During the Second World War, more than 20,000 Japanese Canadians were declared as enemy aliens by the Canadian government, forcibly relocated from their homes, and placed in internment camps or forced to labour on farms in the Prairies. Their property and possessions were taken from them, and their freedom was stolen. They were displaced because of racist fears over their loyalty to Canada. This resource guide provides a selection of books, documentaries, articles and more that examine the immediate and intergenerational impacts of these actions, and the Japanese Canadian community’s long struggle for justice and redress.
Japanese Canadian Internment
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Books
Many books for adults, children and young adults have been written on this topic. We’ve compiled a list below, and have also made it available via Worldcat. You can use Worldcat to find the nearest library to you that holds the title.
Books for Adults
- Olson, Kristine, et al. Absence in Remembrance: The Japanese Canadian Internment. Franc Gallery, 2016.
- McAllister, Kirsten Emiko, et al, editors. After Redress: Japanese Canadian and Indigenous Struggles for Justice. UBC Press, 2025.
- Oikawa, Mona. Cartographies of Violence: Japanese Canadian Women, Memory, and the Subjects of the Internment. University of Toronto Press, 2012.
- Adams, Eric M., and Jordan Stanger‐Ross. Challenging Exile: Japanese Canadians and the Wartime Constitution. UBC Press, 2025.
- Greenaway, John Endo, et al. Departures: Chronicling the Expulsion of the Japanese Canadians from the West Coast, 1942–1949. Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre, 2017.
- Miki, Arthur K. Gaman Perseverance: Japanese Canadians’ Journey to Justice. Talonbooks, 2023.
- Shimizu, Henry. Images of Internment: A Bitter‐Sweet Memoir in Words and Images: Life in the New Denver Internment Camp, 1942–1946. Ti‐Jean Press, 2008.
- Miki, Roy, and Cassandra Kobayashi. Justice in Our Time: The Japanese Canadian Redress Settlement. Talonbooks; National Association of Japanese Canadians, 1991.
Reid, Linda Kawamoto, and Beth Carter. Karizumai: A Guide to Japanese Canadian Internment Sites. 5th edition, Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre, 2019.
- Stanger‐Ross, Jordan, editor. Landscapes of Injustice: A New Perspective on the Internment and Dispossession of Japanese Canadians. McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2020.
- Bergeron, Alain M. Les derniers des Asahis, Druide, 2024.
- Kogawa, Joy. Obasan. D.R. Godine, 1982.
- Kogawa, Joy. Obasan. Translated by Dorothy Parker and Carole d’Yvoire. Le Livre de poche, Paris, 2019.
- Miki, Roy. Redress: Inside the Japanese Canadian Call for Justice. Raincoast Books, 2004.
- Hossack, Leslie, et al. Registered: The Japanese Canadian Experience during World War II. blurb, 2017.
- Japanese Canadian National Museum. Reshaping Memory, Owning History: Through the Lens of Japanese Canadian Redress. Japanese Canadian National Museum, 2002.
- Ōiwa, Keibō, editor, foreword by Joy Kogawa. Stone Voices: Wartime Writings of Japanese Canadian Issei. Véhicule Press, 1991.
- Nikkei National Museum and Cultural Centre. Taiken: Japanese Canadians since 1877. Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre, 2016.
- McAllister, Kirsten Emiko. Terrain of Memory: A Japanese Canadian Memorial Project. UBC Press, 2010.
- Adachi, Ken. The Enemy That Never Was: A History of the Japanese Canadians. McClelland & Stewart, 1991.
- Sunahara, Ann Gomer. The Politics of Racism: The Uprooting of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War. Lorimer, 1981.
- Robinson, Greg. Un drame de la Deuxième Guerre : le sort de la minorité japonaise aux États‐Unis et au Canada, Presses de l’Université de Montréal, 2011.
- Bangarth, Stephanie D. Voices Raised in Protest: Defending North American Citizens of Japanese Ancestry, 1942–49. UBC Press, 2014.
- Sugiman, Pamela H., and Jordan Stanger‐Ross, editors. Witness to Loss: Race, Culpability, and Memory in the Dispossession of Japanese Canadians. McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2017.
- Broadfoot, Barry. Years of Sorrow, Years of Shame: The Story of Japanese Canadians in World War II. PaperJacks, 1987.
Books for Young Adults and Children
- Takashima, Shiyuze. A Child in Prison Camp. Tundra Books, 1989.
- Hickman, Pamela, and Masako Fukawa. Japanese Canadian Internment in the Second World War. James Lorimer and Company, Ltd., 2011.
- Healey, Haley. Kimiko Murakami: A Japanese Canadian Pioneer. Illustrated by Kimiko Fraser, Heritage House Publishing Company Ltd., 2023.
- Hickman, Pamela, et Masako Fukawa. L’internement des Canadiens japonais pendant la Deuxième Guerre mondiale, traduit par Marie‐France Cloutier, James Lorimer and Company, Ltd., 2025.
- Kogawa, Joy. Naomi’s Road. Illustrated by Ruth Ohi, Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2005.
- Stearns, Jeff Chiba, and Lillian Michiko Blakey. On Being Yukiko. Meditating Bunny Studio Inc., 2020.
- Torres, J., and David Namisato. Stealing Home. Kids Can Press Ltd., 2021.
- Schwartz, Ellen. The Princess Dolls. Illustrated by Mariko Ando, Tradewind Books, 2018.
- Aihoshi, Susan M. Torn Apart: The Internment Diary of Mary Kobayashi. Scholastic Canada, 2012.
