Jean Ikeda-Douglas, interviewed by Heather Read and Elizabeth Fujita, 20 April 2015

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Jean Ikeda-Douglas, interviewed by Heather Read and Elizabeth Fujita, 20 April 2015

Abstract
Jean Ikeda-Douglas was raised in Vancouver before being interned in Slocan and New Denver, and later relocated to Toronto with her family. She discusses living in Kitsilano when her father died young, and that her mother moved the family to Powell Street and worked as a hairdresser, owning Some Beauty Parlour. Jean narrates many wonderful neighbours and individuals in her life: a Chinese Canadian woman who gave her family identity patches so they could go out after dark; the Hiroshita’s, a Japanese Canadian man married to a Caucasian women, who offered to keep furniture in their basement; and the Jewish community in Toronto; and many more. Jean describes a big oak dining room table that had l carved legs and a piano that her mother was forced to sell for next to nothing, as well as the heirloom samurai armour and sword that her mother and family members dumped into the Strait one evening to keep it from being taken. She speaks about her family being one of the last to leave Vancouver because her sister was sick in the hospital and unable to be moved; while they waited in Vancouver and the majority of families were uprooted, Jean describes the mobs of people who came to the Powell Street neighbourhood to steal furniture from the houses, taking all the items and leaving broken glass and other debris behind. Jean narrates how her mother had packed Japanese language readers, and while in Slocan, the RCMP learned about language classes and confiscated the books, burning them in a bonfire the next day. Jean also talks about her great-uncle Archie Ikeda, who was like a grandfather to her family, and one of the first Japanese men in Canada. She speaks about his copper and silver mine in Haida Gwaii, and how a man tried to buy it so that her great-uncle couldn’t provide income to Japanese immigrants; when Archie Ikeda refused, the mine was taken from him and he never received any money for it. However, Jean mentions the strong relationship her grand-uncle had with a Haida chief and the bonds that exist between her family and the Haida people to this day. Jean narrates her wonderful career and her education in veterinary sciences, as well as how she has remained in strong friendships with many of her childhood friends from Vancouver and Toronto. She speaks about why it is important to tell this story, and that she has participated in interviews on the Japanese-Canadian dispossession and internment period before.
This oral history is from an interview conducted by the Oral History cluster of the Landscapes of Injustice project.
00:00:00.000
Jean Ikeda-Douglas (JI)
So you’re the— it’s only Ryerson, so U of T are none of the other, York and so on. . .
Heather Read (HR)
We’re the only Ontario University. Yes, we are the only Ontario University. Simon Fraser University, the University of Victoria, the University of Alberta, the University of Winnipeg. I think there’s one more that I always forget, and then Ryerson, so five. And then there’s—we have museum partners: so, the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre is a partner, the Nikkei National Museum in BC, the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 in Halifax, the Royal BC Museum. = I think those are the major institutional partners. And then there’s also a Community Council of Japanese Canadians including Ken Noma, and a variety of others, it’s like a 10 long list of people.
JI
So it should be a very complete study then. It’s just too bad that Ken Adachi isn’t alive!
HR
We all, when we all come on to the project, we’re given a list of books to read including Ken’s book. So it’s really grounded in past research as well. And we had a meeting in April of the whole project team that got to come to as well. We heard all kinds of interesting presentations. I have a map that I brought to show you that’s of Powell Street from the 1930s. So there’s a team that’s just working on maps, and gathering old maps ,and trying to piece together what old neighbourhoods looked like. There’s a team that’s dealing with the legal cases that were brought up about property. There’s a team as I said that’s tracking land titles, so if you had a house on, you know, 214 Powell Street, what happened to it over the years? And there’s a team that’s looking at Community Records, so trying to trace, gather old copies of the newspapers that were published. And then we’re the Oral History team. And we have a specific focus on four separate research sites. One is the Powell Street neighbourhood. The other is Salt Spring Island, and then Steveston, and then Maple Ridge and Haney. It’s not, it’s kind of exclusively, we also have interviewed people who lived in Tofino and things like that. But it’s to kind of focus on a few different kinds of Japanese Canadian experience. So, fisher, fisherfolk, farmers, more urban setting in Powell Street, and then Gulf Island experience.
JI
Yeah, because that poster that was on the wall Laughs. I said, “Hey, they left out my mother!”
HR
Oh no!
JI
At 437 Powell. And I said, “I hope they’ll fix it up, because it said empty!” And I said, “Oh no, she had a beauty parlour there, and it was busy!” We weren’t there long, but, you know, she was there.
HR
Was that the Nikkei Museum’s map of the Powell Street area?
JI
Yeah, and I just noticed that it was empty so I pointed that out to one of the ladies in there that, “That was our house. We weren’t there long.”
EF
Yeah, the Nikkei National Museum I think was the group that originally put that map together some time ago. But since then there have been a number of people who pointed out a couple odd errors or omissions here and there. They may very well come up with a more updated version.
HR
And it may actually be through our project. The map that I’ll show you a little later has a little bit more detailed in terms of the structures. I know because they are working in partnership with our project, there may be a more complete version of the map that comes out. Just for archiving purposes, for people listening to this, I should say this is Heather Read with Jean Ikeda-Douglas and Elizabeth, uh—I’m blanking on your last name for some reason. Laughs.
EF
That’s okay, that’s okay. Fujita-Kwan.
HR
Right, sorry. Elizabeth laughs. At the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre on August 13, 2015, for the Landscapes of Injustice Project. And now we can continue chatting. Elizabeth laughs. I have to make that statement. We should get your bio done first, so that’s out of the way. Would you mind sharing an address with us so we can mail you a thank you card?
JI
███████
HR
And, you don’t do email? Is that right? Elizabeth and Jean laugh.
JI
One of us doesn’t.
EF
Elizabeth and Heather laugh.
HR
And, when’s your birthday?
JI
June 1st, 1932.
EF
You’re a year younger than my dad.
JI
Is that right?
00:05:29.000
00:05:29.000
HR
Did you have a partner, a husband?
JI
Yes.
HR
And any children?
JI
Four. One male, three, three daughters.
HR
And are you a lucky grandmother to any grandchildren?
JI
I have three grandsons, no granddaughters. We kept saying that the third one had to be a girl. Laughs.
HR
They must keep you busy.
JI
No, I don’t get to see two of them, because they’re in Vancouver, no, in Whistler BC.
HR
That’s too bad.
JI
She went out there to get some experience in seeing BC. Fell in love and never came back.
EF
It’s always the story isn’t it. Everyone laughs.
JI
Where were you born?
HR
I was born at home, at 1527 West 5th Avenue, with a Japanese—what do you call them?
EF
A midwife?
JI
Yeah.
HR
Wow.
JI
I was the afterthought. Everyone laughs.
HR
Did you have lots of brothers and sisters in your family?
JI
I have three older sisters, and they, one above me was six years old, six years older. And my eldest sister was ten years older.
HR
That’s quite an age gap.
JI
And so when I was growing up, they used to tease me and say, “Oh, we found you in a garbage can.” Laughs. “And we felt so sorry for you we brought you home!” Laughs. Yeah.
EF
So cruel.
HR
What else do you remember about your childhood? Your sisters teased you?
JI
Yeah, and you know, I was very, very lucky that my mother kept saying that my father had wanted the last baby to be a son. Laughs. And so I guess I grew up to be a tomboy. Laughs. And he took me everywhere, you know, when I was a baby. You know. He just loved to take me around, and he was very good, I was always from the time I was a baby, always fascinated with animals. And whenever I found an injured animal, I’d bring it home and get my mother to help me, you know, bandage it or dress it up, or clean it up and so on. And then when they were well enough to be, we use to let them go. She used to help me, you know, fix a robin’s broken wing and so on. And I’d go out and dig up earthworms from the Laughs. yard and so on, until they were well enough to fly and so on. And so my dad apparently used to take me to the pet stores all the time, and the owners were very good. They let me watch and touch some of the pets and so on. And so, from the time I was a baby, apparently I just loved animals.
HR
Did your sisters love animals as well, or was it just. . .?
JI
I guess as a pet, it would be nice, you know, to just have pets around. But not the way that I. . . Laughs. My mother used to say, “Be gentle! Be gentle! Don’t love it so much and squeeze it too hard.” And so on. But that was how it was. But it was just unfortunate that when I was three years old, my dad was killed, by a young drunk alcoholic, who went through a red light.
HR
Oh dear.
00:10:02.000
00:10:02.000
JI
And he was killed instantly. And it was just a tragedy. But we were very lucky that our next door neighbour was very supportive. And he was a very rare entity, because he— in those days, people didn’t intermarriage. And he had a wife that was from England. And he was very, you know, he liked hunting and so on. And he had had a hunting accident, and he had, one of his bullets accidentally apparently hit the railway steel, and it, it bounced back and hit his eye. And that, so he was blind in one eye, and had a false eye, you know, replaced. But he was a real gentleman, and he really was very, very, you know, great help to my mother after my father was killed. And, in fact they say, because the three girls were older and getting independent and so on, he said, “You know,” that it was, to have a new, a three year old and you’re trying to work at a beauty salon and as a dressmaker, that they said, “We would love to adopt Jean. And she would be always next door to you.” She says, “And she can come over as often as she wants,” and so on. And they said that, you know, I guess they sensed that it would be economically very helpful to have the youngest one, who’s still running around, and you’re trying to do a hair dressing and dressmaking business, that it would have given her more time to devote herself to her business, and the three older children who were going to, going to you know, school. But she said, “No.” She would love, that was very generous of her, but she said, “No, I’ll somehow manage.” And I do think I spent quite a bit of time over at their house, because it was just next door.
HR
Do you remember their names?
