Sansei: The Storyteller adds an uplifting twist to one of Canada’s more disgraceful moments — the internment of Japanese-Canadians early in the Second World War.
Calgary performer Kunji Mark Ikeda finally brings his long standing one man show “ Sansei: The Storyteller” to the Sterndale Bennett Theatre, tonight, April 14 through Saturday, April 16.
“It really is an honour to be here in these shoes on this stage ,” Ikeda enthused, practically vibrating with excitement.
His grandparents were sent to an internment camp in the interior of B.C. shortly after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour on Dec. 7, 1941. Later on, his dad ended up moving to Picture Butte to work on a sugar beet farm.
“ I remember in Grade 10 or 11 history there was a paragraph in the text book about the Japanese interment camps, and the other kids in my class said ‘you’re Japanese, you must know about this, ’but I didn’t. So I asked my dad. And he said if it wasn’t for that, I wouldn’t be here and you wouldn’t be here,” he related, noting while his grandparents passed away before he could ask them about it, his aunt and uncle’s stories were invaluable.
His telephone conversations with them as well as original CBC reports on the camps are part of the show.
“Japanese people weren’t allowed within 100 km of major cities because people were afraid they would be sending secret codes. Even in Lethbridge families like the Nakamotos needed special permission to live in the city. But my grandparents didn’t want to weigh us down with that,” he said.
“ My aunt and uncle were very open,” he said, adding they painted a vivid picture of the camps.
“Their stories explained a lot. Like about why they didn’t want to go camping. They’d tell stories of the wind blowing through the walls of these tar paper shacks they were living in,” he continued.
