After reading Obasan and discussing the novel in class, I became curious about what had happened to the Japanese Canadian students in UBC in 1942. In class, we watched a short video clip of UBC honoring the 76 students who were sent to internment camps in the middle of their education. Although I was briefly aware about the Japanese canadian internment camps and the racism during WWII, I had never thought about what had happened to Japanese canadians students in UBC at the time. Finding out about UBC’s Japanese Canadian students tribute helped me learn about the history of 1942 in a way that I could relate myself more closely to the people who lived through the times.
Having grown up in japan, I consider myself as partly being Japanese although I was born in Korea. Therefore, I could more easily imagine myself as a Japanese Canadian student. I imagined myself as a Japanese Canadian student in 1942 and suddenly being prevented from going to school and sent to an internment camp although I have not done anything wrong. If it really happened to me, I would have felt hopeless and blamed both UBC and my country. The students in 1942 probably could not submit to the situation so easily but they had no other choice other than to leave…
After 70 years, UBC decided to honor the 76 students who were sent to internment camps during education in UBC and could not complete their degrees. UBC granted honorary degrees to them who were in their 90s. Mary Kitagawa who led the campaign of awarding honorary degrees to the students of 1942 said:
“I’m very please with the outcome, especially for the students. […] When I told them the news, they were so happy. Students said they never expected this to happen in their lifetime.”
One of the students of 1942 in his 90s said that although the degree would not change his life economically or professionally now, it means something else for him…I am proud that UBC is accepting the wrong things they have been involved in history although it was an influence of the national power during the war and is now fixing their mistakes with 76 individual students.
As you know I am nor a Japanese or Canadian, so wouldn’t be able to sympathize as much as you. However, I still can imagine what would I feel if i was put into that situation. Since I am a Korean, I always learned that we are the victims of WW2 (Japanese invasion). However knowing this kind of situation, it makes me to think deeply. From the video, I learned that we, Koreans, are not the only victims, but also the Japanese themselves suffered as much as we suffered during this period.
I did not know about the Japanese-Canadian internment camp during WWII at all either until we read Obasan. To me, as a Korean who have grown up in Korea for almost entire life, this story was just a simple interesting fact that I never knew about. However, as you have lived in Japan for long time, it seems like you have more connection with these people and feel sympathy more than other people like me and other students.