from which village he was from, in what year he immigrated, and so on if you know those things. Please start with your full name.

My name is Mikio Ibuki. The Chinese letters Ibuki are the same as in Mt. Ibuki in Shiga prefecture. There are three (blocks?) in the city of Hikone around the area: Many people from Mitsuya, Sugoshi, and Hassaka immigrated Canada. My father was the youngest child. He had many siblings, both male and female. His oldest brother was in Canada, so he went to Vancouver.

Which village was he from?

From Mitsuya.

From Mitsuya.

Yes. And he immigrated at a very young age. After graduating from elementary school, he took an exam for the next school but failed. I heard many episodes. Then he immediately went to Canada and entered a school there... Masumi interrupts to ask a question.

How old was he?

I think he was 15. Mikio turns to the side to look through his bag for some documents. I brought many resources.

Do you know in what year your father was born? Mikio shuffles through his bag and pulls out a yellow folder with paper inside.

I think a lot of information is in this. (?) It came apart, though. This one too (?) Mikio reads from one of the papers that was in the folder. He was born in 1915.

Um, 1908?

Oh, sorry. In 1908. He was born in the 41st year of the Meiji period. Then he graduated from school and went to Vancouver at the age of 16. And he entered an elementary school again there with little children. The last school he went to was a night high school. He went to the night school while he works in daytime.

Was this 'Aoru Drug' the Japanese owned company there?

I’m not sure. The Aoru may be owl.

Owl? The bird?

I believe it’s owl. I haven’t heard of it, though.

I see. This is the company there... I think I can search it.

But I think most of the people were Japanese.

Probably, yes.

And then, a trading company called Morris. He got a job at E. A. Morris. While he was working there, the war started, and he was forced to relocate.

Um, you were born in Vancouver, weren’t you?

Yes, in Vancouver. In 1940, the 15th year of the Showa period. The Year 2600 in the imperial year calendar. There was some kind of celebration in Japan.

When did your father get married?

He came back to Japan once and got married at the age of 28.

He came back once.

Yes. Sort of finding someone to marry.

Here, in Mitsuya?

No. His brother right above him was doing his business in Tokyo. Through his connection, (my father got to know) my mother, who just graduated from school and was working at Marubeni Iida. They just got engaged at first, and then he came back a year later to marry her.

... Oh, I’m sorry. He went to Canada by himself. At first, he came a year before and had an Omian (an arranged meeting with a potential marriage partner) or something, they married, and my father went back to Canada. And then my mother followed...

Oh, a year later.

Yes. So my father got married at the age of 28, and my mother at 18.

What was your mother’s family like?

They were an ordinary family in a working-class neighbourhood in Tokyo. My mother graduated from a girl’s school and was working at Marubeni Iida. Well, I have many pictures, so you can see them later.

Because she couldn’t go to Canada right after they got married, ...

That’s right.

That was why she went to Canada at a different timing from your father. A year later.

So, her situation was similar to picture brides’ but a little different, I think.

You are right. So your father came back and met your mother in an Omian.

I think he had many girl friends in Vancouver, though. Mikio and Masumi both laugh. There was a person I too knew very well. I liked her too. Of course, I think she was my father’s girlfriend, though. A woman named Nancy, whom I liked very much. Of course, she was about the same age as my father, or a little younger. She was Nisei.

Do you know in which year your mother moved to Canada? Mikio pulls out more documents from his bag. It was when (your father) was 28, so was it around 1936? How many children did they have?

Mikio answers while pulling out more items from his bag. They had three children. I was born in 1940, and my sister in 1942. She was born after we went to Slocan. Because she was the first child who was born in Slocan, she was congratulated by everyone. I have the record of that. And two years later, in 1944, the 19th year of Showa, my brother was born.

Were all of you in Slocan all the time?

Two of them were in Slocan. I was in Vancouver.

Born in Vancouver. Yes. Throughout the war, your family was...

In Slocan, yes. Mikio continues to pull more items out from his bag. He places them beside him on the couch.

Your father worked in Slocan... What did he do before the war? Mikio pauses his search to answer Masumi’s question.

He worked at a drug store. A chocolate company.

Morris... Was this E. A. Morris a chocolate company?

No, I think they sold medicines, chocolates, and so on. Cigarettes might have been their main merchandise, though.

Do you know what he did there?

I think he (?).

At a store.

