Nikkei Internment Memorial Centre, New Denver, BC
Talk about culture shock. Several weeks after returning from Japan, Amy, the girls and I jumped into our new Mazda5 (with roof rack and carrier added at the last second to accommodate all the gear the four of us need when “roughing it”) and headed for the Kootenays to visit my mum and sister (et al) and do some long-overdue camping. I had driven out to Nelson a number of times over the past year when my father was in the processing of dying but this was the first time in some years that the whole family had made the trek east along Highway 3.
Inevitably, the road trip turned into a mini-history lesson for Emiko and Kaya as they are finally at an age (15 & 13 respectively) where they can conceptualize history and their relationship to it. In Japan they got a taste of their Japanese roots (more about that next month) but on this trip they were able to experience a different part of their heritage as we followed the dispersal route that Japanese Canadians took on their exodus from the coast.