JI
Yes, Mr. Hiroshita. I didn’t know his first name, but she was Alice. And I used to call her Auntie Alice. And, you know, they forever, you know, would say, “Hey, we’re going for a walk, do you want to come?” And so on. And when I was learning to ride a bicycle and so on, he would be the one that would, you know, made sure that it didn’t tip over. He’d run along on the sidewalk with me and so on. So, they were really a godsend.
HR
Yeah, that’s wonderful. It’s very important when you have young children, I think, to have neighbours who are supportive.
JI
Yeah, they were very, very kind.
HR
Where— are you speaking about the 1527 West 5th Avenue then? They were your neighbours in that home?
JI
Yes, yes. And in those days, there were very few Japanese in the so-called Kitsilano area. But we did have the Matsuo family that lived a few blocks north of us, and then there was on the, I guess it would be the west side, the, there were a few Japanese families, and Frank was one of the families. And the Hayakawas, and the Horis. There were a few families that mother always got together with and talked and so on. Tamuras. And so—but they were quite a few blocks over. But my sisters played a lot with all those other Japanese people that were in the area, and Frank was one of them. They all went to high school together at the Kitsilano High School and so on. And so. You know, we still think of them as close friends.
00:15:05.000
00:15:05.000
HR
That’s wonderful after so many years, and at such a great distance from where you grew up. So did you also go to Kitsilano High School? Or probably not actually.
JI
No, no, I was only in, I went to Lord Tennyson, and I was only there a couple years, grade one and two and so on. Kindergarten I went to the Japanese Anglican Church that Reverend Nakayama held. And my mother, I guess, in those days, she’s thinking ahead, and she thought that living in Kitsilano my sisters were all playing and, you know, being friends with mostly Canadians. Which was unusual in those days. But, a mother always thought that as long as they were good friends, that was fine. But then, I guess, she, she was still indoctrinated in the idea that Japanese married Japanese. And so this is why we ended up in Powell Street just before the war. This big piece of property came up, which was the 437 Powell Street. And they decided, she decided that it would be best if she moved to Japantown, so she could, so my sisters could meet Japanese boys. Laughs. And so that’s how we ended up in, in—
JI
Japantown. And I certainly—we were right across from the Powell Grounds. And so when the Asahis were playing, we always sat there and watched and cheered and everything else. And when it wasn’t being used by a baseball team, you know it was just like another playground for us.
HR
When did you move to Powell Street?
JI
Just, it must have been about a year and a half before all the. . . so we weren’t there long. But we had it all fixed up so that the front was the beauty parlour and then the back, we lived in very cramped living quarters, and what they did because it had a very high ceiling, they made a platform. And a ladder, so that when we had, when were going to bed, we slept in this extra space that was made between the floor and the ceiling.
HR
That’s a very creative space solution for a large family.
JI
Yeah, you know, my cousin’s family did the carpentry. They lived in North Vancouver, and they were boat makers. It was the Ishi family. And they, they you know, did all the carpentry, so in those days you just had a little gas stove. And a sink and so on. A little kitchnette, and the bedroom was upstairs. And we all huddled in the bedroom upstairs, which was just a little balcony made from the ceiling.
HR
What did it feel like to move? I know sometimes kids can get really attached to the homes that they start in. Were you excited to move to a new place? Was it sad to leave Kitsilano?
JI
Oh, at 1527, our relatives had made a typical Japanese ofuro we call it. And in those days you just put the firewood underneath and then there was this tin plate, which was the flooring. And then they put little planks on the floor, and the, you really wash up very carefully before you get into the big tub. And there was a spot where you could sit, and so it was very luxurious. And it was big, and you sat up to your chin, sitting on the sides of the interior of the tub. And so we had, we were not accustomed to sharing any washroom. And it was a real shock when we first moved to Powell Street, because nobody seemed to have a washroom.
00:20:31.000
00:20:31.000
JI
And two doors down from us, I think their family name was Hori, but there was a girl that was just our age. So I got friends with her. But until we made friends, we all said, “No, we’re not going to any common bathhouse!” Laughs. And so, here we were, taking our baths in turn, in our galvanized big washtubs where the laundry used to be done, and then I met the daughter of the bathhouse owner. And she was in my class. And she says, “How do you bath?” And we said, “In this galvanized. . .” Laughs. And she says, “How come you don’t come to our house, and use our bathhouse?” And I said, “Oh, we’ve never bathed in public!” And she says, “There’s nothing to it!” And I said, “Oh.” And she says, “Yeah, come!” She says, “You won’t have to pay.” Laughs. She says, “Come and check it out.” So I finally went with her, and it was great, and nobody seemed to care. And so I went home and I said, “Hey, you know, it’s like our old bathhouse in Vancouver, in the Kitsilano house.” And so I said and so she says, “I went free.” And I said, “It’s very nice,” and we sat around and had a good time. And so I said to my sisters, who were older, “Why don’t you come with me and try it out, just to see how it is?” So they finally went. And they said, “Oh, it’s much better than the galvanized tub, taking turns.” And then you have to look after the water, get rid of it and everything. So after that, we all went. And its a good thing that I got accustomed to that, because the same thing when we got moved into the camps! Uh, my sister said, “Oh, you know, this is very public. And I’m not sure that I want to go.” And so, there again, they went into the galvanized tub, and I was the one that had to go and get the water from the lake. Because we didn’t have piping then, water piping. And so I was the one that had to, you know, get the water for drinking, and so on. And being the youngest. And so I used to have this small bucket and make many trips back and forth. But we were in Slocan, and the lake wasn’t too far. But I used to have— that was my job, first thing in the morning, to go out and get fresh water to drink and bring it home. And also make, you know, enough trips to fill the galvanized wash tub.
HR
That must have taken a lot of trips.
JI
Oh yeah. And in the winter it was vicious. The ice would be slippery and the men always cut a nice square hole, but you had to be very careful and dip your thing, and it would take many dips to fill up a bucket and so on. Bring it home, dump it, and then go back again. And that was my job, and that was when I was barely nine years old. But that was my job. Which is quite a contrast.
EF
Pardon me, I’ll just excuse myself for a little bit. I’ll come back up shortly, but I should go check on my students. Elizabeth leaves.
00:24:21.000
00:24:21.000
HR
Going back to life on Powell Street, did you go to school when you were there?
JI
I went for one year to Strathcona. And it was a good thing that there was a girl that lived upstairs and we became very good friends, and she says, “I’ll walk you to your new school,” and we’ve been friends ever since. And its nice that we all ended up, except for the one, the one girl that I met after I came to Toronto, and we were all in high school together at Harbord Collegiate. And Harbord at that time was, I would say, almost 95% Jewish. And the rest were made up of Japanese, Chinese, that happened to be in the area. And I think that Harbord was an excellent collegiate to go to, and I’m very glad that I had the opportunity to, to go to high school there. Because when I first arrived, we were learning algebra and geometry, because I was in grade eleven, going into twelve. And the math teacher was wonderful. And so—but I had a lot of theorems that were numbered differently from BC to Ontario’s.
HR
Oh, that’s tricky.
JI
Yeah, so when the exams were on, it was tricky to, you couldn’t, I couldn’t state it by numbers, because I knew it by the theorems. Laughs. And so it was, it was an adjustment, but I had an excellent teacher I adored at Harbord.
HR
That’s great, it’s important to have good teachers. Did you, did you go to school in Slocan? I know there were some schooling set up.
JI
I missed almost two years because none of the Japanese children were allowed to go to the general public school at the time. And it was because of people like my eldest sister, who had finished high school fortunately, and other ladies and men, who had finished high school or at least had up to grade eleven standard, who said we can’t let our little youngsters grow up un-educated. And they said, “We should petition the government for making us a school. If they just supply the building material.” It’s amazing that everybody pitched in, and the government supplied the building material. And the elder men who were in the camp, because they were too old to go to work camp, they supervised the young men who were 16 and under, and its amazing that between the elderly men and the ones that were 16 and under, they built that whole school.
HR
It’s an amazing building, I’ve seen photos.
JI
Yeah. We just sat on benches, and it was a makeshift table, long tables. With a little plywood on top. Laughs. But at least we, we didn’t go two full years without school. I think it was about a year and a half it took to petition, and then finally they petitioned the government in Victoria that they should at least provide a syllabus of each grade as to what they should be covering. And then these young people who were probably around 17, 18, 19 pitched in and said, “We will make sure that these children go through these lessons.” And so, it was amazing that I was able to make up my year and a half of no schooling. My sister, sort of sat out Laughs. and made sure. And so, I was able to make up the lost time, but I know that I had friends who, who couldn’t do it, because they didn’t have older brothers and sisters that could help them. And so, they fell a year or a year and a half behind, which was, you know, tragic.
00:30:16.000
00:30:16.000
HR
Absolutely.
JI
I remember one of my girlfriends, she lived upstairs of our, of the house that we were housed in, and she cried when she got her report card. But she didn’t have someone like my older sister helping her. And she didn’t pass the, the written exam. And so she had to repeat.
HR
Oh dear.
JI
The year and so on. So she never did make up for her loss. Which was—I remember she cried very hard, and I felt terrible, because we were friends, and she felt she was behind me. Now, sort of thing.
HR
I know that sort of thing is always—it’s very important—but children feel that, kids feel that very strongly.
JI
Mm-hmm.
HR
What did your mum do when you were in Slocan?
