Dispossession

Introduction

Rinkichi Tagashira made special arrangements to protect his Vancouver business, the Tagashira Trading Company, from government control. The business had allowed Tagashira to buy a home and other investment properties. In 1942, he, his partner Masue, and their two children looked toward a hopeful future.

When they heard they would be uprooted, the family acted quickly. Masue boxed up their belongings and locked them in their attic. Tagashira placed the company under the temporary ownership of former employee James Y. Lim.

At first, the arrangement was successful. It kept the Tagashira Trading Company out of government hands for two years. The profits provided the family with some spending money during their internment. Tagashira planned to return to the business when the ordeal ended.

The government pressured Tagashira to sell, but he held firm. Then in 1944, he was outraged to learn his store manager intended to allow the government to seize the company. Key suppliers had boycotted the store because it was still Japanese Canadian-owned. Government officials argued it would fail because its Japanese Canadian customers were interned. Lim believed the business would soon fail.

Tagashira was not convinced. “My manager and I are making money, not losing,” he wrote. He did not believe the plan to sell his sole source of income was in his “best interest.” He sent repeated letters protesting the sale. But his protests were of little use. His store was sold without his permission. His family’s personal belongings from the attic were auctioned off at 25 cents a box. The government sold his business for a mere fraction of its worth.

Lesson overview

The forced sale of Japanese Canadian-owned property

Students investigate the change in government policy with respect to the property of Japanese Canadians, from a custodial trusteeship approach to engaging in forced sales. Students examine the causes of the change in policy and then assess whether the change was made in good faith. The lesson concludes by examining reactions from Japanese Canadians to the unauthorized sale of their property and the responses from the Custodian of Alien Property.

Targeted learning

  • Analyze changing government policy regarding Japanese Canadian-owned property
  • Understand and assess the role of bureaucrats, Japanese Canadians, and public opinion in the change of policy from trusteeship to forced sales
  • Understand the complexity, motivations, rationales, and fluidity of the decision to dispossess Japanese Canadians of their property
  • Understand the implicit ethical underpinnings of making a promise and acting in good faith
  • Assess government policy and make an ethical judgment. Was the government action valid, reasonable, respectful, and proportional in light of the issues of the day?
  • Understand the tools and means with which Japanese Canadians protested the forced sale of their property
  • Assess government response to the protests of Japanese Canadians and the processes available to them for compensation

Focus question

Was the government’s decision to liquidate Japanese Canadian property made in good faith?

Lesson Plan Details

Big Ideas:
Historical & Contemporary Injustices, Racism, Resistance
Subject:
Law, Social Studies
Unit:
Landscapes of Injustice - Secondary
Grades:
Grades 10-12
Time Commitment:
240 Minutes
Lesson Activities:
6 (Jump to Activities)
Resource Languages:
English

Lesson Activities

Four corners activity

Do you trust your government? Would you expect the government to do the right thing? This activity asks students to consider those questions among others as a lead-in to a much deeper examination of the role of government in the forced sale of Japanese Canadian-owned property.

  1. Place signs around the room with the words “agree,” “disagree,” “can’t decide,” and “don’t know” in different areas of the room (leave enough room for students to stand near or under the signs). Read each of the questions below aloud and ask students to walk to the response sign they most agree with. Discuss each question, and ask students to share opinions about why they are leaning to that particular view. Encourage responses even if not well formed at this point.
    1. I trust the government to always do what is right
    2. Canada is a tolerant country
    3. Physical possessions are not important at all
    4. The law should always be obeyed without question
  2. Transition the lesson by connecting the issues discussed here, including trust in government, tolerance of others, fairness in treatment before the law, and the importance of obeying laws to the uprooting, evacuation, internment, and eventual dispossession of property faced by Japanese Canadians in the 1940s.

Think about it! activity

In this activity we will examine the connection between the War Measures Act and the enactment of many Orders In Council, which impacted the lives of Japanese Canadians after Canada declared war against Japan in 1941. Groups will discuss two pieces of legislation and consider the reactions within the Japanese Canadian community.

