My Japanese grandpa questions my decision to return to B.C. the place where he lost so much [Video]

This First Person column is written by Nicole Ing, who lives in Vancouver. For more information about First Person stories, see the FAQ. Dec. 7 is the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese that precipitated the entry of the United States into the Second World War. 

“She’s stupid.” 

I was shocked to hear my grandpa jokingly describe me this way as I announced my new job and resulting relocation from Toronto to Vancouver; not only because he usually is more kind than this, but also because he is typically one of the more neutral and stoic people I know.

I shouldn’t have been surprised though, given his experiences as a Japanese Canadian who had lived in B.C. 

My grandpa, Naoyuki (Nick) Yoshida, is one of more than 22,000 Japanese Canadians wrongly interned by the Canadian government shortly after Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Imperial Japanese Navy on Dec. 7, 1941.