JI
This is another story that’s very unusual. When the war had started, and so on, our next door neighbour, who was so wonderful, said, “Look, if you’re having to leave, you better put all your hairdressing supplies and your equipment into our basement.” Because they had a huge house and a huge basement which was, you know, bare. And so, they said, “There’s all kinds of room, so whatever you want to store, that means of value to you, put it in our basement.” And so we had all the boys from the Ishi family come over and move everything, and put as much as they could into the—and it was all boxed into, into big boxes. And so we were very lucky that we could get rid of a lot of the stuff that went into their basement. And when we left they came to see us off, and said, “Don’t worry, no matter how long it takes, your things will not be touched. They’ll be, they’ll stay safe in our basement.” And so, other than big furniture, like we had a lovely big oak dining room table that had lovely carved legs and so on? And we didn’t, it would take up too much room. And so, it was sold at next to nothing, and it, same with the piano. We had a, we had a large upright piano where all my sisters had gone to, gone to music school. And could play the piano. I was just starting and of course, once the piano was gone, I never got the opportunity. But my three sisters had gotten quite advanced in the piano. And it was a shame, but it was sold for next to nothing. But mother said, “It’s better than nothing.”
JI
And so we were one of the lucky ones that, because my sister had gotten double pneumonia and pleurisy and was critical in the hospital. My, you know, my mother was able to get an extension of leaving. And that was why we were one of the last to leave, because the doctor said, “She cannot be moved, because she’s critical, and we don’t even know if we can save her.” Because in those days, they had no antibiotics or anything so, as a result of her being ill, we were one of the last to leave. Which really made a difference.
HR
How did it make a difference?
JI
Well, mother sold what she could of things that we couldn’t store in their basement. And then Pause. things that she couldn’t sell and so on, we had to leave, but most of what she thought was valuable was all stored in their basement. We were very lucky.
00:35:07.000
00:35:07.000
HR
I remember hearing that story from your conference presentation. Can you tell me a little bit more about what you remember about Powell Street after everyone had left? Do you remember watching neighbours move?
JI
Oh yes. That was what induced my mother to say, “Well, we might as well sell what we can’t store in their basement.” Because every morning, as the families were forced out of their house and they locked up their doors, I was just appalled that in the morning we wake up, and we’d open the door and look down the street and there was just a line. The full blocks. For blocks on end, were just filled with cars, trucks, and anything that would pull things behind a car. Trailers. And as soon as the family left and we all said goodbye to them, and they locked up, as soon as the people left, Pause. all these people would come out. And they would just, they had hammers and axes, and they would just crumble the window or the door glass. And put their hands around the Gestures to indicate door handle. and open up the lock. And then the door. And it was just like a crazy mob would run in and you’d see every stick of furniture, or anything that was left in the house. It was a grand melee of people. They stripped the place clean. I was just amazed. As a child, I couldn’t believe that people could do that. And it was sad, because Pause. there used to be always policemen walking around 5 o’clock onwards. They would be there to make sure that nobody that was of Japanese origin could be out after sundown.
HR
The curfew, yes.
JI
There was a curfew. And you’d see these people first thing in the morning, as soon as there wasn’t one policeman visible on the street. While this went on. They seemed to have vanished. And you’d see all the, the things that were left in the house, just stripped in less than an hour, I’m sure. And then as, as everything was cleaned out, the cars would all vanish, and all you’d see is just glass, all along the sidewalk.
HR
What a terrible thing to have to watch.
JI
Yeah, I just used to say, “Mommy, look at what they’re taking!” And she’d say, “Stay back. Stay close.” And because we were there, they didn’t touch our home. But on either side of us and all the way down the block, every block it was the same thing. They were stripped clean. Not a thing was left, because we would tour afterwards, and mother would cry and say, “Oh, look at the bathhouse. The only thing they left was the tub!” Nobody wanted that! Laughs.
HR
It would be a hard thing to take, I guess.
JI
Anything that was movable went out the door. And during that time, my sister was, you know, critical, and she was still doing hair dressing during the day. And the doctor said, “You have to bring something that she will eat. Because she’s not eating the hospital food, and we can hardly get any fluids in her. And she, she won’t survive unless you come and force feed her.” So every night, instead of closing at 5, she started closing the shop at 4, and she would make some gruel, with, soften the rice, and take a few things that she thought she would swallow, and so on. And because I was small, she felt that it would be best that she would not be approached as much, if I was with her. And so we used to, as soon as she had the food ready, she would take me and then she’d tell my sisters, “Stay in the house, keep it locked,” and so on, until we came back. And at that time, some of the conductors were very prejudiced. And so if they saw an Asian looking person standing at the streetcar stop, if there was not a white Caucasian or somebody else standing there to wait for the streetcar, a lot of those conductors would not stop. They’d just go right by.
00:41:24.000
00:41:24.000
HR
Wow.
JI
And so you’d hope that some white person would come, or that one of the conductors would stop for you. And then we’d hurriedly get on while the Caucasian person was getting on, because otherwise some of them would slam the door in your face. And so we, she’d always push me on the streetcar, in a hurry, and then grab the rail and get in when she could. And she’d take me to the hospital, and I’d sit in the corridor waiting, while she force fed my sister. And . . .
HR
Were the doctors and the nurses at the hospital kind? Or was there also prejudice at the hospital?
JI
No, I must say that in the hospital they were very good. They were very concerned. They were trying to help her. And they said, “Look, if she doesn’t start eating and taking in some liquids, she’s going to die.” And so they said, “You’ve got to keep coming.” And finally after several weeks of that, they said, “Okay. This is going to be the critical Friday. If she doesn’t start showing signs and her temperature comes down, then she’s going to. . .” But, he said, “Be prepared, she may not make it if she doesn’t perk up a bit.” And that weekend, fortunately, they said, “Oh!” when we walked in. The nurses all said, “Your sister’s temperature has come down, so we think she’s going to make it.” Which was nice.
HR
That must have been a big relief.
JI
Yeah, it was a big relief. Yeah, so then, it was actually Mr. Hiroshita’s white wife who went to the RCMP and said, “Look, she may be on the mend, she’s made it around the critical spot,” but, they said, “You have to let her stay until the doctors say she’s strong enough to travel.” And that was why we were one of the last families to leave Vancouver. And so this was another blessing. And. . .
HR
Did that family end up having to leave Vancouver as well? Or because it was a mixed marriage, could they stay?
JI
No, she, she went to the RCMP and said, “There’s no way I am going to any war camp.” And she says, “If you try and insist that we pick up and leave,” she says, “I am going to write to England, and protest. Because I will assure you that he is not going to do anything to, to help the Japanese.” So, she says, “Forget it!” You know? The RCMP sort of backed off and said that, “That’s alright. We will make an exception, and we will make you accountable for his security, and that he’s, you know, does nothing to help the enemy sort of thing.” Laughs.
00:45:04.000
00:45:04.000
HR
This sounds like a very spirited lady.
JI
Oh yeah, she was, she was. And so they backed off. And so as far as I know, he was the only Japanese man who was allowed to stay in Vancouver. Everybody else moved inland. The ones who could afford to move and could move beyond the line, that they drew, and so, he was very unique.
HR
Yeah, I’ve heard a similar story of a white man with a Japanese wife who was able to arrange for her to stay in Victoria. But I think cases like that were very rare.
JI
Yeah, very rare. Yes, yes. And so, it really was a blessing that we happened to be living next door, but that we had moved just a year and a half before that happened. And we still had kept in touch all the time. And so, when that happened, he made sure that all the valuables that, and keepsakes that he wanted was all, taken care of, by him. And the only thing that my mother vowed was that she did not want to give up the, the sword that had been in our family. Because we had come originally, way back, from a warlord family of samurai. And so, we had, you know, like armour and a sword that had always been on the wall. And she said there’s no way she was handing that in after all these generations. And so, although, Japanese people were not supposed to be out after dark, one night, my mother and our relatives that lived in North Vancouver, that were the boatmakers, they came over and said, “Okay, we’re going to row out into the Straits.” Where all the big ships would come through. And she threw it overboard.
HR
Oh no!
JI
And so she says, she didn’t want to hand it in to, into the RCMP because she didn’t think she’d ever get it back anyway. And a lot of people who did the handing in did not get it back, so she said she was sorry that after the war that we didn’t have it, but. . .
HR
It seemed like the best thing to do at the time I’m sure. Did anyone from your family, did your Mum or one of your sisters, or you, go back to your neighbours and pick up things that were left?
JI
What happened was after, after we had been living in Slocan for awhile, they came out to visit us. And to see what the conditions were like and so on. And then they realized that a lot of the women were very depressed, and very unhappy because they had been separated from their husbands and their young sons. Any son over 16, they all went to road camps or work camps of some kind, or they were interned. And so, a lot of people were depressed and so on. And so then when the Hiroshita’s came out, they went to the RCMP and said, “Look, you know, these people are so unhappy and depressed,” they said. “Don’t you think it would be a good idea if you let Mrs. Ikeda open up a beauty salon and that might perk up their spirits!” And so they talked the RCMP into allowing my mother to open up a shop. And they said, “Okay, we’ll give you one room.”
00:49:52.000
00:49:52.000
JI
And at that time, my sister, who had survived the double pneumonia and pleurisy had been in a makeshift hospital in Slocan, but it was very inadequate. And what happened was they didn’t consider hygiene or sanitation and everything. They placed her with her low, low immune system, right next to a woman who was highly tuberculous. And spitting up blood and sputum and so on. Loaded with bacteria. And she ended up contracting TB. They were not sanitizing the things, so that I think a lot of people got infected in the hospital. Because they were all low immunity patients. And they are all in one room, clustered. And so she ended up getting TB, and spent the whole time in the, in the hospital, in the Sanatorium. And we ended up in New Denver, moved from Slocan to New Denver, where they had built a Sanatorium for all these tuberculous patients. And it was unfortunate, because in those days, they didn’t have antibiotics, and then when they first got the antibiotics—streptomycin came along. But they didn’t know what the proper dosage should be for, for younger people, and by weight and so on. So, she got overdosed and on streptomycin and so on. I guess it did help her to some extent, but she, she lost a lot of her hearing. It affected her hearing. And eventually she had to have a lobectomy and so on. But at least, she was in the sanitarium. But it was unfortunate.