Probably a clerk.

Do you know where he lived?

On Powell. There is a document about it. Mikio searches through his bag again.

If we could see the details on the documents later...

Mikio stops his searching his bag. Yes. If you don’t mind rough answers. I might make corrections later.

Yes, that’s alright. What did he do in Slocan?

Well, many Japanese seem to have got together, created a group themselves, and worked together for various things. What I remember is cleaning chimneys. My father was doing things like chimney sweeping too.

It was not in the camp but in town, at sort of regular houses...?

In the camp. Mikio gestures the camp size by moving his arms horizontally in front of him. I don’t think they went outside. Well, he went to New Denver from time to time, though. I have once been to New Denver too. If you look at the map, going down a little to the south, there is a place called New Denver. Slocan was originally a silver mining town, but it had been abandoned and had been a ghost town. At first, people from the Anglican Church moved in and cleaned up a little. There is Mikio looks through his bag for a moment. such a record.

What is your family’s religion?

We are Buddhist.

Is it Jodo Shinshu?

Yes, it is Jodo Shinshu. People in Hikone believe in Jodo Shinshu. Hikone is a town famous for Butsudans (Buddhis alters).

How about your mother?

My mother too, I think. I have never heard details, though. So we went to an Anglican kindergarten. I went there for about three years. For three years.

Did you go to kindergarten in Slocan?

In Slocan, yes. That was also run by the people from the Anglican Church. Because we were the first population and nobody was there. Many... a thousand people soon moved in. So they built a church for those people, and I think they built a kindergarten too. I went to that kindergarten. I have pictures too. (?) Stan, you can look at them (?). Where these Caucasians were, and so on. Not only Japanese, but there were also Caucasian children in the kindergarten.

Oh, the town of Slocan City...

No, it was after Japanese moved in. Originally, there was nobody.

It was a ghost town.

It was a ghost town, so the people from the Anglican Church came to help us.

So the children are those people’s...

I recently heard about the hospital, church, and so on... You have probably seen such a paper. I read the one on Slocan... or the one on the activities of the Anglican Church helping people in Canada. Short pause.

You mentioned that your father played a leadership role in the camp...

In a Japanese group, Hakko-kai. The name was taken from Hakko Ichiu (a slogan used in the war time). I will show you later. Mikio points down at his bag. They organized a group like that and self-governed, doing various things themselves. I think that people in other places, other camps, did the same, creating a committee like that. My father had been a chairman and a treasurer and done many other things all the time. Originally, his friends from Vancouver were all young men who loved literature. They seem to have gathered and have actively done various things together. So even after he came back to Japan, he had been sending Japanese magazines to all his old friends in Toronto and some other places. And things like (kimono?) too. Mikio takes a couple sips of his drink.

About the choice of whether to go to the east or to go to Japan, staying in Slocan and going back to Japan after the war, why did he decide to come back to Japan?

In Toronto or Montreal, for example, Mikio makes a X with his arms. there was nobody he knew. A completely new place. And in Japan, the father of my mother was still alive. Mikio waves his hand as 'no' gesture. ...They didn’t know if he was still alive. He was in the place called Senju in the ward of Adachi, Tokyo. My parents didn’t know whether he was alive but worried about him. And my father often said that he had a mission for new Japan, a mission to rebuild new Japan. So, after he came back, he worked for the Occupation Army and then taught English conversation at a community centre in Otsu until the age of 80. He started teaching in his thirties, and by the time when he was in his eighties, he started walking unsteadily, so my younger brother and I convinced him to retire. I think he still wanted to keep teaching, though.

Do you remember a little more details about the time when you came back?

Yes. I, of course, remember Slocan very well too. So, when I showed a map of Slocan I created to my mother the other day, she told me, 'You remember it so well.' I remember things like where a movie theatre was or the places where I had been only once or twice. There was a store near it, and there were goldfish there. There was a fountain, and I got into mischief there, ... things like that.

I remember sleighing on a little slope when it snowed. There was already a school somewhere. I didn’t really go to school because school starts in September, but we were to come back in October.

Ah, you finished kindergarten and needed to come back as soon as entering elementary school.

Makes an X with his arms. I didn’t go to school. If I had gone to school, I would’ve become more fluent in English. Of course, at that time, I was only able to speak English, so although my parents tried very hard to teach me Japanese through Japanese songs and so on, I only spoke English. But once I came back to Japan, I forgot English and learned Japanese quickly.