Required Resources:

2 Handouts, 3 Sources

  1. Distribute Handout 3.1: Think about it! along with Source 3.1: War Measures Act (1914) and Source 3.2: Order in Council, P.C. 1665.
    1. Student pairs or groups discuss the questions, and record the answers on Source 3.1: War Measures Act (1914).
    2. Students share their responses in a class-wide discussion.
    3. Students share their responses in a class-wide discussion. Answers will vary, but some suggested answers are:
      1. Order in Council 1665 did not meet the criteria of the War Measures Act because its purpose was to “protect” Japanese Canadians, not the country. It refers to them indirectly as “enemies,” which contradicts its stated “protective” mandate.
      2. The Canadian government might have suggested that Japanese Canadians needed to be protected from the looting of other Canadians while they were interned.
      3. Some responses might be anger, fear, uncertainty, cynicism, and sadness.
  2. Provide students with copies of Handout 3.2: Writing for The New Canadian and Source 3.3: Notice to all Japanese persons
    1. Introduce students to The New Canadian newspaper, a Japanese Canadian-owned and operated publication. It was the only source that reported broadly on government actions from a Japanese Canadian point of view.
    2. Take some time to walk through the details in Source 3.3 Notice to All Japanese persons.
      1. What were the restrictions it imposed?
      2. Who was impacted by the notice?
    3. Students take on the role of a Japanese Canadian family and write about their experiences of uprooting, internment and the forced sale of their property.

Required Resources

Name
Resource Type
Action

3.1 Think About It!

Student Handout
Download
View

Handout-3.1-Think-About-It

3.2 Writing for The New Canadian

Student Handout
Download
View

Handout-3.2-Writing-for-The-New-Canadian

3.1 War Measures Act (1914)

Source (Document)
Download
View

Source-3.1-War-Measures-Act-1914

3.2 Order-in-Council PC 1665

Source (Document)
Download
View

Source-3.2-Order-in-Council-PC-1665

3.3 Notice to All Japanese Persons

Source (Document)
Download
View

Source-3.3-Notice-to-All-Japanese-Persons

Voices of protest activity

The policy of forced sales evolved slowly and was enacted through a series of steps through Orders in Council (OIC). Orders in Council, Privy Council (P.C.) 1665 began the shift toward wholesale forced sales but did not enact it, while OIC, P.C. 2483 strengthened the promise to protect the property of Japanese Canadians in the midst of their uprooting and incarceration. Japanese Canadians had concerns about the safeguards being taken for their property. Concerned with the potential for unrest, disobedience, and an orderly uprooting the government enacted OIC, P.C. 2483. This lesson examines that enactment.

Required Resources:

2 Handouts, 2 Sources

  1. Intro and icebreaker: Ask students to list their three most-prized possessions. Then, tell them to imagine they have to give up two of them.
    1. Which one would they choose to keep?
    2. How would they feel about giving up the other two things?
  2. Order in Council, P.C.  2483 strengthened the promise to protect Japanese Canadian property. It was published only three weeks after the initial promise to protect was made in OIC, P.C. 1665. Distribute Source 3.4: Order in Council , P.C 2483.
    1. Post these questions for the students to consider while reading the excerpt from OIC, P.C. 2483.
      1. Why did the government feel it was necessary to reassure Japanese Canadians their property would be protected?
      2. Within months of this enactment the government will reverse course and forcibly sell all Japanese Canadian property. Why did they make this promise if the intention was to sell the property?
  3. Distribute Handout 3.3: Austin Taylor’s statement in The New Canadian and Source 3.5: The New Canadian, 6 April 1942. Have students read Taylor’s statement in The New Canadian and complete the questions in the handout. Explore students’ understanding by reviewing responses to the questions.
  4. Letter to the editor. You are a Japanese Canadian community leader. You have just read Austin Taylor’s statement in The New Canadian, but you are one of the few Japanese Canadians who has read the actual text of OIC, P.C. 2483. Write a private letter to Taylor expressing your reaction to his statement. Make sure to convey the emotional response as well as facts to back up your points.
    1. Teachers may choose to have students share these letters in a variety of ways: post them on the wall in a gallery walk, read them aloud, or hand them in for assessment.
    2. Optional: Assess students’ writing using Handout 3.4 Letter writing rubric.