HR
Your Mum must have been quite worried about that sister.
JI
Oh yeah, and at that time, it was the time when all the Japanese Canadians were given a choice of going back to Japan or remaining in Canada. Mother said there’s no way we’re going back to Japan, because they don’t have enough to eat, and things are so bad. She said, “We would just be an added burden.” So she said, “There’s no way we’re going back to Japan.” Which was a good thing, because a lot of people regretted what they did, by going back. And some of the children said “Thank heavens!” they were able to find their way back to Canada later on.
HR
How long had your Mum’s family been in Canada? Do you know how many generations your mother’s family had been here?
HR
No, she was the first.
JI
She was Issei, okay.
HR
But of course, my grand uncle who’s the one that’s written up in, in Adachi’s book, they were the first to come in. And actually my dad and the grand uncle, they were the ones that were, the ones who opened up Canada, by. . .
JI
Like, the very first?
HR
My grand uncle, he was the one, he was the second person to arrive in Canada. And he was asked by the government of Japan to help bring over because at that time, I think there was an over population and they wanted to have young men come out, so it would relieve the over population. And so, my uncle, grand uncle, he, opened up, the Ikeda Silver Mine and Copper Mine, which he had found in the Queen Charlotte Islands. And its still there. But that’s another funny story.
00:54:50.000
00:54:50.000
JI
Because once he got the silver mine and copper mine working, and they were all being, worked on by all the Japanese men that came over, and it ended up that, one day, someone who was a relative of the, of the royal family had come over. Just to explore and see what Canada was like. And he heard about the Ikeda Silver Mine. And so, and Copper Mine, and so he came over, and looked at it and thought, “Hey, you know, here’s this fellow, mining all this copper and silver. And most of that is going back to Japan.” So he thought, that’s not right. And so he said, he offered, in those days, if you could believe, that he would buy the copper and silver mine off of him, and I think the offer was something like a million dollars. In those days!
HR
Wow, that’s a lot of money!
JI
Yeah for some unknown reason, granduncle said no, you know? It, he had it running well. And it was giving the Japanese young men to come out and make a living, and so on. And so he turned him down. And the fellow was so annoyed he went back to England. Went to the Parliament and said, “Listen, here’s this foreigner, mining silver and copper out of the, out of the raw resources in Canada,” and he was sure that most of the things were going back to Japan. So he said “That’s crazy. You should make sure that no, you know, no white person, other than a white person, should be taking resources out of the country.” And so then, it was taken away. They took away the license. And he never got a cent. For what was up and running.
HR
Wow.
JI
And it’s still being mined today. That mine is still there. And as a result of his being, you know, up in that area, he became close to the Haida Indian chief, who really became very fond of him. And named, nicknamed him Archie. And the first winter that he was there, he had his Haida women make him a complete winter garments, boots, everything, and they said, “Look, to survive in Canada, you must learn to use a snowshoe.” They made him a snowshoe, taught him how to use it. They supplied him with a gun, and taught him how to shoot, because he had been a medical student when he was back in Japan. And he wanted to see the world. And so he had given up studying and came to, ended up in Canada. He went up to the—to Alaska, when the gold rush was on. And so, you know, that they, the chief really loved him. And taught him how to survive. How to shoot the ducks and the geese and so on. And taught him how to survive. And that Haida Indian was so good to him. And helped him survive. And he was very grateful. And they were very, he treated him like a son. Which was very, you know, nice of this chief. And to this day, if any of the relatives, or descendants go up there, they are warmly welcomed, because there are many chiefs that have gone by, but the minute you say Archie Ikeda, that’s like a welcome passport, to their whole facility. Where they live. Which is something. But, we always sort of, we always called him Jii-chan, which is a grandfather. Because we didn’t have grandpa, so he was always a grandfather to us. And he used to tell us all kind of stories when we were small. And we said, “Oh, that’s grandpa’s folly!” Laughs. But, I think he had the whole legislation in Canada made out so that nobody who was not English could take any resources. So, if you were not of English origin, you could not take any resources from the land. Which, you know, I can see their point of view.
HR
He’s an important piece of, of history.
01:00:52.000
01:00:52.000
HR
If he changed everything, yeah. What an amazing story. So, when, did he, was in interned with you? Or did he pass on?
JI
Oh yeah, he went into the internment camp, and he died in New Denver. And his wife passed away a few years afterwards. Yeah, but his, I guess it would be his granddaughter is still alive, who’s, more like, six years above me, I think. And, she married a Trinidadian, who she met—she was taking social work and he was studying the ministry at the University of Toronto. And they met and they ended up marrying. And I can remember her mother was quite concerned as to how the rest of the family would take it. But you know, times had changed, and so! But they went back to Jamaica, and, he was, had pastoral care of three dioceses in Jamaica for a few years. And then he moved back into Trinidad. And in Trinidad, he and, because she was a social worker, she really looked after a lot of the people who were really living under severe poverty. And so, together, they made a great team. And he was a great orator. And he was finally named Bishop of Trinidad and Tobago and the whole West Indian island of Trinidad and Tobago went crazy. They were so pleased that he was the first native born Black who was made a bishop. And they all, were, you know, so happy. That it made history. He has, he and she have met all these people from Africa and so on. Mandela, and you know all these people came over to Trinidad and everything, which was lovely. So, you know. They made history. And her family, her boys have done very well in Trinidad.
HR
You’ve got an amazingly interesting family, Jean.
JI
Yeah. Her son is in the process, he’s graduated in engineering. And he’s, he’s redoing and building and extending the University of Trinidad. Which is a big project.
HR
That’s a very big project, yeah.
JI
So, we’re very pleased for him.
HR
So, let’s go back to you. What did you do after the camp? You said you went to Harbord Collegiate. What did you do after Harbord Collegiate?
01:04:46.000
01:04:46.000
JI
After Harbord Collegiate, I wanted to study veterinary medicine. And so, I went to apply for the veterinary school. I had no idea that, you know, there was such a lot of competition to get into the veterinary school. And they said, “Oh my dear.” They said, “All of the people who wanted to get in,” in 1951 when I graduated from Harbord Collegiate, they said, “You should’ve, you know, applied, like way back.” Laughs. So they said, “We certainly can’t take you on, because we’ve already filled up the class and everything.” So, they said, “If you want to try for the next semester, year, they said we can fill out a” Pauses. “sheet, and you’ll have to take your chances, and send all your resume and so on.” And so, that’s what I did. And in the meantime, I worked part time, and then I took some extra courses to fill in that year. And then, the funny thing was that they said, “What are your farm experiences?” Laughs. And of course, during the war, because they were very short of pickers and so on, that they used to come to the camp and say, “Okay, all you 13 year old’s, we want people who are willing to go to these different farms, and help fruit picking.” And so, when I was 12, I, at that time, I was sort of taller than average. And so, though I was 12, they took me because I looked Laughs. and so I went to pick, bing cherries in Kaslo, which was another internment camp. And I, for two summers, I did that. And as soon as the bing cherries were finished—and they used to let us out of school a few weeks early, because that’s when the cherries had to be picked. And then after that, they needed pickers in the Okanagan. And so, a girlfriend of mine who was a bit older than I was, she says, “My uncle has a tomato farm, out in the Okanagan. And its just outside of Kelowna.” And so she said, “If you want to go, we can go there and help out.” And so, my mother said, “Oh, well, if you go with her” —and she’s a little older than I was— so she said, “Then her uncle was farming there.” So she said, “You can go.” So, the next few years, I spent going out to the Okanagan, and first, we picked peaches, because they come in early. And oh, the first three weeks! We both cried, just about every night! Because they’d give you these huge aluminum baskets, with these canvas Pause. straps.
HR
Straps.
JI
Straps, yeah. It used to just, you know, get red and raw. And it was so heavy, those buckets. And we’d be moving around these ladders and so on, and picking them as fast as we could. And I mean, it was paying peanuts, but we did it anyway. And the first three weeks where we were red and raw, and we were so glad to be able to soak in the tub afterwards. But I did that several summers. And after the peaches were over, then we picked tomatoes and oh, these would be long, long rows of tomato. And at the end of the day, all the boxes that you had picked you were expected to take it down to the end of the road where the truck would come to pick them up. And you’d have to stack them. And that was heavy work.
01:10:10.000
01:10:10.000
HR
Yeah, that’s a lot to expect from 13, 14 and 15 year olds.
JI
Yeah, so, but I did it.
HR
You must have been very strong by the end.
JI
Oh, we really were. You got paid by the boxes. And it wasn’t very much. Laughs. But it was money. And so I did that, for several summers, until I was 16. And we were there, you see, longer than the normal—the war had ended in ’45, and we were there til ’48, because my sister was in the sanitarium. And my mother was told that she and I could leave. My two sisters had left earlier, because they were past the age where you could stay. And we were very lucky that the Anglican Church missionary said to my mother, “Don’t worry, we will make sure that they get housing and everything, until they get on their feet.” And fortunately, my oldest sister had finished hairdressing school also, and she was licensed. And so she came to Toronto, and she sat her exam in Toronto. And passed. So she went to work for a hairdressing shop, and then she called my next sister when she came of age, to go and she put her in hairdressing school. With what she was earning. And so she also graduated from hairdressing school. And then my mother said, “One of these days, when Lil gets well enough to, to travel, then,” she said, “we’d like the whole family to reunite in Toronto. So,” she said, “as soon as you think that the two of you can find a suitable place and find a shop that we can, work in,” she said, “let me know.” Because of the Hiroshitas, we were allowed to bring in the hairdressing supply from her place, from her basement to our house. And then my mother had opened up a beauty shop in, in Slocan. And all the women and the RCMP had to admit to them that, “Yes, that was a good idea.” Because the ladies were much happier as a result of that. And in those days, there was not money, and most of the people that were there had large families, and they were getting food coupons. And so they say, “Oh, our kids don’t need all the butter coupons, or the sugar coupons and so on, or the meat coupon.” And so no money changed hands, but there was always barter in food stamps. So we never went short on—
HR
Yeah, you ate well in camp! Laughs.