Um, did your parents not hesitate much to decide whether or not to stay in Canada?

I think they did... If they had been allowed to go back to Vancouver, they would definitely never have come back here, though. There is an episode about the time when we were leaving Vancouver. My father appeared in the October 20 issue of Mainichi Shinbun newspaper. I have seen it once although I didn’t copy it. The article was about the group of Japanese repatriates. I don’t know which number the group was, though. The article said this many people led by Suejiro Ibuki came back... in Mainichi Shinbun. My grandfather, the father of my mother, saw the article and came for us. I think ships usually arrived in Yokosuka, but we landed in Kurihama. Mrs. Vining, the tutor of the crown prince, was on the same ship. When we arrived, there was a grand welcome ceremony with a musical band and so on. So we came to know that she was on the ship.

Um, it was October 1946...

October 20, 1946.

You arrived that day.

Yes. My mother and I have many stories from the ship. There were many American children too on the ship, and American soldiers were giving them balloons and so on the deck. I wanted one too. So I said, 'Give me one,' then they told me, 'No!'

Were they Americans or Canadians?

I don't know. But being rejected by Americans was the first shocking thing to me. When I was in Slocan, I had never felt that way. Children all played together, and we had fun playing together in the kindergarten. I learned things like hymns at that time. Mikio sings a short verse from 'Jesus Loves Me' 'Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.' 'Jesus Loves Me.' I still remember that. I also learned the hymn for (?). And Mikio says a title of a hymn or a hymnal. So we were given a lot of (?) too. I still have them now. But that was the first shocking thing I encountered. By the time when Japan came into sight, my mother was seasick. We took her to the deck, then as soon as she saw Japan, she cried with big drops of tears rolling down her cheeks. And we landed. It was only a year after the war ended. A lot of things were still there. We were in the facility in Kurihama for a while, but things like tanks and artilleries... a lot of those things were there. I wasn’t able to eat Japanese foods, Mikio shakes his head. My father brought a lot of chocolate, and I only ate that chocolate all the time. One time, my younger sister caught a cold and was given okayu (rice porridge). They let me taste a little bit of it. Mikio gestures as if he’s eating okayu. Then it was delicious, so I said I wanted it too. I remember that. My first encounter with my grandfather was... Soon after we landed, there was a festival or something in the park or at a shrine. It was a hot day although it was October. On our way there, my grandfather came. There was no way to get in touch with him.

He came to where he guessed we were, and we came across each other on our way. We started crying unconsciously.

Was it right after you landed, the same day?

I think it was a day or two after that. I ate persimmons at that time. It was cut into four or five pieces and was served on this little plate. I happily ate them. So we met around that time of the year. I can never forget it. During the war, we never wrote each other. Before the war, we interacted with each other, sending photos of children and so on until the war started. Mikio mumbles something. It was really a miraculous reunion. Because my father was a leader as I mentioned, we got on a jeep and went to see many places in Yokosuka. We went to Nakajima Airport too. He took me many places on a jeep. Japan was in a terrible state because, a year after the war, ruins had not been cleaned up at all.

Did he start working for the Occupation Army right away?

No. We went back to Hikone and were in Nagahama for a short while. I think it’s written somewhere, but I believe his nephew’s company was in Nagahama. Hokoku-Sangyo in Nagahama. He worked at that company as a managing director for a while but left there in November 1947, by the 23th year (of Sowa)... Mikio checks the document he’s reading the dates off from.

Camp Otsu was the one by Ojiyama...?

Yes, yes. He was there for really a long time...

For ten years?

For ten years. He left that job in December of the 32th year of Showa, and his last deployment was in Nara. He was on a relatively high position among Japanese and played various managerial roles. He also worked in the Human Resources, hiring people, so he hired those from his town, Mitsuya, Hassaka, and Hikone...

(Those who) could speak English?

My father was not only able to speak but one of his roles was an interpreter. He helped with the negotiation with the governor or vice-governor of the Shiga prefecture. So he worked for the department like the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The department of foreign affairs of the city of Otsu. It was always his role to contact them. But I think he was shocked that he didn’t have enough educational background. Just being able to speak English and having certain knowledge was not enough in Japan... because Japanese society was with academic meritocracy. So he thought his children should go to university. And Japan had been reborn. Japan was now completely different from what it was. I think he strongly hoped that he could help let the world know new Japan by teaching English. I also... Masumi interupts with a question.

