Obasan is a novel by the Japanese-Canadian author Joy Kogawa. First published by Lester and Orpen Dennys in 1981, it chronicles Canada's internment and persecution of its citizens of Japanese descent during World War II from the perspective of a young child. In 2005, it was the One Book, One Vancouver selection.

The book is often required reading for university English courses on Canadian Literature. It also figures in Ethnic Studies and Asian American Literature [sic] courses in the United States.

Kogawa uses strong imagery of silence, stones and streams throughout the novel. Themes depicted in the novel include memory and forgetting, prejudice and tolerance, identity, and justice versus injustice. Kogawa contemplates many of these themes in her poetry as well.

Plot[link]

Set in 1972, Obasan centres on the memories and experiences of Naomi Nakane, a 36 year old schoolteacher living in the rural Canadian town of Cecil, Alberta, when the novel begins. The death of Naomi's uncle, with whom she had lived as a child, leads Naomi to visit and care for her widowed aunt Aya, whom she refers to as Obasan (Obasan being the Japanese word for "Aunt" in this context). Her brief stay with Obasan in turn becomes an occasion for Naomi to revisit and reconstruct in memory her painful experiences as a child during and after World War II, with the aid of a box of correspondence and journals sent to her by her Aunt Emily, detailing the years of the measures taken by the Canadian government against the Japanese citizens of Canada and their aftereffects. With the aid of Aunt Emily's box, Naomi learns that her mother, who had been in Japan before the bombing of Pearl Harbor, was severely injured by the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima; a finding which changes her perspective of the 'War in the Pacific', and rekindles the heartbreak she experienced as a child.

Naomi's narration thus interweaves two stories, one of the past and another of the present, mixing experience and recollection, history and memory throughout. Naomi's struggle to come to terms with both past and present confusion and suffering form the core of the novel's plot.

Although Obasan is fiction, the events, Parliamentary legal documents, and overall notion of racism mirror reality. Through the eyes of fictional characters, Kogawa tells the story of Japanese-Canadians during the Second World War.

Characters[link]

Naomi's family tree

The characters in Obasan are part of Naomi's Japanese-Canadian family.

Its members fall into three major groups, depending on their birth place and, consequently, nationality.

The "Issei" are first-generation Japanese-Canadians, Japan-born emigrants living in Canada. Their children are the "Nisei" or second-generation Japanese-Canadians, Canadian-born people with Canadian nationality, and the "Nisei"'s children, the "Sansei", or third-generation Japanese-Canadians.

References[link]

v t e Canada–Japan relations Japan People Mickey Curtis Glen Ennis Aaron Keller Ron Korb Herbert Marler R.W. Mayhew Monkey Majik Herbert Norman Maria Ozawa Richard Rochefort Barry Steers Mervin Tran Mel Wakabayashi Jai West Issues Japanese war crimes Places Canadian Academy Embassy of Canada, Tokyo List of Canadian ambassadors to Japan Events Canada WET Canada Japanese Canadians Ken Adachi Nobu and Mio Adilman Dennis Akayama David Akutagawa Severn Cullis-Suzuki Hiromi Goto Arthur S. Hara Kanao Inouye Mary Ito Robert Ito Hiro Kanagawa Martin Kariya Paul Kariya Steve Kariya Sarah Kawahara Andrew Kishino Roy Kiyooka Joy Kogawa (Obasan) Bruce Kuwabara Jon Matsumoto Nina Matsumoto Art Miki Roy Miki Masajiro Miyazaki Kenzo Mori Raymond Moriyama Issey Nakajima-Farran Paris Nakajima-Farran Kazuo Nakamura George Nozuka Justin Nozuka Philip Nozuka Bev Oda Kristy Odamura Midi Onodera John Kimura Parker Michelle Sagara Kerri Sakamoto Devin Setoguchi Tetsuro Shigematsu Aki Shimazaki Rick Shiomi Yellow Fever Thomas Shoyama Jeff Chiba Stearns Jennifer Spence Jamie Storr Vicky Sunohara David Suzuki Mutsumi Takahashi Takao Tanabe Miyuki Tanobe David Tsubouchi Masami Tsuruoka Irene Uchida Juhn Atsushi Wada Terry Watada Michelle Sagara West Ayaka Wilson Naomi Yamamoto Christine Yoshikawa Kimiko Zakreski Japanese in Canada Manzō Nagano Utako Wakamatsu Other people HIMEKA Jillian Michaels John Powles Bruce Ross Issues Japanese Canadian internment Reference re Persons of Japanese Race Events Powell Street Festival Places Embassy of Japan, Ottawa Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre Japantown, Vancouver Jodo Shinshu Buddhist Temples of Canada Kuroki, Saskatchewan Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden Nikkei Internment Memorial Centre Nitobe Memorial Garden Organisations Hitachi Canadian Industries Kokoro Dance National Association of Japanese Canadians Japan Canada Oil Sands Limited Sony Canada Works Minoru: Memory of Exile Obasan Skim Yellow Fever Other Ahadada Books Hiroshima Japanese Canadian Pacific Fleet