JI
And the people were happy. And that’s what counted I guess. And so, once my sisters got established, they found this drugstore right at Dundas and Palmerston. On the southwest corner. And this pharmacist had a, had an apartment upstairs. And he said, “Sure, if you want to give up your living room space to open up a shop,” that he would allow it. And so my sister got, you know, people to come in and put up the shampoo basins, and all of these things. And then my mother shipped out all the equipment that we had stored in Hiroshita’s basement. And then she bought, they bought what they could out of their savings and started up a little shop there. And it was amazing, you know.
01:15:02.000
01:15:02.000
JI
They, all the neighbourhood there was Jewish. And they were the ones that came. They were very happy with my two sisters hairdressing, and so they started, you know, being able to put aside some money to help us come out eventually. And there was a Pause. a shop that sold a lot of the Jewish food, right almost across the street. And they got to know us, and my sisters made it a habit that with the tips that they made, that every, every Friday evening, or Saturday evening, we would treat ourselves with a, the Jewish goodies that we loved. We loved pastrami sandwiches. And the fellow there, the owner, he got to know us well. And so whenever I walked in, he knew exactly what we wanted. And he would really put so much pastrami meat into the sandwiches. The other customers didn’t get that kind of treatment. He always made sure that he gave me the best pastrami sandwiches. And that was our treat on Friday or Saturday night out of the tip money that they got from the hairdressing.
HR
Laughs. Do you remember the name of the owner of that store?
JI
You know, it’s, I think it’s something like. Pause. Maybe it was Redpants? Something like that. Anyway, he was, he was always, treated us so well.
HR
When you were talking about life in Vancouver, it seemed very racially charged. When you moved to Toronto, did you experience racism?
JI
Oh yes. For recreation, we used to play a lot of tennis and badminton among our friends. And we used to go across to the Centre Island and so on, to swim. In those days, we could swim around the islands, and so Pause. the Japanese girl who lived with us, on Powell Street upstairs that said, “Oh, I’ll take you to school,” the first day of my school at Strathcona, we’ve been life-long friends ever since. And she lives in the West End of Toronto. And she married one of the Hayakawas, that uh, you know, was in the camp, Kitsilano area. And so we’ve remained friends ever since. And we still get together a few times a year, at a special occasions and so on. And so we say we’re life long friends. We used to call ourselves, when we were going to Harbord Collegiate, we used to call ourselves the Four Musketeers. And three of us were Japanese, and one, Helen, was Finnish, and she was, I don’t know whether it’s Ukrainian, or Pauses. but anyway, she was always one of the four. And so we called ourselves the Four Musketeers. And we still get along, and all the husbands get along, which is nice. So, it’s been great.
HR
Did you, I’m curious to know, did you ever end up going to veterinary school?
JI
Yes, I got in that following year. And it was really funny because, you were supposed to have farming experience, and most of the students, I found out after I got in, that they all grew up on farms, and they all, a lot of them, had gone to 4H clubs and so on. And I didn’t have any of that experience at all. Of course, all my life, I looked after our own pets, and anything that was injured that came along. But I didn’t have any farm experience.
01:20:06.000
01:20:06.000
JI
But before I went to university, every summer, three of us who were, you know, Japanese— Helen was not— we all went berry picking in the summertime. We’d work on a strawberry farm, and different things. And, we, it just so happened that two of us ended up working in this, no it was three of us I guess— Helen didn’t go. But the three of us who were Japanese went to do some strawberry picking every summer for this farmer who had a huge strawberry farm. And, I didn’t know that he had married, the fellow who was, who was a veterinarian working at the University of Guelph, at the veterinary school, his wife was the daughter on the farm that we. . .
HR
Ah.
JI
And it was just, when they said you need farm experience, I didn’t know who to go to. So, I asked him, her, if her husband could give me a reference. And he was really nice. He never said that it wasn’t an animal farm. It was a strawberry farm. Heather But it was put down as farm experience. Laughs.
HR
You snuck into veterinary school!
JI
Laugh. It was really funny.
HR
That’s wonderful to have people looking out for you like that.
JI
Yeah, and I, I didn’t know that he was even a professor at the, at the university. But he put in a good word for me that I was the hard worker. And I guess they never questioned that. But when I met him at the university, he winked at me and said, “Oh, you’re the girl!” Both laugh. “That needed the farm experience!” It was really funny.
HR
Yeah, that’s a great story. So, did you end up becoming a veterinarian then, as a career?
JI
Yeah, there were 8 of us, that started out in 1952. And, actually, there was one girl from high school, and another girl from high school, that had applied along with myself. And then Suzanne Morrow, who used to be the former figure skater, she was the champion senior figure skater, and had won at the World’s and so on. She joined our class. And then there were a few people that had taken the first year of veterinary college, and didn’t make it. And so, they were repeating, and so there were three repeaters, and then there were three of us. Oh, four of us, that were from high school. And after the first year, it ended up that there were only the three, uh—Susanne Morrow who was the figure skater, myself, and Carol. And the rest, didn’t make it. And so then, they ended up, the ones that had failed the year before, they—
HR
They were done.
JI
They were done. And so, the one girl, Carol, was allowed to repeat first year, and then end up one year behind us, but in the end, it turned out that Susanne Morrow and myself were the only ones that finished. The rest, by the second year, in those days there was a lot of discrimination, so they were hard on the women. You had to have top marks. Or you didn’t stay in. So, it ended up that just Suzy and myself went through, together. And we were the two females that graduated in ’57. Because that was the year that they changed from a four year, to a five year course.
01:25:33.000
01:25:33.000
HR
Well congratulations for making it all the way through then, if it was that challenging, that’s wonderful.
JI
Well thank you. Laughs. And Carol, who started off with us in first year, she ended up graduating a year behind us. She repeated first year, but she was fine. And both Suzy and Carol ended up marrying veterinarians. And, I kept in touch with them all the way through, and it was very sad that Suzy passed away with cancer at an early age. So that it was really tough.
HR
Yeah, that is sad when that happens.
JI
Yeah.
HR
What sort of veterinary practice did you do?
JI
You know it’s a funny thing that when I graduated and I was so lucky that in first year, as soon as I went into the classroom and so on, one of the professors, knowing that financially I could use some help, he offered me a job in, in microbiology. There was a diagnostic lab at the school, and so I grabbed the opportunity, and he had a very good lab technician, and she was wonderful. Her name was Angel. And she was an angel. And she, you know, taught me everything. And he was very, very good. And he was working on his PhD, from the University of Wisconsin. And he was working on a pig disease called erysipelas. And so he said that he wanted me to help in the diagnostic lab, and then in the summertime, I did full time work for him. And we worked on a vaccine for protecting these pigs that would get this erysipelas. And we made this vaccine, which was proven to be very effective. And so then he offered it up to the university to sell it to one of the big pharmaceutical companies, and that’s what, they took over the, the batch that we had worked on. And then developed it, and so now that disease is practically eradicated. And so it was nice. It was a great experience. And as a result, of course, microbiology didn’t come in ‘til third year. And from first year, I was doing everything, and making vaccines for papillomas and all kinds of things. And so, when I graduated, I was offered a fellowship at the University of Toronto to work in the division of Public Health. And I, I was the only Canadian veterinarian that was given this course. And they had veterinarians from, sent out from all over the world that came to take that same course. And so it was a great experience, meeting people from all over the world that work for places like Pan Am, and, you know, the different countries. On a veterinary diseases and so on. And so it was a very, very good experience.
01:30:02.000
01:30:02.000
JI
And so when I finished that, I was asked to work at the Ontario Department of Health, in the Laboratory. Right on highway—Islington and 401. And I took over the bacteriology department and managed that. Just before that, of course, we worked in a very small public health lab. It used to be on Christie Pitts, in a basement. It was very small. But when we went over to Islington, it was a beautiful brand new building. And I worked there for, for many years. I think a lot of the medical doctors would have died if they’d have known that they were getting advice and results from a veterinarian! Both laughs. We never. And it was so funny, because the one year, we used to have this one MOH that looked after an Indian reservation up North. And he used to send us the most interesting specimens, but it was usually the hunters who’d go out and you know, they’d have bad accidents, and they’d get clostridial infections and things like that. And whenever we got an interesting sample, and one year they had a diphtheria outbreak, and I said, “What’s going on?” Laughs. And then I said, “How come all these children, if they’ve been immunized, you know, they shouldn’t be coming down with diphtheria! Because,” I said, “that’s an old disease!” And it was amazing, you know. It turned out that they hadn’t, a lot of the children in the Indian reservations were not being immunized. And so we said, “Oh, we’ve got to get them immunized.” So, I’d be phoning the Department of Health in Ottawa, and getting vaccines sent out, and so on, and getting them off and we never had any problems after that. And sometimes you know in the hospitals, after surgery, they’d have infections. And we’d pick up, you know, very interesting samples. And it was a very interesting. So I worked there for you know, over ten years. And then I decided that if I didn’t stay home and have a chance to at least spend the first year with, I said, “This is going to be the last baby we have,” so I took time off. And I stayed home, after I retired from the Department of Health. And it was nice to spend time with the last one. And then when she got to high school, I said, “Well, you know I think I’d like to go back.” And so I was wondering what I should do, and I saw this ad at the University of Toronto, saying that they needed a veterinarian to help look after all the research animals. And so, I applied, and then I got the job. And it was very interesting, because all the different research that was going on at the university, that needed animals, that was my, my, function. And then it turned out that when any research experiments were being held at all the different hospitals in Toronto, I had to go over and make sure that everything was being done, you know, according to the humane parameters, and so it was very busy. Because I ended up looking after Wellesley Hospital, Toronto General, Toronto Western Hospital, and Wellesley, and Women’s College, and St. Michael’s, plus whatever needed to be done at the university. And I looked after the Dental Faculty.
