‘None Came Back’: new exhibit explores Chemainus’s Japanese Canadian history
The volunteer-led show uses archives, family photos and student projects to examine how wartime policy uprooted more than 22,000 Japanese Canadians.
- The volunteer-led exhibition 'None Came Back' opens July 11 at the Chemainus Valley Museum, exploring Japanese Canadian residents' experiences before, during, and after internment through archival records, photographs, and interactive audio.
- Beginning in 1942, more than 22,000 Japanese Canadians were uprooted from the British Columbia coast and stripped of property under federal government policies driven by wartime fears and racism.
- The exhibit follows the story of Noboru and Sumano Kawahara, whose two children were school-age during internment; the family was later exiled to Japan, where parents struggled adjusting as non-native speakers.
- Grade 7 teacher Joy Wilson brought 84 students to the museum for a walking tour earlier this year, with selected student projects now displayed at the Chemainus library alongside historical books.
- Project lead Hiram Beaubier hopes the exhibit prompts reflection on the 'silence of acquiescence,' adding that 'the lessons are very relevant to the times we' live in today.
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Chemainus Museum unveils new Japanese Canadian history exhibit
Chemainus Valley Museum volunteers Hiram Beaubier (left) and Lorraine Boros hope that visitors to the None Came Back exhibit will come away with a better understanding of the people who built Chemainus. Photo by Eric Richards/The Discourse. Today, a thrift store sits on the corner of Oak and Maple streets in Chemainus. But back in 1940, it was home to the Crystal Fish Market owned by the Kawahara Family. The market was just one part of a thrivi…
Chemainus Valley Courier
‘None Came Back’: new exhibit explores Chemainus’s Japanese Canadian history
A new exhibition at the Chemanius Valley Museum is shedding light on a little-known chapter of local history, tracing how federal policies targeting Japanese Canadians during the Second World War affected families who once lived and worked in the community. Opening July 11, None Came Back, the volunteer-led exhibition combines archival records, family photographs, interactive audio features, a guided walking tour and student reflections to explo…
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