Travelling exhibit at Woodstock Museum highlights Japanese Canadian history during WWII

A new exhibit at the Woodstock Museum NHS is unpacking the history of Japanese Canadians and Americans during the Second World War.

The Suitcase Project is a travelling exhibit from the Nikkei National Museum and Cultural Centre in British Columbia. Photographed by Kayla Isomura, the exhibit asks fourth and fifth generation Japanese Canadians and Americans what they would pack if forcibly removed from their home today.

“What began as a photography project, capturing subjects in their homes, turned into conversations about contemporary issues, whether political or personal,” said Isomura, who identifies as fourth generation Japanese Canadian. “In today’s landscape, Japanese Canadians and Americans don’t necessarily face the same degree of racism and discrimination as our ancestors. However, we remain affected by this history in many ways.”

“Struggling to understand and see ourselves is one aspect of that, as well as recognizing the ongoing displacement and discrimination other minority groups and people of colour face today.”

In 1942, approximately 23,000 Japanese Canadians and more than 100,000 Japanese Americans living on the west coast were uprooted from their homes and placed in internment camps or incarceration.

Subjects for The Suitcase Project were given 24 to 48 hours notice to assemble their things, similar to what many Japanese Canadians faced in 1942.

“In the Canadian context, Japanese Canadians were not allowed to return home and their possessions were sold by the government or looted,” said Isomura. “If you were going to lose everything—your home, your business, your memories and personal possessions—what would you take outside of things for survival? Or would you focus on your practical needs?”

According to Isomura, Japanese Canadians were limited to weight restrictions while Japanese Americans were limited to only what they could carry.

“I never knew what my grandparents or great grandparents packed with them when they were interned, so I wondered what I could survive with sentimentally and how others would interpret this idea,” she said. “The original idea wasn’t just about what or how people would pack, but also what they are forced to leave behind.”

The Suitcase Project debuted in 2018and has since travelled throughout Canada and the US. The exhibit be on display at the Woodstock Museum until Jan. 11, 2025.

The museum is open to the public Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. free of charge.