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Joy Kogawa
Born	Joy Nozomi Nakayama (1935-06-06)June 6, 1935 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Nationality	Canadian
Notable work(s)	Obasan
Notable award(s)	Order of Canada, Order of British Columbia, Order of the Rising Sun
Literature portal

Joy Nozomi Kogawa, CM, OBC (born June 6, 1935) is a Canadian poet and novelist of Japanese descent.

Life[link]

Born Joy Nozomi Nakayama in Vancouver, British Columbia, she was sent with her family to the internment camp for Japanese Canadians at Slocan during World War II. After the war she resettled with her family in Coaldale, Alberta.

She has worked to educate Canadians about the history of the internment camps, and was active in the fight for government redress.^[1]

Although the majority of her writing is poetry, Kogawa's best-known work is Obasan (1981), a semi-autobiographical novel. A sequel, Itsuka (1992), was rewritten and retitled Emily Kato (2005). Obasan has been named as one of the most important books in Canadian history by the Literary Review of Canada and was also listed by The Toronto Star in a "Best of Canada" feature. Obasan was later adapted into a children's book, Naomi's Road (1986), which, in turn, Vancouver Opera adapted into a 45-minute opera that toured elementary schools throughout British Columbia. The opera was also performed before the general public in the greater Vancouver area, Red Deer and Lethbridge, Alberta, Seattle, Washington, and Ottawa, Ontario at the National War Museum.

Although the novel Obasan describes Asian Canadian experiences, it is routinely taught in Asian American literature courses in the USA, due to its successful "integration of politically understanding and literary artistry" and "its authentication of a pan-Asian sensibility."^[2]

Kogawa currently divides her time between Vancouver and Toronto, Ontario.

Recognition[link]

In 1986, Kogawa was made a Member of the Order of Canada; in 2006, she was made a Member of the Order of British Columbia.

In 2010, the Japanese government honored Kogawa with the Order of the Rising Sun "for her contribution to the understanding and preservation of Japanese Canadian history."^[3]

Campaign to save Kogawa House[link]

The Save Kogawa House committee initiated a campaign to save Kogawa's childhood home in the Marpole neighborhood of Vancouver from demolition. They developed national support from writers and writing organizations across Canada demonstrating that the house at 1450 West 64th Avenue was regarded by many as having historical value and literary significance, similar to Berton House, Emily Carr House and the Haig-Brown Institute. The Save Kogawa House committee made a successful presentation to the City of Vancouver councilors to create an unprecedented 120-day delay of the processing of a demolition permit on November 3, 2005, two days after the city had pronounced Obasan Cherry Tree Day^[4] and planted a graft of the cherry tree at Vancouver City Hall from the original tree at Kogawa House.

The Land Conservancy of British Columbia, became involved in the saving of Kogawa House on December 2, 2005.^[5] Working with the Save Kogawa House committee, TLC took over the fund-raising efforts and media attention. TLC became the owners of the house on May 31, 2006.^[6] They now are attempting to raise funds to renovate the house to its appearance when Joy lived there in the late 1930s and early 1940s.

The Historic Joy Kogawa House Society has operated a writer-in-residence program in the house since 2008. They have hosted two writers to date: poet and editor Dr. John Asfour of Montreal in 2009, and novelist and writing educator Nancy Lee of Richmond in 2010. The next writer will be in residence beginning September 15, 2011, and continuing until March 15, 2012. Applications for writers are solicited in an open call to writers' associations and arts councils across Canada. Application guidelines are posted on the Society's website at www.kogawahouse.com.^[7]

Bibliography[link]

Poetry[link]

• The Splintered Moon. Fredericton, NB: Fiddlehead Poetry Books, 1967.
• A Choice of Dreams. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1974.
• Jericho Road. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1977.
• Six Poems. Toronto: League of Canadian Poets, 1980.
• Woman in the Woods. Oakville, ON: Mosaic Press, 1985.
• A Song of Lilith. Vancouver: Polestar, 2000.
• A Garden of Anchors: Selected Poems. Oakville, ON: Mosaic, 2003.
• What do I Remember of the Evacuation?