Um, your father graduated from public school, from high school too.

Night school, though. He didn’t go to university. So he had his children, all three of us, go to university. My younger brother went to Doshisha University, too, and graduated from the School of Theology. He became a pastor but quit when there were fierce university protests and a conflict within the Christian Church in 1970’s. He thought of becoming a lawyer and went to Ritsumeikan University, but he gave it up too. Because my father was in the pearl business, my younger brother did that too. He is still dealing with the freshwater pearl in Lake Biwa. Recently, about two years ago, he opened a retail store in Otsu. If my father was alive, I think he would be happy. Sorry, my speech jumps around...

No, no. No problem. And when you came back to Japan, what kind of... You just mentioned that you struggled with foods, but were there any other...?

We had a trunkful of chocolate, and I often ate it. There is a drawing I drew of the line-up for school lunch. Mikio might be speaking to Stan in English. Maybe you can find, I just give you the kind of... Mikio pauses for a moment and watches Stan(?) go through the bookshelf next to them. No, not that one. The card one where the boys and girls are eating lunch. At that time, there was one in Japanese. I will read it. ...I got it... In such times, ...no, not that one. Coloured on... We happily ate it. This is powdered skim milk. It was sent from America. Bread was also sent from America. My teacher explained those to us. I wrote a composition about those and drew a picture too. I still have them.

Was it when you were in Otsu?

No, no. We came back to Mitsuya, and I was there until April 29 of my grade three year.

In Mitsuya?

In Mitsuya in the city of Hikone.

Um, in 1947?

I... yes, and then we all moved to Otsu.

This, um...

My father was commuting from Hikone to Otsu for a while, though.

You went to an elementary school in Otsu...

Yes.

You said you didn’t go to elementary school in Canada.

I didn’t go to elementary school in Canada. School starts in September, doesn’t it?

After you came back, you went to elementary school in Mitsuya?

Yes. Take Elementary School. So I went there from October of my grate one year to the beginning of April of my grade three year. So the textbooks I was given were still partially painted with black ink.

At that time, were there any other returnee children at school?

I think there were some because, as far as I know, there were at least three. And the elementary school teacher, Mr. (Ms.?) Tanaka gave me special lessons after school because I wasn’t able to speak Japanese well. I sang English songs for him (her?) in return. We did something like that.

Did you have a hard time to blend in or...?

Well, in the very beginning, I wore a red sweater to school, then I was teased. I wondered why because there were many other returnee children too. I was teased when I wore a red sweater to school. I still remember the shock I felt even now.

Well, for the children too, those many children who came back from Canada were...

So, in the countryside, there was somehow an atmosphere that didn’t allow those returnee children blend in. I myself was able to blend in fairly quickly, though. I even played in a school play, like 'Saru Kani Gassen (The Battle of the Monkey and the Crabs).' We played 'Osaru no Kagoya (The Monkey Palanquin)' too, singing 'heave-ho, heave-ho.' I drew a picture, and it was posted in the school’s auditorium (?). Mikio hands Masumi a sheet of paper with a picture he drew. Here is the picture of school lunch.

Wow! Masumi sounds amazed by the picture.

Speaks to Stan. With this one I just have kind of a Japanese sakubun (composition). Masumi shows the picture on camera.

This is (?), and children are having lunch (?).

Here it is. It’s a little hard to read, though. Mikio shows Masumi the essay he wrote.

Oh, the composition. Masumi shows the essay on camera.

I remember that there was a small boy in grade six. I asked why the boy was so small, then I was told that it was because Japanese didn’t have enough food during the war. It might have been written there too that I asked such questions and got those answers. That is how I was feeling at that time.

...You went to elementary school... When you came back to Japan, ...

That’s about this school lunch.

Right. After the war... Mikio makes sure his experience about lunch time at school was recorded.

Yeah, so... Was this recorded?

Yes, it was.

Anyway, after I came back to Japan, I have been pushed around on numerous occasions. I have lived in a so-called boarding house in Hikone. There is a person, who is my cousin, and when I saw her a while ago, she told me, 'Right after you came back to Japan, Mikio, ...there was a big persimmon tree by the house, and it already had ripe persimmons.' ...There were already persimmons by around October 20 ... 'You swiftly climbed up the tree and bit into a persimmon but quickly chucked it away because it tasted astringent.' Mikio acts out how he grabbed the fruit and dropped it while he was still on the tree. Then I got badly scolded, but my mother got scolded even worse because, at that time, even a persimmon was precious food when people worked in rice fields. My mother was blamed for her son having wasted food that way. So my mother was treated even more spitefully than I was.

