Surrey museum exhibit explores the personal histories of Japanese Canadians during WWII

This February marks 80 years since the dispossession of Japanese Canadians in the 1940s, when about 22,000 Japanese Canadians in British Columbia were forcibly taken from their homes and stripped of their businesses and possessions by the federal government.

This period in history is being explored in Broken Promises, a travelling exhibit on view until April 24 at the Museum of Surrey. 

The exhibit showcases the personal stories of people from seven Japanese Canadian families who were interned during the Second World War. Its title comes from the government's promises to protect their possessions — from their land, homes and farms to their fishing vessels, family pets and other belongings — all of which were sold without consent. 

It is co-curated by Burnaby-based Nikkei National Museum with the Royal British Columbia Museum, and the Landscapes of Injustice research collective.

The Surrey exhibit also highlights the stories of Surrey residents of Japanese descent.

"If you were to imagine the map of Surrey and all around, it would have been [filled with] farmers. It would have been the Japanese Canadian farmers," said Lorene Oikawa, a lifelong Surrey resident and president of the National Association of Japanese Canadians. Her grandfather, a pitcher for the Vancouver Asahi Japanese-Canadian baseball team, was among the thousands who were forced to leave their homes and belongings during the internment.

According to Oikawa, Japanese Canadian farmers owned large pockets of farmland that used to occupy the sites of the Museum of Surrey in Cloverdale to the present city centre, until their dispossession in 1942. 

"Strawberry Hill was named because of the the Japanese Canadian strawberry farmers," she said, adding that they started the Surrey Berry Growers' Cooperative and the Strawberry Hill Japanese Farmers' Association.

Colleen Sharpe, curator of exhibits at the Museum of Surrey, says more awareness is needed when it comes the contributions of Japanese Canadian farmers to Surrey and nearby regions.

"Things like chicken sexing ... it's a really important thing in agriculture to know what sex the chickens are, male or female, and it was something that Japanese Canadians brought ... to the area," she said. 

Through the lens of family histories

Along with the featured personal histories, the exhibit also showcases previously unreleased photos and historical items.

"We do talk about the larger history, but also we look at very personal items from families and very personal artifacts," Sharpe said. 

The personal histories help illustrate how things unfolded for families at the time. 

"It really is looking at like how people were processed through government administrations and what happened to them. It shows you the whole process of history, of what happened to people," Sharpe said.

Oikawa says it's important to remember this history to avoid similar events from being repeated.

"We can't let ignorance or forgetfulness decide the actions that we take as a society and particularly when we are in times under pressure, like right now, a pandemic or an economic downturn."

CBC British Columbia has launched a Surrey bureau to help tell your stories with reporter Kiran Singh. Story ideas and tips can be sent to [email protected].