Novels[link]

• Obasan. Toronto: Lester & Orpen Dennys, 1981.(winner of the 1982 Books in Canada First Novel Award)
• Itsuka. Toronto: Penguin, 1992. (rewritten as Emily Kato - 2005)
• The Rain Ascends. Toronto: Knopf, 1995

Children's literature[link]

• Naomi's Road. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1986.
• Naomi's Tree - 2008

Except where noted, bibliographic information courtesy Brock University.^[1]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Works by or about Joy Kogawa in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Joy Kogawa's entry in The Canadian Encyclopedia
• Immigrant Stories by Canadian Authors
• Canadian Poetry Online: Joy Kogawa - Biography and six poems (Offerings, grief poem, If your mirror breaks, Where there's a Wall, For a Blank Book, Note to a Gentleman)

v t e Canada–Japan relations Japan People Mickey Curtis Glen Ennis Aaron Keller Ron Korb Herbert Marler R.W. Mayhew Monkey Majik Herbert Norman Maria Ozawa Richard Rochefort Barry Steers Mervin Tran Mel Wakabayashi Jai West Issues Japanese war crimes Places Canadian Academy Embassy of Canada, Tokyo List of Canadian ambassadors to Japan Events Canada WET Canada Japanese Canadians Ken Adachi Nobu and Mio Adilman Dennis Akayama David Akutagawa Severn Cullis-Suzuki Hiromi Goto Arthur S. Hara Kanao Inouye Mary Ito Robert Ito Hiro Kanagawa Martin Kariya Paul Kariya Steve Kariya Sarah Kawahara Andrew Kishino Roy Kiyooka Joy Kogawa (Obasan) Bruce Kuwabara Jon Matsumoto Nina Matsumoto Art Miki Roy Miki Masajiro Miyazaki Kenzo Mori Raymond Moriyama Issey Nakajima-Farran Paris Nakajima-Farran Kazuo Nakamura George Nozuka Justin Nozuka Philip Nozuka Bev Oda Kristy Odamura Midi Onodera John Kimura Parker Michelle Sagara Kerri Sakamoto Devin Setoguchi Tetsuro Shigematsu Aki Shimazaki Rick Shiomi Yellow Fever Thomas Shoyama Jeff Chiba Stearns Jennifer Spence Jamie Storr Vicky Sunohara David Suzuki Mutsumi Takahashi Takao Tanabe Miyuki Tanobe David Tsubouchi Masami Tsuruoka Irene Uchida Juhn Atsushi Wada Terry Watada Michelle Sagara West Ayaka Wilson Naomi Yamamoto Christine Yoshikawa Kimiko Zakreski Japanese in Canada Manzō Nagano Utako Wakamatsu Other people HIMEKA Jillian Michaels John Powles Bruce Ross Issues Japanese Canadian internment Reference re Persons of Japanese Race Events Powell Street Festival Places Embassy of Japan, Ottawa Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre Japantown, Vancouver Jodo Shinshu Buddhist Temples of Canada Kuroki, Saskatchewan Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden Nikkei Internment Memorial Centre Nitobe Memorial Garden Organisations Hitachi Canadian Industries Kokoro Dance National Association of Japanese Canadians Japan Canada Oil Sands Limited Sony Canada Works Minoru: Memory of Exile Obasan Skim Yellow Fever Other Ahadada Books Hiroshima Japanese Canadian Pacific Fleet

Chisato Moritaka (森高千里, Moritaka Chisato^?) (born April 11, 1969) is the stage name of Chisato Eguchi (江口 千里^?), a Japanese pop-music performer who also is notable as an actress and song writer.^[1]

Born as Chisato Moritaka in Osaka, Japan she was raised in Kumamoto, Kyūshū, Japan. Her big break into show business was as the winner of the "Pocari Sweat Image Girl Contest" in 1986.

Her singing career as the unrivaled "Dance Queen" began in May 1987 with the release of her first album, New Season. She differed from many other female Idol Singers in Japan in that she wrote her own lyrics and some music for her albums. She also played drums on most of the tracks, as well as piano, guitar, clarinet, and other instruments. Her advertising jingles were hits into the mid 1990s in television commercials for such goods as chocolate and gin. She has also made numerous appearances on Japanese game and talent shows and is still a household name. In twelve years after her debut she released seventeen albums and created a strong following of devoted fans. She collaborates with Haruomi Hosono on some Hosono's works.

After an eight year hiatus from public life, Moritaka sang a song produced for a Nissan automobile commercial in early 2007.^[2]

She is married to actor Yōsuke Eguchi, with whom she has a son and a daughter.

Albums[link]

References[link]

1. ^ Kyoto Sangyo University guide to famous Japanese personages
2. ^ http://www.nikkansports.com/entertainment/f-et-tp0-20070515-199089.html

External links[link]

• Oricon web page for Chisato Moritaka.
• Encyclopedia Idollica Moritaka Chisato
• J!ENT English Translations of Chisato Moritaka Lyrics

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