The topic for my research paper is “Education of Japanese Canadians, 1940’s-1950’s”. In my essay I focus on the education that Japanese Canadians receive in BC before the war, during the war, and after the war. There is a strong focus on the internment camps during WWII and what type of education residents of the internment camps received.
I am half Japanese on my mother’s side. I am also a third generation Canadian, with my grandparents being born in Canada. I chose this topic for my research essay because even though my family is Japanese and I assume was in BC during WWII, I have never heard anyone in my family talk about that fact. I don’t know if anyone in my family was interned, or impacted by the segregation of the Japanese during WWII. Researching this topic has given me insight into what my great grandparents could have experienced in their time and makes me curious to discover other connections in terms of my family history.
I made a connection in class last week when we were talking about citizenship. My third grade teacher, and family friend, who is an older Japanese woman was the only teacher in my elementary school to make her class sing the national anthem every morning. It was not expected nor encouraged by the administrators to do so, but was her choice. It made me consider that perhaps this nationalism came from her parents, and perhaps was rooted in the attempt to assimilate the Japanese community back in the 1940’s.
This research essay has not only given me insight into the history of the Japanese in BC, but has also inspired me to delve further into my familial history and begin to start asking questions that I had previously never thought to ask.