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Of Japanese Descent

Accession number: 
1945.0029
Production Years: 
1945

Languages:

Film Properties: 
Length (feet): 
1927 (35mm), 771 (16mm)
Length (minutes): 
22
Holding Institutions: 

Library and Archives Canada: 16mm, 35mm, VHS.
"A public relations film which implies that the relocation and interment of Japanese Canadians was benign and necessary. Views of a Vancouver slum, idle fishing fleet, and houses on outskirts. Sequences on rehabilitated ghost towns in the Slocan Valley including Nakusp. Sequences on the new town of Tashme being built. Sequences on Japanese making a living cutting firewood, operating lumber mills, farming, etc. Interior of tuberculosis sanatorium and patients. Sequences on Japanese folk festival and dancing. Focus on life in Tashme with shots of happy people, hospital, school, general store, bakery, and a troop of boy scouts. "

Bibliography: 

National Film Board of Canada Online Database
"The film shows Japanese relocation centres in central British Columbia. There are three main Japanese groups in the relocation camps: first, those who are loyal to Japan and wish to return to that country after the war; then there is a large percentage of Canadian-Japanese awaiting naturalization; and finally there are those who have become Canadians, either by birth or by naturalization. This archival film reflects the social and cultural values and beliefs at the time of the production."

Comments: 
A new soundtrack has been added by the publisher of this video.