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Voices of Four Generations: A Story of the Japanese Canadian Community from Issei to Yonsei
Abstract
This study examines the overall transformation of Nikkei, or individuals of Japanese
descent, in Canada from first-generation Issei to fourth-generation Yonsei by drawing
on the voices of each generation. How have the Japanese in Canada—once deemed “inassimilable”—
transformed into one of the smallest and, statistically, most “assimilated” visible
minorities in all of Canada with an intermarriage rate surpassing 95 percent? I examine
the reasons behind this phenomenon by interweaving my own family narrative within
the larger historical framework. The transformation of the Japanese Canadian community
is examined in three distinct stages. The first chapter examines the arrival of the
first-generation Issei and the creation of a transnational community in Canada.
The second chapter explores the destruction of the transnational community, using
the internment experience during World War II as a distinct event responsible in large
for the distancing of Japanese Canadians from their “Japaneseness.” Lastly, the third
chapter examines how the Canadian government’s “repatriation or resettlement” policy
forcibly dispersed the community and accelerated their “blending” into mainstream
society. Ultimately, my study asks if it is possible for current and future generations
of Nikkei to re-member a Japanese Canadian transnational community. My thesis integrates
oral histories of my family members, as well as archival material from Library and
Archives Canada (Ottawa) and McMaster University (Hamilton).
Type
Honors thesisDepartment
International Comparative StudiesPermalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/7556Citation
Spieldenner, Alexis (2013). Voices of Four Generations: A Story of the Japanese Canadian Community from Issei
to Yonsei. Honors thesis, Duke University. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/7556.Collections
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