Required Resources

Name
Resource Type
Action

3.3 Austin Taylor’s Statement

Student Handout
Download
View

Handout-3.3-Austin-Taylors-Statement-in-The-New-Canadian

3.4 Letter Writing Rubric

Student Handout
Download
View

Handout-3.4-Letter-Writing-Rubric

3.4 Order in Council PC 2483

Source (Image)
Download
View

Source-3.4-Order-in-Council-PC-2483

3.5 The New Canadian

Source (Document)
Download
View

Source-3.5-The-New-Canadian

Viewpoints on dispossession activity

Opinions on what to do with Japanese Canadian-owned property varied greatly both within and outside government circles. In this activity students learn there were a number of complex viewpoints behind the decision to forcibly sell Japanese Canadian property. The goals of federal, provincial, and municipal politicians and bureaucrats factored significantly in the evolution of policy.

Required Resources:

2 Handouts, 3 Sources

  1. Distribute Handout 3.5: Viewpoints of dispossession and three memos Sources 3.6 to 3.7A and B, which were authored by different officials working within the federal bureaucracy in the spring of 1942:
    1. Have students read the opinions of three federal bureaucrats involved in the policy discussion:
      1. Undersecretary of State – Henry F. Angus
      2. Deputy Minister of Labour – Arthur MacNamara
      3. Director of the Vancouver Office of the Custodian – Glenn McPherson
  2. Using Handout 3.5: Viewpoints of dispossession, students complete the chart, and note the different points of view on forced property sales. Students should focus on the following themes as they read each of the source documents: citizenship, democratic values, fairness and fair play, property rights, and civil rights.
  3. Students use the evidence and understandings gathered in the previous activity to participate in a mock question period. Provide students with a copy of Handout 3.6: Mock question period. Prior to engaging the students in this activity, teachers are advised to introduce the concept of question period as a mechanism through which the Opposition questions the ruling party (the government) on policy decisions. Remind them the questions must relate to the forced sales of all Japanese Canadian-owned property without owner consent or agreement.
    1. NB: The invocation of the War Measures Act in 1939 gave the federal government the authority to enact legislation without debate in the House of Commons. None of the Orders in Council would have been debated in Parliament nor would the ministers’ responsible be called to account in a question period.
  4. Mock question period:
    1. Divide the class into four or five groups of students.
    2. Assign one group to represent the government of Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King. The other three to four groups are opposition parties but need no official name or party affiliation.
    3. All groups will use the information recorded in Handout 3.5, and additional research as directed by the teacher, to prepare for question period. The focus of the question period will be the possible shift from a policy of property trusteeship to one of forced sales.
  5. Review the reverse of Handout 3.6 to assist students with understanding the expectations for the mock question period activity.
    1. For added authenticity, request your students dress formally and set your room up in a linear fashion to resemble the House of Commons.

Required Resources

Name
Resource Type
Action

3.5 Viewpoints of Dispossession

Student Handout
Download
View

Handout-3.5-Viewpoints-of-Dispossession

3.6 Mock Question Period

Student Handout
Download
View

Handout-3.6-Mock-Question-Perio

3.6 McPherson to Coleman

Source (Document)
Download
View

Source-3.6-McPherson-to-Coleman

3.7A MacNamara to Collins

Source (Document)
Download
View

Source-3.7A-MacNamara-to-Collins

3.7B MacNamara to Coleman

Source (Document)
Download
View

Source-3.7B-MacNamara-to-Coleman

A promise broken activity

Using multiple sources and presenting a variety of perspectives, students address the question of why government policy changed from trusteeship to the forced sale of Japanese Canadian-owned property. Students will be provided with archival evidence from government bureaucrats, Japanese Canadians, and in-betweens (agents, lawyers, auctioneers, and the media). Students apply evidence gathered from these sources in an attempt to answer two questions:

1. What were the causes for the change in policy?
2. Was the decision to change policy made in good faith?

Required Resources:

4 Handouts, 9 Sources

  1. Ask students to raise their hands if they ever made a promise (a statement of commitment to do or not do something specific). Have them keep their hands up if they have kept every promise they have ever made.
    1. Discuss what is a promise and what are the elements of a promise?
  2. Post the following statements about promises and tell your students that they will pair up and respond to each statement with agree or disagree. They must be prepared to explain their position:
    1. Promises are meant to be broken
    2. Never promise what you cannot deliver
    3. Some promises are not worth keeping
    4. A promise means everything, but once broken sorry means nothing
    5. A promise must never be broken
    6. If you wish to be a success in the world, promise everything, deliver nothing
    7. In the debrief highlight the connection between keeping a promise and ethical considerations like trustworthiness, fairness, equity, and keeping one’s word. Discuss how some might interpret a promise like a contract, something that is binding and meant to be complete.
  3. Explain to the students they will examine the possible causes for the change in federal policy toward Japanese Canadian-owned property. Prior to embarking on the activity, it is recommended that you read, review, and share Source 3.9: Dispossession backgrounder. This will provide context and familiarity with names, chronology of events, and details about the change in policy toward Japanese Canadian-owned property as legislated by Order in Council, P.C. 469.
    1. Provide student pairs with Handout 3.7: A promise broken. This activity will introduce students to the historical thinking concept cause and consequence. Take some time to review the elements of cause and consequence on the front of the handout.
    2. Students will use the varied source materials to consider the causes for the decision to move from a policy of trusteeship to the forced sale of property.
    3. Provide student pairs with sets of archival material from Sources 3.10 to 3.18. There are a range of items including government memos, maps, advertisements, newspaper articles, and the minutes from meetings.
    4. Review the fishbone diagram from Handout 3.7: A promise broken. Instruct students to search out three distinct causes by examining the archival materials. The various source documents indicate a variety of possible causes for the change in policy: public opinion in B.C., media influence, anti-Asian sentiment, cost of storing and caring for Japanese Canadian property, the legality of forced sales, the desire to claim farm land for the soldier settlement board, government deception, and the perishability of property and goods.
    5. Students record a possible cause, using as few words as possible, then record three pieces of evidence from the documents supporting the cause.
    6. Students will struggle with this activity, and will need guidance in uncovering the evidence within the source materials and learning how to connect evidence to cause. It is recommended you circulate and check in with the pairs frequently as they break down the sources.
    7. Allow at least 45 minutes for this step and then debrief examples from the students. Allow students to add to their understanding by revising their diagrams during the debrief.
  4. After debriefing the fishbone diagram, students are ready to assess the actions of the government.
    1. Organize students into groups of three to five students, and provide a copy of Handout 3.8: Did the federal government act in good faith?
    2. Explain in this activity, they will make an ethical judgment about whether the government acted in good faith.
    3. Review the elements of ethical judgment and good faith outlined in Handout 3.8: Did the federal government act in good faith?
    4. Students complete the chart in Handout 3.8: Did the federal government act in good faith? by using the sources and information from the fishbone diagram. Each group enters five examples of sincere, reasonable, fair action, then enter this on the chart. Encourage students to use the guiding questions from the handout to aid with this process.
    5. Bring the class together as a whole and debrief the activity by discussing these questions:
      1. Were early policies meant to deceive Japanese Canadians and ensure compliance?
      2. Did the racist views of politicians or bureaucrats guide policymaking?
      3. Alternatively, were policy decisions a product of a more neutral and paternal approach to caring for Japanese Canadians, and their property?
      4. What conflicting pressures were considered in the government’s decision-making?
      5. Which voices seem to have carried more weight in the policy change?
      6. What were the competing legal issues that were considered?
  5. Optional activity. Handout 3.9: Continuum debate outlines an informal class debate. Students share their viewpoint about the actions of the federal government. Students go through three rounds of debate and adjust their position based on new information and points of view.

Required Resources

Name
Resource Type
Action

3.7 A Promise Broken

Student Handout
Download

3.8 Good Faith?

Student Handout
Download

3.9 Continuum Line Debate

Student Handout
Download

3.9 Dispossession Backgrounder

Source (Document)
Download

3.10 Vancouver Sun Article

Source (Document)
Download

3.11 City Planning Council

Source (Document)
Download

3.12 Vancouver Sun Article

Source (Document)
Download

3.13 MP Mackenzie’s Speech

Source (Document)
Download

3.14 Memo: Barnett to Murchison

Student Handout
Download

3.15 Memo: Read to Roberston

Source (Document)
Download

3.16 Property Sale Notice

Source (Image)
Download

3.17 Map: Maple Ridge

Source (Image)
Download

3.18 Conference on Japanese Problems

Source (Document)
Download

The community responds: Letters of protest activity

During the 1940s, Canada enacted mass displacement of people, and dispossession of property on racial grounds — a collective moral failure that remains only partially addressed. Japanese Canadians lost their homes, farms, businesses, as well as personal, family, and communal possessions. This series of activities engages students in reading and reflecting upon the many voices that protested the forced sales. Students will encounter responses from the Custodian and consider how many families were impacted permanently by the loss of property, income, and place.