HR
Woo, you were a busy person!
01:35:07.000
01:35:07.000
JI
Yeah, it was crazy. And so, it was very challenging, but it was very interesting, because it ended up one time I’d be involved with testing a drug for a pharmaceutical company for cancer research, and another time it’d be for producing some vaccine for some health problems and so on. So I really enjoyed it. Every day was a new challenge. It was crazy busy. Because on the campus they had physiology labs that the pharmaceutical students had to go through, and I’d have to sit in on those. And all the graduate students who were going to be working on a Master’s or a PhD, who were doing research, animal research, we had to make sure that they had an introductory course on surgery. So we give them a very basic surgical skills course. And things like that.
HR
Yeah, I know it’s wonderful about my job that it keeps me thinking. Sometimes I get to speak with people, sometimes I get to do some computer archiving, sometimes I get to interact with museums. It’s nice to have jobs where you get to do different things, for sure.
JI
So, the only hospital which I didn’t have to go, except when the veterinarian went on holiday was Sick Children’s. Because they, I guess, have more money for research and everything. And so it was only when the veterinarian had to take vacation that I went in there to help out. But that was the only hospital that I wasn’t fully responsible for all the research that was going on, at all the hospitals.
HR
I’m curious, changing gears slightly. You mentioned your children. Did you ever speak with your children about what happened during the war? About internment and the uprooting?
JI
You know, it’s a funny thing that we’ve talked about it a little bit. My one son, that I have, he, while he was in high school, he was asked to write something. So, he did a little write up, but other than that, the other— you know, we’ve talked a little bit, and they’d say, “Oh yeah, that was back in the old days.”
HR
So, they’re not really, they haven’t really been interested?
JI
They, they’re Pause. they feel that you know they don’t want to hear all that bad things, you know? They’d rather not get wavered, I guess. They really don’t know how, how it was very, very hard. It was, it really made you grow up in a hurry. And I think that we tend to Laughs. you know, try and make, make it so that they don’t get too, too upset over what happened. Pause. I don’t know. I guess they’d rather not believe, at some of the things, of the hardships that went on and so on.
HR
That would be hard to hear about, for sure. Do you talk about it with your husband?
JI
Pardon?
HR
Did you talk about it with your husband?
01:39:34.000
01:39:34.000
JI
Yeah, he knows, but, he comes from the West Indies where life is not that easy. And he has, certainly he had to put up with discrimination, too. So he’d know what it’s like. And I think that, sometimes when we meet people, you know they are not very comfortable about things like that. It’s unfortunate. And yet, when we’ve been travelling, we have had complete strangers come up to us and say, “Oh, you’re a unique couple!” And they’re quite interested, and they all, often say, “Oh, you know, how have you made out?” So, we have talked to strangers, when we’ve been on travels, and had quite, quite an interesting chat with some of the couples. They have come up and said to us, “Oh, we’re odd couples too!” Laughs.
HR
How did you and your husband meet?
JI
He was, he had come up from Dominiqua, to study agriculture. And he was actually working in the pig pen. He used to do part time job, to help with the tuition that you needed in those days. It was a good thing that the tuition was much much lower than it is now, which is just astronomical.
HR
Yes.
JI
I’m glad that, I went through that era. And now, you see the veterinary college, the ratio has completely reversed itself. There were two of us in the class, and now I’m the only female left in the class. And all the rest were men, eh? And now, you go to a conference, and its 90%, or 85% female. And, you know, the boys are really in the minority. I’m just, you know, amazed, that some of the women have gone into actual large animal practice or herd health. But a lot of them there have gone into research and to other things. But the small animal clinics are all been taken over by females. So its a great change. It’s a complete reversal. Because I’m sure that some of those professors that we had, that were very prejudiced and were quite outspoken in saying, “Oh you know, I’m out here to, to fail you if I possibly can get rid of you,” sort of thing. And you know professors nowadays wouldn’t dare say something like that.
HR
No, they would get a lawsuit probably if they said that.
JI
That was the era.
HR
It’s interesting to hear that it was in veterinary school, too. I’ve heard similar stories from med-ical stories of human doctors of a similar gender bias that used to exist in the. . .
JI
Oh yes, I’ve heard some bizarre stories about what used to happen in the anatomy classes in medical school. The first female, she was single female, first single female at U of T. And I know what a rough time she had. Elizabeth re-enters the room.
HR
I just want to do a time check that we have Elizabeth here.
EF
Well the building is fine, I just thought I would come up and say a hello. Let me time check here. I should probably tumble out because I have to lock up a few things downstairs. Elizabeth and Heather talk about timing and scheduling.
01:44:43.000
01:44:43.000
JI
Do you want to see the map before you go?
EF
Yeah, I’d be curious if I could. If that’s alright?
JI
This will take us back to Powell Street for a little bit. We’ve been talking for quite a while. You’re a wonderful storyteller, Jean. Sound of map coming out of tube.
HR
Well, I don’t know if any of it is helpful. Is the sort of thing that you expected to hear.
JI
It’s all wonderful. There’s no real expectation. Whatever, whatever. . .
HR
Nihonmachi Reading map., 1930.
EF
Oh wow, this is definitely more detailed than anything I’ve come across. It’s fantastic.
HR
It’s a fire insurance map. So it has all sorts of buildings and a lot of detail.
EF
Are you familiar with where your house might have been, Jean?
JI
I’m just looking for Powell Street!
EF
I think it’s. . .
JI
It’s right here. Discussion as Jean looks at map. Is that the one that was called the Powell Grounds?
HR
I think so.
EF
What was your house number again Jean?
JI
So here it is. Right here. That’s where we were. 437.
HR
437, wow. Long pause.
JI
And finally after the war, I did go back once, to Vancouver. And went there, and it was still empty. I was amazed. Because that was Dr. Huchita’s building. And he had his office upstairs, and my mother was on the main floor.
HR
So there was the barber, er, the hairdressing shop there.
JI
Yeah, and I think it’s, this one must have been the 433, that must have been the bath house. Laughs. That was probably the bath house. That we went to.
HR
She told a wonderful story earlier about a communal bath.
EF
Oh, I think I was around for that one.
HR
Do you remember anything else about the block? It says there was a barber over here?
JI
Mmm-hmm. And there, the daughter who was the man who did repairs on shoes and so on, Osawa, and his wife was a tuberculous, and she had a lot, quite a few children, but they all practically died. And there were three of them, I think it was three of them left. Grace, who spent, you know, the war, a war years with me, in the New Denver camp. We shared one house, and she had the other half with her father and her brother. He ended up also dying of TB, but only Grace and her older sister survived. And, she’s, the older sister’s gone now. And just Grace is left. And we became like sisters because we shared the same house and everything. And her father, was alone. He used to be the shoe, shoe repairman. And so we, we were like sisters, and we lived next door, you know in the same house. And we still keep in touch. And so on. She ended up back in Vancouver, because the weather is much better there. And so, her husband was the, was an MD. And he passed away. And they retired outside of Vancouver, and then when he retired, that was a lovely home. And she moved into a senior home in Vancouver. So the last time I went to Vancouver, I had dinner with her and so on. And then when she comes here, we usually get together, at least once for dinner. She was here just recently, because her grandchild got married. Yeah, so. Her two boys have done very well.
HR
That’s wonderful that you keep in touch with so many old friends.
01:49:53.000
01:49:53.000
JI
Yeah.
HR
I was curious, you mentioned you went to the Japanese Anglican Church, is this where you would have gone, or was it somewhere else in Vancouver? Gestures to map.
JI
No, when I was in Kitsilano, I went to the one in Kitsilano. That’s where Reverend Nakayama was. And actually, the lady that was Chinese who was so kind, and was helpful, they used to have a grocery store, on the other side of the Powell Grounds.
EF
Would it have been opposite yourself? Or kitty corner?
JI
It would have been on one of the streets opposite, so it would probably—what street would this be?
HR
This is Cordova there.
JI
Yeah, it’s probably on Cordova. They had a grocery store. And she had nine children. And she was the one that was wonderful because, you know Chinese and Japanese did not really mix that much. But she was one that my mother brought groceries from her, because they had very nice fresh vegetables and everything. And, so she used to bring all her children over for a haircut. And my mother, you know, wouldn’t charge her. And as a result, when they had grocery, fresh vegetables that were not selling out, she’d, you know, be very good to my mother. And so it worked out very well. And when the war broke out and when the, we were told that after sundown you couldn’t be out. She was the one that because the Chinese were so upset that the, a lot of the conductors could not tell the difference between Chinese and Japanese, so they petitioned the government, and said, “We are being ostracized. And so we want something done about it.” And the BC government made a big thing. It was about that big Gesturing to her lapel area, spreading her fingers about two inches wide A badge. And it has the flag behind, and there was Sunyat Suns figure up to here, on this badge. And that was supposed to be worn, and they gave it out to every Chinese citizen in Vancouver. So that they will put it on their coat, lapel or whatever you were wearing, so that the conductors when they came to the streetcar stop they would know that it’s Chinese and not Japanese. And so, she says, “My children are not supposed to be out.” You know they were like this Gestures to indicate very young children. She says, “Our younger ones are never out after sundown anyway. So we have so many of these badges.” She says, “You need two badges. One for yourself and one for your little daughter. And you can go to the hospital and not be getting into trouble.” And so, she gave us two of these badges. And that’s how we learned that we didn’t have to duck into the people’s front door place and stand there, in the shadows. And be real quiet while the policeman walked by. He wouldn’t stop if he didn’t notice us. And that’s how we used to go after 5 o’clock, to, to the hospital, to visit my sister. And my mother would force feed her while I sat in the hallway. And then I would come home, and no one would ever bother us, because we had those badges. And so that’s another very unusual happening. Because she was really very, very helpful. You know. And she was very good to mother. And mother, it was a mutual sort of thing. She’d, she’d cut their hair. All the time. 9 kids would all come traipsing in.