Resources for Teachers
- Lesson Plans: Arthur Miki, Equality and Redress (Speak Truth to Power Canada)
- Mini‐leçon – Minoru : souvenirs d’un exil – Internement des Canadiens japonais et identité générationnelle (Office national du film)
- Mini‐Lesson for Minoru: Memory of Exile – The Japanese Internment and Generational Identity (National Film Board)
- Plans de leçon : Arthur Miki, Égalité et redressement (Parler vrai au pouvoir Canada)
- Teaching Guide (Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre)
- The Elementary Teacher Resources (Landscapes of Injustice)
Media reports
- Il y a 75 ans : l’internement des Canadiens d'origine japonaise (Radio‐Canada)
- Le premier monument pour les Canadiens d’origine japonaise au Québec inauguré à Farnham (Radio‐Canada)
- Japanese Canadian legacies honoured as part of redressing historical wrongs (Government of British Columbia)
- Japanese Canadians share stories of life in internment camps (CBC)
- Victoria monument to honour uprooted Japanese Canadians (Times Colonist)
Documentaries
Articles, Academic Papers and Research
Research Projects
Articles
- A History of Contested Narratives: The National Film Board of Canada’s Evolving Cinematic Treatment (1945–2018) of the Internment of Japanese Canadians during World War Two
Melnyk, George. “A History of Contested Narratives: The National Film Board of Canada’s Evolving Cinematic Treatment (1945–2018) of the Internment of Japanese Canadians during World War Two”. Anglica. An International Journal of English Studies, vol. 30, no. 3, 2021, pp. 65–87. - Establishing Recognition of Past Injustices: Uses of Archival Records in Documenting the Experience of Japanese Canadians During the Second World War
Roberts‐Moore, Judith. “Establishing Recognition of Past Injustices: Uses of Archival Records in Documenting the Experience of Japanese Canadians During the Second World War.” Archivaria, vol. 53, May 2002, pp. 64–75. - Internement de la communauté japonaise au Canada
Robinson, Greg. “Internement de la communauté japonaise au Canada.” L’Encyclopédie canadienne, 4 octobre 2024, Historica Canada.
- Internement des Canadiens d’origine japonaise : prisonniers dans leur propre pays
Marsh, James H. “Internement des Canadiens d’origine japonaise : prisonniers dans leur propre pays.” L’Encyclopédie canadienne, 17 septembre 2020, Historica Canada. - Interné au Canada : une entrevue avec Pat Adachi
Zarum, David. “Interné au Canada : une entrevue avec Pat Adachi.” Dans L’Encyclopédie canadienne, 14 March 2019, Historica Canada. - Interned in Canada: an Interview with Pat Adachi
Zarum, Dave. “Interned in Canada: an Interview with Pat Adachi.” The Canadian Encyclopedia, 14 March 2019, Historica Canada. - Internment of Japanese Canadians
Robinson, Greg. “Internment of Japanese Canadians.” The Canadian Encyclopedia, 4 October 2024, Historica Canada. - Japanese Canadian internment and the struggle for redress (Canadian Museum for Human Rights)
- Japanese Canadian Internment: Prisoners in their own Country
Marsh, James H. “Japanese Canadian Internment: Prisoners in their own Country.” The Canadian Encyclopedia, 17 September 2020, Historica Canada. - L’internement des Canadiens et des Canadiennes d’origine japonaise (Musée canadien pour les droits de la personne)
- Redress Movements in Canada
Giesbrecht, Jodi, and Travis Tomchuk. Redress Movements in Canada. Canadian Historical Association, 2018. - Shikata Ga Nai / It Can’t Be Helped:The Second World War Experiences of Two Japanese Canadian Families (Canadian Museum for Human Rights)
- Shikata Ga Nai / On ne peut rien y faire: Les expériences de deux familles japonaises canadiennes pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale (Musée canadien pour les droits de le personne)
Theses and Dissertations
- Coping strategy and resource use : an analysis of the Japanese Canadian internment during the Second World War
Deyell, Stewart Toru. Coping Strategy and Resource Use : An Analysis of the Japanese Canadian Internment during the Second World War. University of British Columbia, 2008 - "Evangelines of 1946" : the exile of Nikkei from Canada to occupied Japan.
Timmons, D. J., et al. “Evangelines of 1946”: The Exile of Nikkei from Canada to Occupied Japan. University of Victoria, 2011. - Nisei, Sansei, Yonsei, Intergenerational Communication of the Internment and the Lived Experience of Twelve Japanese Canadians Born after the Internment
Hashimoto, Gaia. Nisei, Sansei, Yonsei, Intergenerational Communication of the Internment and the Lived Experience of Twelve Japanese Canadians Born after the Internment. University of Manitoba, 2012.
- The dispossession of Japanese Canadians on Saltspring Island
Smallshaw, Brian,The Dispossession of Japanese Canadians on Saltspring Island. University of Victoria, 2017.
Exhibitions
- A Long Fight for Justice: The Japanese‐Canadian Redress Movement (Toronto Ward Museum)
- Broken Promises: The Dispossession of Japanese Canadians (Nikkei National Museum Cultural Centre and the Canadien Museum for Human Rights)
- Exilés dans notre propre pays : les Canadiens japonais dans la région de Niagara, Lincoln Museum & Cultural Centre (Musées numériques Canada)
- Exiles in Our Own Country: Japanese Canadians in Niagara, Lincoln Museum and Cultural Centre (Digital Museums Canada)
- Japanese Canadian: A Story of Hope, Resilience and Growth (Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre)
- Japanese Canadian Redress: The Toronto Story Japanese Canadian Redress: The Toronto Story (National Association of Japanese Canadians – Greater Toronto Chapter)
- Promesses brisées : La dépossession des Canadiens japonais (Nikkei National Museum Cultural Centre and the Canadien Museum for Human Rights)