Required Resources:

2 Handouts, 16 Sources

  1. In this activity students will examine selected letters of protest written by Japanese Canadians to the Office of the Custodian that argue, plead, and request their property be preserved. Hundreds of letters were written; this is a small sample of the kinds of protests shared with the Custodian.
  2. Put students into groups of two to three and provide Handout 3.10: Letters of protest. One handout is to be completed by each small group for each letter they are assigned.
    1. Provide one or more of the letters of protest (sources 3.19 to 3.26) to each group. At this time provide only the letter of protest, not the reply from the Custodian. Explain that these letters represent a small sample of the thousands written, and the authors come from a wide range of backgrounds. They suffered different kinds of loss, and used different approaches when writing to the Custodian.
    2. Allow sufficient time for a thorough reading and analysis of the letters, and then bring the class together to debrief the notes recorded.
    3. In the debrief take care to identify the varied themes and threads found in the letters of protest. Consider the emotional tone, explicit or implicit, in each letter, and try to convey this to your students.
  3. After the debrief, distribute the corresponding Reply from the Custodian (sources 3.27 to 3.34) to the appropriate student groups . Each reply is a specific response from the Custodian to a letter examined in step 2.
    1. Provide student groups with Handout 3.11: The Custodian’s response. Prior to having the students examine the replies, have them consider the following questions from the viewpoint of the families:
      1. What is the anticipated response?
      2. What action from the Custodian would satisfy the protest?
      3. How would the Custodian’s response impact the family?
  4. Instruct students to complete the survey in Handout 3.11: The Custodian’s response. Students fill in the survey and explain the reasons for the choices made.
    1. Debrief student responses. Using the information gathered by the students takes some time to probe the responses for validity, accuracy, and depth of understanding.
  5. Write a reply to the Custodian. Each student will take the role of the author from the letter assigned in step 2, and will write a response to the Custodian.
    1. The response should reference the initial questions raised by the author, and the Custodian’s reply.

Required Resources

Name
Resource Type
Action

3.10 Letters of Protest

Student Handout
Download

3.11 The Custodian’s Reply

Student Handout
Download

3.19 T. Fukumoto

Source (Document)
Download

3.20 R. Tagashira

Source (Document)
Download

3.21 A. Susuki

Source (Document)
Download

3.22 T. Hoshiko

Source (Document)
Download

3.23 U. Oikawa

Source (Document)
Download

3.24 H.K. Naruse

Source (Document)
Download

3.25 S. Odagaki

Source (Document)
Download

3.26 R. Yoneyama

Source (Document)
Download

3.27 Reply T. Fukumoto

Source (Document)
Download

3.28 Reply R. Tagashira

Source (Document)
Download

3.29 Reply A. Susuki

Source (Document)
Download

3.30 Reply T. Hoshiko

Source (Document)
Download

3.31 Reply U. Oikawa

Source (Document)
Download

3.32 Reply H.K. Naruse

Source (Document)
Download

3.33 Reply S. Odagaki

Source (Document)
Download

3.34 Reply R. Yoneyama

Source (Document)
Download

Similar Lessons

Grades: 10, 11, 12
120 Minutes
War and national security

War and national security

Students explore how perceptions shaped by popular media can influence public opinion. They then examine the complex factors that led to the uprooting and internment of Japanese Canadians in the spring of 1942.

Big Ideas:
Historical & Contemporary Injustices
Subject:
Social Studies
Lesson Components:
3
Languages:
English
View Lesson
Grades: 10, 11, 12
120 Minutes
Emigration, settlement, and aspiration

Emigration, settlement, and aspiration

What factors compel people to emigrate/immigrate? This lesson introduces students to the concept of migration and the variety of factors (push-pull factors) that influence emigration in general and influenced Japanese Canadians specifically.

Big Ideas:
Historical & Contemporary Injustices
Subject:
Social Studies
Lesson Components:
3
Languages:
English
View Lesson
Grades: 10, 11, 12
180 Minutes
Legacies of Dispossession

Legacies of Dispossession

Students confront the human impacts of uprooting, internment, dispossession, displacement, and deportation. The federal government sold Japanese Canadians’ homes, businesses, and personal property and forced families to use the proceeds to support themselves during the internment.

Big Ideas:
Internment
Subject:
Social Studies, Social Justice
Lesson Components:
7
Languages:
English
View Lesson