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.

The project's privacy policy page describes the project's position on retaining historical language as well as the grounds on which we provide warnings about or redact certain content.

As an aid, we offer the following guidelines produced and used by members of the Landscapes of Injustice research collective (for examples this site, the narrative and teaching resources websites, travelling museum installation etc.) in consultation with the Japanese-Canadian community for appropriate terminology for Landscapes of Injustice public outputs which may be of value to others publishing on Japanese-Canadian history.

This guide proposes inappropriate and appropriate language for Landscapes of Injustice public outputs. It pertains to text created by the collective and not to language in primary source and archival documents.

Terminology

Inappropriate term	Appropriate term
Japanese (when referring to Canadians of Japanese ancestry)	Japanese Canadian Nikkei Canadian of Japanese descent
Jap	Japanese Canadian
Canadian born Japanese	Japanese Canadian
Enemy aliens (when referring to people with Japanese nationality status)	Japanese nationals
Rebels (for people detailed in POW camps)	Prisoners
Evacuation/Evacuees	Internment/Internees – for entire process/experience (also “Internment Era” for time period 1942-1949) Forced uprooting - for process of displacement Incarceration- for government administered sites, including BC and Ontario administered sites)
Protected zone	Restricted area
Repatriation	Exile
Relocation	Uprooting Forced Uprooting
Dispersal	Forced dispersal
Sales	Forced sales Dispossession- For broader process of property loss, including theft, neglect, and vandalism [Sales by other Canadians during the same era—sometimes described/analyzed in contrast to the forced sales—can be called “free market sales”].
Liquidation	Forced sale. Except in the case of the forcible sale of business assets by the Custodian of Enemy Property, in which case we will use forced liquidation.

Other Language Matters

Hyphenation	LOI proposes to use a hyphen in “Japanese Canadian” when the phrase is used adjectivally (e.g. Japanese-Canadian community). When used as a noun, however, no hyphen will be used (e.g. Japanese Canadians responded).
Japanese language terms	Use of transliterated Japanese language, where appropriate, is encouraged in LOI publications and public outputs. Whenever being used, including in names, these uses should be vetted by a competent Japanese language speaker to ensure accuracy.
Recommended temporal terminology	When referring to the period of time in which the internment took place, we recommend the use of 1940s in place of “wartime” or equivalents, because the internment era lasted until 1949.
Nikkei	There is some current discussion/debate within the community about the use of the term Nikkei. In most instances, Landscapes of Injustice publications and outputs we use the phrase “Japanese Canadian” instead. However the project has partner organizations that use the term, has used it in publications, and takes no formal position on this issue.

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Terminology

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Source: Born Digital.