Oh, people in Tokyo...

And in that situation. Anyone who came back actually all (?), but I think, among the people in the countryside, there was an atmosphere where they (refused?) us. So when we were in Mitsuya for a while, my mother was often told various things by her sister in law. The wife of my father’s older brother. She was much older than my mother, though. So I think my mother had a hard time. The room we rented was in a hut detached from the main house, and there was no electricity. No lights. It was my role to clean the hut, holding a lamp. Because it stood along the lakeside road, I heard the sounds of waves. We lived in such a place. When we went from Hikone to Kyoto, ... The next station is a station called Kawase. From there, we walked all the way with younger brother on a handcart as he was still little. Then, I don’t know if you know it, but there is an island called Takeshima. It looked just like a warship. When I looked at the island, I thought, 'Wow, that is the battleship used in the war.' It is a very good memory. After I came back, I saw a torii (shrine gate), and by the torii, there were ...what are they called? The lions made of stone.

Komainu.

Komainu. They took my fancy very much. I remember those kinds of things. But it was cold. The winters in both years. We came back to Japan in 1946, so it was the winter of 1947. I think we had a lot of snow in the winter of 1948 too. I remember struggling to go to school. There was heavy snow that year. Yes. And we came to Otsu. In Otsu, many groups of people, twelve or thirteen families, who came back from overseas, were in a dormitory for returnees, which used to be a Japanese-style inn before. I had a fun time there because there were many children around the same ages as me. In the New Year, we played cards and Karuta (Japanese playing cards) and did various things together.

Um, I believe that there were many people who came back to Canada in around 1952 when it became allowed to do so.

1952 was the year after the war ended and...

Yes.

They were in the Toronto or Montreal areas for a while, and...

No. Um, I mean the people who came back to Japan, to (?), Hassaka and so on. Many of them went back (to Canada), didn’t they?

They did go back.

Did you also think of going back at that time?

I did. I was originally thinking of going back after graduating from school. When I talked about it with my father and mother, my father would say that I was not the type of person who should stay in Japan. He often told me to go back to Canada. I think it was partly because it was his own dream too. From my experience too, I found that Japan had a kind of insularism. I was fairly easygoing. Because I had a self-image of a physically-oriented person, I thought I should go back to Canada. I was thinking of going back after graduating from university although I didn’t know many people in Canada. I wrote to the person who was the closest to me there. But then, that year, the economy in Canada was very bad, so the person advised me to find a job in Japan because I put in a lot of efforts to graduate from university in Japan. And a little before that, my cousin started the business of the freshwater pearl farming. Her business was not yet known by many people, but she ran a booth for the first time at an international trade fair, a trade fair of small- and medium-sized enterprises, and so on. So my father and I were called to be her interpreters. It was quite a fresh experience. People from America and Europe looked at freshwater pearls and said, 'Wow, these are wonderful!' And we closed deals. I went to Doshisha University and joined ESS, so (the experience helped me). I forgot how to speak Japanese once, but I think I picked it up again. Anyway, I was able to work as an interpreter. It was to earn the money to go to Canada. When I was still in university, I also took over the lessons my father was teaching at his private English tutoring school. He rented a space in a temple and taught junior-high students as well as adults. There were two classes a week with 10 to 15 various types of people. I saved money by kind of running the tutoring school and teaching. But I got fascinated by the pearl business. So after I graduated from university and knew that I was not going to Canada by May, I started working at the company in May. The company was in Kobe, and the pearl farm was in Moriyama, Shiga near Biwako Ohashi Bridge. Indians came to buy those pearls. They bought them and sold them to Saudi Arabians. They were making a lot of money. They were making big money by selling them to Lebanese. They were selling them, falsely telling their clients that the pearls in Lake Biwa were natural pearls. In the Persian Gulf, which is now called the Arabian Gulf, there were a lot of natural pearls. So the people in the Islamic world admitted only natural pearls to be real pearls at that time. They thought that the ones that had nuclei were not pearls. But the pearls in Lake Biwa looked very closely like natural pearls. So Indians sold them as natural pearls and were making a killing. But the lie was found out. Then the clients of those Indians from (?), Syria, and Lebanon all started coming to Japan. Also, the production increased to some extent in the market at that time. So Indians were no longer able to make such a killing, and the market went down. The price went down significantly. Then the father and the president of Jinbo Shinju, ... Jinbo is written as God Save in Chinese letters, the letter 'God' and the letter 'save,' ... The president was a year younger than me, and he also went to Doshisha University. He studied commerce, though. They decided to start the business, without Indians, directly with Americans and Europeans and created a new company in Kobe.