HR
You’ve told a lot of stories of wonderful kind neighbours that you’ve encountered. Which is wonderful.
01:54:52.000
01:54:52.000
JI
We never felt, you know, any antipathy to anybody. We had, you know, friends, of many different nationalities. Even when we were in Kitsilano, because it was mostly white. But I must say that after my father was killed, these ladies who came to the shop, they all knew about what happened to my dad. And they’d be very good, when they found out my mother could really sew, they’d bring these pictures in. “Can you make this dress for me?” And my mother would always say yes, because she, as soon as she saw the picture, she could always reproduce it. And so she would make all of these dresses, and they'd be so happy. And they’d always say, “Oh, I saw this remnant, and I know there’s enough material there, to cut a dress for your daughters.” And they’d bring in these remnant sales that they’d pick up. So, she says, she was always able to dress us very well, because of these wealthy ladies who knew why my dad got killed. Which was very kind.
HR
That is very kind.
JI
I had to be one of the best dressed on the block.
EF
Oh yeah, I uh⁠—
HR
You're welcome to stay.
EF
I could easily get caught up in this story Everyone laughs. So, yeah I should go lock up things down there. . . Yeah definitely take your time, don't worry about the room when you leave just license it. But yeah otherwise I'm sure I'll be in touch with the both of you.
HR
Yeah definitely. . .
JI
Well I hope that when they redo this Referring to the map. they'll fix that one up. Everyone laughs.
HR
We'll let them know.
EF
Yeah.
JI
I certainly pointed it out to the lady downstairs when I saw her, that was it. And I'm sure that this, you know, one of these things had to be the, the. . .
HR
Bathhouse?
JI
Yeah the bath.
HR
Did your Mum’s shop have a name?
JI
Yeah, it was the Sun Beauty Parlour.
EF
Well, I’m sure I’ll be in touch with you again soon Jean. But I will have to leave you here today.
JI
Okay. Yup. Thanks very much.
EF
We’ll see you soon!
JI
Really interesting.
HR
Yeah, its a good map.
JI
But you see, you know, we had no idea that this war would start, and my mother had, you know, just had that whole place made up. It was very busy, and she was very happy. And then, after Pearl Harbor, it was a disaster.
HR
Do you remember the day of Pearl Harbor?
JI
No, not exactly. But all I can remember is that it was on the radio, and my sisters were saying, “Oh my god. What have they done to us?” You know, because they were old enough to realize what would, the anger. And I don’t blame them. Because, I, as a Canadian, I would, you know, now that I’ve grown up, I said that was crazy! But it’s just one of those things.
HR
That wartime brings out.
JI
But I think that the emperor was not a very strong emperor, and I think it was his warlords that were very aggressive and so on. And they seemed to probably run the show as far as they were concerned. Which, you know, was wrong. What can you do? That’s history.
HR
That is history. Pauses. Was it primarily Japanese Canadians around where you lived? There was the Chinese Canadian family.
02:00:00.000
02:00:00.000
JI
Oh. There was some Chinese in here, but not very many. But she was a very lovely lady, and she, she and my mother hit it off. And the husband was, you know, very easy going, and it just, you know was one of those things, where she was very very helpful. Very kind. Because it was a risk to be out after sundown. But, you know. Pause. I know that I used to love going to the, to the library. It wasn’t very far. I could walk it and I was a great reader in those days. And the librarian, she would say, “Are you sure you read all those books?” I think you were allowed a maximum of maybe 5 or 6 books. She doubted whether I had read all the books, and I always made sure that I, I just loved reading. So I always made sure that I was reading. And then she’d open up a book and take out a part and say, “Yeah, what about this story?”
HR
She was testing you!
JI
She’d quiz me. And she would say, “Oh,” you know. And she was very helpful, that librarian. She’d say, “I know what book you’ll enjoy.” She used to help pick out books for me. She was very nice, this lady. But I used to really love reading in those days. And I, you know, I’m glad that that there were people who could tell me what to read. I think I went through all these books that talked about all the different nationalities and their customs and so on. Which was great.
HR
Yeah, I mean, to get through veterinary school, you’d have to be a very dedicated student. For sure. So I’m sure that started early with your love of reading.
JI
Yeah, and I was just lucky that I had a mother who was very supportive, so whenever I brought an injured animal home, she helped me. You know, clean up the wounds, or you know whatever. And helped tape them up, or whatever that was required. She was always very cooperative. Yeah, I was lucky. Very lucky.
HR
Did you ever learn to speak Japanese? Other people I’ve spoken to said they went to the language school?
JI
Now, all my sisters, except the one that was just above me. She was not very interested, and so she was very stubborn. And so she resisted learning Japanese much. But my two oldest sisters, they learned to read and write. And they passed their high school certificates, which is an accomplishment. But you know, when you don’t use it, you lose it. And so my sister, who was six years older than myself, she was the one who resisted it as much as possible, and that she never changed her. Laughs. But the two older ones, they, they passed, they passed high school, which is really an accomplishment.
HR
Yeah, that’s quite an accomplishment for sure.
JI
So they were very bilingual and they could read and write. Which unfortunately, my next sister and myself, I lost the opportunity. But I remember when we went to the camp, that my mother made sure that she tucked in a few of these starters of reading and writing into our baggage. So, when we got to Slocan, they had started up a school, and I went there, for a very short while. And then the Mounties found out that we were having these Japanese classes, and said that’s forbidden. And so then, they came around, when we were, you know, getting taught in the basement, and then they said, “Okay give me all your books.” And we had to give them all our textbooks. And so once it was taken away, he said, “You come out tomorrow, and we’ll have a big bonfire. And we’re going to get rid of all the Japanese books.” And so all the children stood around, while they burnt all the books. There was a huge pile. Because people had snuck a few of the Japanese books into their suitcases and so on. And so, there were no more books, and so that was the end of it.
HR
That’s awful.
02:05:39.000
02:05:39.000
JI
And you know my mother tried to give me the basics, so the real baby basics, I can read. But that’s all. I can’t read the Kanji at all. Whereas my sisters could, because they finished high school.
HR
Yeah language is very hard, as you say, if you’re not using it, and you don’t have a reason to use it actively.
JI
And of course, as long as my mother was alive, I spoke to her in Japanese. So I had pretty good vocabulary and so on. But once she died, there’s nobody to talk to, and all my friends, they all speak English, so. . . You lose it. And so, I’m so glad that the Japanese Cultural Centre has now started up the International Movie Festival, and they bring in very good movies of the year that have won awards elsewhere. And so, I have gone the last three years now. Every year. When the festival comes up. June is blocked off and I go to, I try to go to as many of the movies that I can take in. Which at least gives me an opportunity to at least hear it.
HR
That’s—I don’t want to keep you hear for too long. Maybe one last question. What, do you come to the cultural centre often? Other than for the movie night?
JI
When they have things like this Saturday, at 3 o’clock, they’re going to have the Okinawa Festival. And they are the longest living people in Japan. It’s a healthy lifestyle. And so we’re going to go to that. And just before that, they have the Spring Bon Odori. And I went to that. And I take, usually, Fosh’s cousin, who, you know, enjoys coming along to see these things. So we’re going to the one this coming Saturday, and so on. I, when they have some musicals on, I try and get there, and so on. But I take holidays in winter, in Florida. So I sort of miss out on some of the things that I would go to if I were here. But as a result, most of the interesting things seem to go on in the wintertime, when I’m not here. But I go to as many things as I can.
HR
So has the Japanese Canadian community in Toronto been important to you? Starts to put away the map.
JI
Oh, I do try to keep in touch as much as possible. And you know, I Pause. I have sort of, you know, done some Pause. attended some ofthese things about leaving a living will and so on. And so, hopefully, you know, we’re going to leave things for charities. And we try and give scholarships to all the universities that we’ve been allied with. And the hospitals in Toronto and so on.
02:10:21.000
02:10:21.000
HR
At the beginning, before you turned on the tape, or maybe at the start of the recording, you were saying it’s important for people to learn about the wartime. Is that, have you done other things like this interview that share about the war? Your war experiences?
JI
Yeah, I have. Certainly when people who we met that are non-Japanese that are interested, we certainly talk about it. And when we first came to Toronto, and so on, and I re-met my friends that I had before, we were very thankful that the Metropolitan United Church made themselves very available to the Japanese community. We used to always like making use of their facility, because we were all in a group that loved to play tennis and badminton. And so the United Methodist Church there made themselves very available to use their gym, for recreational purposes. And we really appreciated that. And I can remember when I first came, and we’d be walking towards the United Methodist Church, and most of the time, when somebody made ugly comments to us, about being Japs and so on, they were usually inebriated. They seemed to be the ones that would say foul things to us. But they were drunk. And we used to try and ignore them the best we could. But I know that it was usually when we were walking on the streets and getting accosted, it was usually drunks. Along Queen Street.