My father moved there, and I joined too a little later. Because I knew nothing, (?). I did something like getting addresses from the Chambers of Commerce and Industry in various places and writing invitation letters to jewelers. I sent samples to the buyers in (?) and Syria. Then they came to Japan, and the market recovered. So, since them, I have been in the pearl business all my life.

Your mother is still...?

My mother has passed away. My father passed in the previous year of the Great Earthquake, so 22 years ago. At the age of 86. And my mother passed away eight years after that. They had 10-year age gap. But they were able to celebrate their golden wedding anniversary, and many people came to congratulate them. I will also have the golden anniversary with my wife too next year. I can’t believe it. My mother went to Vancouver with her niece two years before she died. They also went to Toronto because she had distant relatives who were close to her there. She visited them and went to many places for sightseeing, such as Niagara Falls, and so on. She said that when she went to Vancouver, the house, the apartment, where she used to live was still there and that the residents let her in and allowed her to see inside.

Oh, yes. I forgot to ask you about it, but before you moved to Slocan, did your family have a house in Vancouver?

Yes, an apartment.

Did your parents own the apartment, not renting it?

They rented.

They rented. Then they didn’t own the land or the property...

I don’t think they could afford such things at that time.

Those who owned houses and so on had them all taken away.

Oh, yes. So did my father. Everything. A lot of things were taken away. In that sense, I think he was living a quite good, middle-class life. Mikio shuffles through photographs he has brought as he talks. So everything (was taken away)... and they couldn’t do anything. 'We had this. We had that. Mikio had a Gogatsu Ningyo (Warrior Doll), the good one.' My parents told me things like those all the time.

Have you talked a lot about the war time?

Yes, I have talked about it in many places.

Did your father too?

Yes. I talked about it with him too. So from time to time... For example, there was the hundredth anniversary in Vancouver. It was not that long ago. My father wanted to go there, but my siblings and I stopped him. Because he had longing for home, ... It was not technically his home, but still he longed for Canada. We thought that, once his wish came true, he would lose the purpose to live, so we couldn’t let him go. I didn’t go either. So I have never gone back either. It’s exactly, 'Home is the place to long for from a distance,' as the poem says. If we had gone there and had met our old friends, our complex feelings would have come back and exploded again. Also we would have got satisfied just by going there, and that’s not good. But this was my biggest mistake, the biggest mistake in my life. I should have gone there with him. But I was too busy to travel abroad because I was already a managing director at that time. Although it was a small company, I thought they would be in trouble without me. That was such a stupid idea. I now think that I should have gone with him.

Was that hundredth anniversary the one in 1977?

Yes.

Do you think your father had been thinking what it would have been like if he had gone back?

Yes, because he had so many friends there. The friends of his youth. Because he had so much longing for them, he would always send them magazines from Japan, and in return, people such as the editors of Tairiku Nippo, New Canadian, and so on would write to him.

When people in Canada came back to Japan, they came to see my father. Many people visited our house, or we had meals together. There was someone named Kanichi Mori. (?) Those people were my father’s best friends.

Did you father already aspire to pursue a career in literature before he went to Canada?

No, because, before he went to Canada, he was still 15 years old or so. But I still have sort of his works. The ones that he sent to various newspapers and that were published. Mikio shuffles around the papers he brought and also pulls out a book from his bag. But there are a little erotic...

Were those sent from Canada to Japanese newspaper?

Oh, no. He sent them to the papers in Canada, such as Tairiku Nippo and so on. Mikio hands Masumi an old book.

Masumi sounds amazed. Oh, I see!

He used pseudonyms for all those, though. Mikio points at a name written in the book Masumi is now holding. This one says Mitsuo. It looks like he mixed Mikio and Mitsue.

Is Mitsue your mother’s name?

Yes. She was Mitsue. My name is Mikio. So...

This was written by your father, wasn’t it?

Yes, by my father. All of them.

Masumi sounds very amazed. Were they? Wow! And this was his pen name.

Well, he had Mikio emphasizes 'a lot' a lot of pen names.

Many different pen names.

I’m not sure if it’s somewhere in this, but he also made something like (?). Mikio takes the book back to see if his father used another pen name.

That is funny (?) too.

No. This doesn’t have a pen name. This only has a title. Mikio places the book in front of Masumi again.

This Ito... Is this your father too?

These are all my father. He had so many pen names. He might have not wanted many people to know he wrote.

Wow!

Something like Jun Watanabe too. Both Mikio and Masumi laugh. So I didn’t show them to my children. Not to my wife either. I secretly keep them. Mikio laughs. Well, I don’t think they are too terrible, though. But when he was young, ...

Girlfriends...

He had many girlfriends. Mikio takes out a large old album. This one... I’ve already showed you... Mikio takes a photo out of the album. The company’s... I think there was a national convention or something. They were called BC Tabacco and Candy Jobers or something. My father is here, just in the corner of the photo, though.

Masumi is examining the photograph with Mikio’s father. Oh, yes. I see people looking like Japanese around this corner... Where is your father? Masumi hands the photograph back to Mikio.

Um, the one in the very corner. Somewhere around here. Masumi gets up from her seat to see where Mikio is pointing. I will bring a magnified glass. Mikio laughs.

Right. Looks like Japanese. Did he do office work kind of things in the company?

Not like that. He was just a store clerk. Mikio flips through the album and takes out another photograph. This is an elementary school my father graduated from. I this this is a graduation ceremony of a higher elementary school.

It says Isoda.

The place was called the village of Isoda at that time. It was merged and is now part of the city of Hikone, though. It used to be Mitsuya in the village of Isoda.

Masumi talks to herself. Oh, Mitsuya in the village of Isoda.

Yes. Hassaka in Isoda, and so on.

Alright.

Mikio turns the album towards Masumi to show another photograph. This is my father at his young age.

Oh, right.

Mikio flips through the album. He would practice golf a lot. There are some other photos of our relatives that I don’t know, though.

Is this from his time in Canada?

Yes. This is our relative’s, though. This one also has names everywhere. This is Rosy. Mikio points to one photo in the album. I think my father and she actually liked each other. Mikio flips a couple more pages and points to another photo. This is the village of Isoda. Going down from the place where he was born, there is a place where a person named San’yo Rai used to live... this holly tree is still there in a shabby state. San’yo Rai’s second wife was named Rie Rai.

She copied and published many things that San’yo was involved in, such as 'Nihon Gaishi (Unofficial History of Japan).' She was called a perfect model of women, and a monument like this was built. Mikisaburo Rai, the son of San’yo, was killed with Shoin Yoshida and other loyalists in Ansei purge because of (their ideology?). Miki in my name, Mikio, was taken from Mikisaburo.

Oh.

My father also explained my name differently. The Chinese character of mi also reads 'san.' The second character, the character of tree, reads 'ki.' And the third character of o also reads 'yū.' San-kyu-u. The kanji used for Mikio’s name sounds like 'thank you' depending on the reading. He told me, 'You have to be the man who works for people so that everyone says thank you to you.' Well, it might have come from Bunroku Shishi’s 'Arigatou-san (thank you)' or something, though. Anyway, it’s thank you. Mikio continues to flip through the photo album. So, in my family, there is also Rie named after Rie Rai.

Your sister?

She is my cousin. There is also Yoichi. 'Yo' was taken from San’yo. We have many names like those. Mikio puts the photo album to the side.

What was your father’s family originally doing?

They were weavers, weaving cloth with looms. But they became famers later, so they were not that rich or anything anymore. I don’t think they were not as important a family as being a village headman, but there are records... Mikio starts to look through his pile of documents and albums.

But his oldest brother went to Canada to work.

Yes. And he came back just before the war.

Yes. Short pause. Did his other siblings go there too?

Well, he had an elder sister, and she went to Seattle.

How many siblings did he have?

Wait a minute. He had so many. I have to look at my resources. But anyway, there are people who went to Seattle, and... Short pause and Mikio mumbles something afterwards. He then takes out more photographs from his bag. I have a copy of this somewhere... Mikio hands some documents to Masumi.