HR
Yeah, they can be a problem anywhere, for sure.
JI
But other than that, it wasn’t bad. And because we were in the Jewish district, in Dundas, Bathurst, Palmerston, all that area. They were the only ones that would open up their houses for rental purposes to the Japanese. And so, the Jewish people they were always, I guess, they had gone through the same sort of problems, themselves, in different countries. And so they certainly knew what it was to be discriminated against, and so they were—I don’t think I ever ran into anybody, who was Jewish, that was negative towards the Japanese. Because, when I came to Toronto, and my sister had to go into the TB sanitarium, she was transferred over to Hamilton. And here we were, you know, really financially pinched. And yet, in, at that time, we were told that because she, of, we were not Ontario residents, that we were liable for her hospital expenses. For one year. Which was a real hardship. And so we all scrambled to make money, and so I worked at the Toronto Western Hospital, after school, washing dishes and my duty was to take the racks to the specific floors. And I used to distribute all the trays to the patients, and then when they were finished, I stacked it back in the rack, and took it back to the washroom. We used to—she was a coloured lady. She says, “Oh, I’m glad you’re my helper, because,” she says, “you’re a great helper.” We got along very well, because we’d wash dishes by hand in those days, they didn’t have dishwashers. Laughs.
02:15:15.000
02:15:15.000
JI
You know, after we finished, they were sanitized using Javex. They’d sit, in this hot hot water with Javex. And then I’d dry the dishes and make up the trays for the breakfast in the morning. And it was interesting, because it was after the war, and sometimes I used to have to go the very top floor, and the top floor was filled with mostly veterans, that had you know, had war wounds. And had lost appendages. And they always liked to have the young girls come around and wait on them and so on. And sometimes, they still had hands, maybe they had lost a leg or something. And they, you’d be giving them their trays, and all of a sudden, he’d say, “Hey sweetie. How about a hug?” Laughs. and so on. But you know, they were always very good, you know. I was Asian, but they were just lonely, and so on. So I, you know, I’d always laugh when I go up. And say, “Hey you!” Laughs. “You behave yourself.”
HR
Good that you kept them in line a little bit.
JI
I worked in the Toronto Western Hospital, and then later on, I got a job after school, working at Title Dress shop. And I used, I found that they found out that I could really check the orders and pack them very well. They taught me how to pack them, and so all these places, like Reitman’s and so on, they would have these piles of orders for the next morning. And so I worked anywhere from after school, from about 4, 4:30, until 11 and sometimes 12 o’clock. Packing all these grey boxes. Cardboard boxes. With all these dresses and so on that you know were ordered by the different stores. I’d have these bill, these orders, and I would have to fill each one with each specific order. And pack them up and have them all stacked. And then the next morning, the delivery fellow would take all these boxes, and distribute them to all the dress shops. And that was my job. And I was paid pretty well. And sometimes I would work till 11 o’clock at night.
HR
Wow.
JI
And then I’d go home, and then I’d have homework to do. Sometimes I used to fall asleep at the desk. 1:30, 2 o’clock I’d wake up and think, “Oh, gotta get to bed!” Unfortunately, I found that my math class was usually right after lunch, and that was when I would get really sleepy and tired. There was this one math teacher, who was very abrupt. And he, you know, sometimes I’d doze off, and he was terrible, he’d pick up one of these, you know, in those days there was chalkboard. And he’d throw a big, the eraser at me.
HR
Oh dear.
02:19:43.000
02:19:43.000
JI
And then I’d wake up, and of course the whole class would laugh, because they thought I was a big joke. But I used to be so embarrassed. That was one teacher who I disliked very much. But it was usually in that math class, I used to fall asleep, because I used to be so short on sleep. But I got through.
HR
You got through and you had a fascinating career, despite the terrible math teacher.
JI
Yeah, I’ll never forget him. And it was just a good thing that the first year that I went to Harbord, I had this great teacher, Mr. Hill. And he was so understanding and so kind to me. I still think of him. He was great. He used to try and help me, because I found that the way that they were teaching the geometry was very different from BC. And so it was quite an adjustment. But he was very, very good. He was wonderful. And actually, the principal at that high school was very, very kind too. He was very, very nice. I used to, sometimes after school, he would be very kind. He’d say, “How are you getting along?” and so on. Yeah, he was very nice. He was very good.
HR
I love how all your stories are populated by kind people.
JI
When he found out that I used to help iron men’s shirts and so on, he said, “Oh,” he says “I want you to come to my house some day, because my wife does all my shirts.” And he says, “She is a great teacher.” And I went to his house, and his wife would be very kind, and she showed me how to iron men’s shirts and you know, button it up and fold it and so on. And he was very nice. And his wife was wonderful. I went to their home. And he taught me, and she taught me how to fold, to iron and fold shirts and so on. And at Title Dress, they were very good too, because they used to have, you know, somebody else doing it. And then when they heard that my sister was in the San, and we were all scrambling to make enough money to pay for her hospitalization, he said, “Oh,” he says, “You’re great at things.” So, instead of just finishing at one time, I used to just cut off all the threads that weren’t cut off by the sewer, or you know, if the buttons weren’t quite right on the dresses, and so on, I used to have to make sure that everything was trimmed properly, and so on. They gave me that packing job so that I’d work till 11 or 12 until all the orders were filled. But I did that job. And that really helped. And then my sister was very lucky that while she was in the hospital, in the sanatorium, the editor of the Star, the Toronto Star, his wife also had TB. And he donated and made sure that this lung immobilizer, which was completed, the first immobilizer, went to the Hamilton San. And she was in it for 12 hours a day, during the day. During the night, I should say. But she didn’t want to be in it during the day. So she slept in it. And so, then, he said, that the other 12 hours would be made available to the most deserving person. And so he said, “I’ll leave it up to all the doctors in the sanatorium to have a meeting and decide which patient should be given the opportunity to share it.” Because that, that must have been very expensive when it first came out. And so, and he had donated it to the San, so that his wife could be in it 12 hours. And so when they read the different histories, and everything, they luckily, all the doctors said, “We think that. . .” My sister should be the one that shared the thing. So she shared the lung immobilizer, and that’s how she was able to recover from the TB. Because she was in, bedridden for all those years. From the time she was 16, until she was in her 20s. Which was really, really lucky. We certainly couldn’t have afforded the time in the lung immobilizer. So, we, you know we were so thankful that these doctors, you know, picked her, out of all those hundreds of patients. She was very lucky. So we had lucky breaks.
HR
You did. Lucky breaks populate the broader unfortunate story. So it’s 6 o’clock now.
JI
Wow.
HR
We’ve been talking for awhile.
JI
I’m sure you’d like to get home.
HR
I was thinking also about you. You’ve got to drive to Unionville.
JI
That’s fine, I’m used to driving.
HR
Well, thank you very much, it’s been wonderful.
02:26:35.000

Metadata

Title

Jean Ikeda-Douglas, interviewed by Heather Read and Elizabeth Fujita, 20 April 2015

Abstract

Jean Ikeda-Douglas was raised in Vancouver before being interned in Slocan and New Denver, and later relocated to Toronto with her family. She discusses living in Kitsilano when her father died young, and that her mother moved the family to Powell Street and worked as a hairdresser, owning Some Beauty Parlour. Jean narrates many wonderful neighbours and individuals in her life: a Chinese Canadian woman who gave her family identity patches so they could go out after dark; the Hiroshita’s, a Japanese Canadian man married to a Caucasian women, who offered to keep furniture in their basement; and the Jewish community in Toronto; and many more. Jean describes a big oak dining room table that had l carved legs and a piano that her mother was forced to sell for next to nothing, as well as the heirloom samurai armour and sword that her mother and family members dumped into the Strait one evening to keep it from being taken. She speaks about her family being one of the last to leave Vancouver because her sister was sick in the hospital and unable to be moved; while they waited in Vancouver and the majority of families were uprooted, Jean describes the mobs of people who came to the Powell Street neighbourhood to steal furniture from the houses, taking all the items and leaving broken glass and other debris behind. Jean narrates how her mother had packed Japanese language readers, and while in Slocan, the RCMP learned about language classes and confiscated the books, burning them in a bonfire the next day. Jean also talks about her great-uncle Archie Ikeda, who was like a grandfather to her family, and one of the first Japanese men in Canada. She speaks about his copper and silver mine in Haida Gwaii, and how a man tried to buy it so that her great-uncle couldn’t provide income to Japanese immigrants; when Archie Ikeda refused, the mine was taken from him and he never received any money for it. However, Jean mentions the strong relationship her grand-uncle had with a Haida chief and the bonds that exist between her family and the Haida people to this day. Jean narrates her wonderful career and her education in veterinary sciences, as well as how she has remained in strong friendships with many of her childhood friends from Vancouver and Toronto. She speaks about why it is important to tell this story, and that she has participated in interviews on the Japanese-Canadian dispossession and internment period before.
This oral history is from an interview conducted by the Oral History cluster of the Landscapes of Injustice project.

Credits

Interviewee: Jean Ikeda-Douglas
Interviewer: Heather Read
Interiewer: Elizabeth Fujita
Audio Checker: Jennifer Landrey
Final Checker: Natsuki Abe
Encoder: Natsuki Abe
Publication Information: See Terms of Use for publication and licensing information.
Setting: Toronto
Keywords: 1930s to present ; Jewish

Terminology

Readers of these historical materials will encounter derogatory references to Japanese Canadians and euphemisms used to obscure the intent and impacts of the internment and dispossession. While these are important realities of the history, the Landscapes of Injustice Research Collective urges users to carefully consider their own terminological choices in writing and speaking about this topic today as we confront past injustice. See our statement on terminology, and related sources here.