Oh, a birth certificate. That’s right. Silence as Mikio searches for the right documents.

So, his elder sisters were named Kano, Kimi, and Sute. There was a brother named Jitaro. And Totaro was the oldest. (Not interested?) There was one who passed away. And here, there is one who was adopted. And the last one.

So Suejiro. Sue means the last or the youngest among siblings.

Yes, Suejiro. The fourth male child. One, two, three... four girls and four boys. And this Totaro went to America. His oldest daughter was born in Japan. The second daughter was also born in Japan and seems to have moved to Canada at the age of one or so. The other two children were born there.

In Canada.

(?) It looks like he left the oldest daughter in Japan for her to go to school in Tokyo. Tracking the family tree, there is San’yo and Rie. Mikio shows a piece of document to Masumi. This one, a brother right above... Masumi moves the camera around to capture the family tree Mikio is showing her.

Your family line is...

Oh, no. It’s nothing.

Oh, it is something. Masumi moves the camera back to the original position so Mikio is in the center of the screen.

Um, in addition to writing, was there anything else your father used to do in his life before the war, such as sports?

Yes, he played golf. There is something from golf competitions too. So I think he was busy with a lot of activities in various senses. Mikio takes out an attendee list from a zip-lock bag. This is... what do you call it... a member list you just mentioned. He created something like this. Masumi shows the cover of the list in front of the camera.

Stan is standing behind Mikio as Mikio flips through a photo album and describes some of the photos to him. Stan is holding the English version of Uprooted Again: Japanese Canadians Move to Japan After World War II by Tatsuo Kage. What year? 1925 or somewhere?

Mikio points to a photo. There. Masumi and Stan laugh.

He is flanked on both sides with beautiful women.

My mother is sitting here, though. This one is from a different time. This might be a school, a girl’s school or something.

Oh, the photo from your mother’s side.

Higashi Honganji Temple Mikio pulls out a photograph from the album. This is from the golf competition my father played in. This is the 54th Northwest Japanese Golf Tournament. September 2 in the 10th year of Showa. There are many golf courses in Vancouver. It says, 'hosted a Japanese golf tournament.' It was the 10th year of Showa, 5 years before I was born, so it was before he got married.

Stan faces Masumi. Do you have this book? Uprooted Again?

Ahh, no.

There’s a Japanese version that’s older than this.

Ah, okay! Japanese Canadian...

Yes. I forget this guy. Tatsuo Kage. It’s actually, he actually came around 20 years ago. And he interviewed many of these people. Unfortunately it’s very shallow. It’s just a few. But it’s kind of, I just try... I could not get it on Amazon. So my brother went to Nikkei Centre to pick it up. This guy, he’s a friend of mine, actually. When he wrote this he was around 70. Now he’s around 90. But it doesn’t go into depth really. It’s just kind of a real survey thing. But I forget the Japanese title. I haven’t read it yet. But anyways.

I have the Japanese version.

This guy here, I had a little bit of... I used to drink with him too. Tom Mizuguchi. He used to be the head of the Kansai internees. And now he’s also quite old, not very healthy. He was from Stevston. Grew up in Steveston. He’s very, very bitter. He’s very angry still. Yes, he’s talked to me many times. He’s, this Tak guy, Matsuba-san, very happy guy. And he’s got no bad memories of... I’m sure he does but he’s very positive. Anyway, those are the two guys I know.

Mhm. Do you think they can still talk?

Yeah, Tak. I just got an email from Tak a couple days ago. His wife died a few months ago so it’s been really hard for him but now he’s getting better and he’s gonna come to my house in maybe April. So I don’t want to pressure him but I want to ask him if he’s interested in talking. Tom, even Tak, told me he says it’s hard to contact Tom anymore. And Tom becomes very reclusive. And health problems. But I’m gonna try to contact Tom also.

Mikio points to a photograph on the table in front. It’s me.

Where? Oh!

Right here.

Oh interesting!

This is the pearl business after the war. Masumi lifts and moves the camera to capture the photos placed on the table.

Mikio pulls out a photograph. Here’s my father at the camp.

Oh, road camp?

No, no, no.

Slocan.

Slocan.

And so this is the ones that I think maybe are at the... Canada. Video ends with Masumi using her camera to capture more photographs Mikio is sharing with them.