Within the Barbed Wire Fence: a Japanese Man’s Account of his Internment in Canada by Takeo Ujo Nakano (review)

REVIEWS 231 their jobs becausethe strikersharassedthem as scabs.Elsewherein his recollections Svarich mentioned thathewas employed inthemines atRossiand in thefall of •9o• - thetimeof themajorRossiand Strikeof •9o•. In another accountentitled'On the c•'R,'Piniutachoseto translate John Romaniuk's reminiscence thataminerwhodaredtoboast thatheworkedonaholydayfell 3oofeettohisdeathin a Frankmine. There isnomentionof anemergingclass consciousness amongUkrainian workersin the minesor railwaycampsamongPiniuta'sselections or in his footnotes. There wereUkrainiansocialist clubs in theRockyMountainmining towns andtheUkrainianSocial Democrats launched anambitious campaign to organizeUkrainian miners between•9•o and •9•4 . As for Ukrainian labourers on the rails,LacyAmy'sarticleon 'SnaringThe Bohunk,'in The Railroad andCurrent Mechanics (May •9•3), isfar moredescriptive of life atthe end of steel than any of Piniuta'sexamples.Dr Piniuta'sselections are satisfactory asexamples of Ukrainiansin aruralsetting, butareinadequate in showing howUkrainians livedin thecityor in thelabourforce.The textwas enhanced by photographs culledfrom a varietyof archives and Dr Piniuta mighthaveusednon-published materialin areas wherepublished materials werelacking. In the sameyear that LandofPain, LandofPromise waspublished the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studiesreleasedits first publicationUkrainianCanadians : a Survey of theirPortrayal in English-Language Works, by FrancesSwyripa.Since •978 there has been a concertedeffort toward sophisticated analysis of Ukrainianrural and urbansettlement in Canada throughconferences, tours,andpublications. Yet, thereisstilla placefor Dr Piniuta's typeof book.It isalltoocommon for persons of Ukrainianoriginto patronizerestaurants calledHunky Bill'swithoutany thoughtabouttheir heritage.In spiteof the academic pitfallsof reminiscences, theaccounts are boundtoinstill afeeling ofprideandasense ofplace intomanywhoreadthem. The translations will alsogivethosepersons whocannotread Ukrainianbut havereadaccounts of settlements on the Prairiesof otherimmigrantgroups theopportunitytoassess similarities anddifferences. C;EORC;E B•O,•D•,K University ofBritish Columbia WithintheBarbedWire Fence:a Japanese Man'sAccount of hisInternment in Canada. T•,KEO vjo •AI•O, with LeatriceNakano.SocialHistoryof Canada. Toronto,University of TorontoPress, •98o.pp.x, •6, illus.$•o.oo. Within the Barbed Wire Fence is a translation and reconstruction of Takeo Nakano'sinternmentdiary. When Canadadeclaredwar onJapanin •94•, Nakano,aJapanese national, wasworkinginthepulpmillatWoodfibre, Bc.In March •94• he was evacuatedto the 'deceptively peaceful'(35) Rocky 232 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW Mountain road-building camps. Threemonths latertheBcSecurity Commissionbrokeits promiseto allowhim to rejoinhiswife and daughter.For refusingto do assigned construction workat Slocan, Bc,he waseventually removed withsimilarprotesters to theAnglerInternmentCampwherehe remained for fourteen months. As an internee,Nakanofound strengthto facethe 'barelyendurable anxiety' (97)andtheloneliness offamily separation inthebeauties ofnature, in thereading oftheBible(though hewas notthenaChristian), andespecially in thewriting oftanka, ahighly stylized verse form,many ofwhich areincluded in thisvolume. Duringthreeweeks injail in Vancouver Nakanohadseen 'the humanbeingstrippedof allthatdetermines hispositive self-image' (48),yet only when hearrived inside thebarbed wirefences oftheisolated Angler camp didhefullyrealize thathewas 'aninterned person' (57)whowas notfreetodo whathewantedtodo. Finally,succumbing to 'campexistence' (85),Nakano persuaded himselfthat he was'somehow guilty'(9o). This hopelessness convinced himtoapplytoleaveandaccept workin Toronto. Nakanoemerged fromhistrials'achanged man'(97).Thoughheisnever completely explicit, thatchange represented bothrecognition ofhisability to withstand adversity and hisrealization thatJapanwouldnot win the war. Nakanois a poet,not a politicalthinker.Nevertheless, onewishes he had commented moreon hischanging feelings towards CanadaandJapan.For example, hemakes onlypassing observations onhisalienation fromhisfellow prisoners, thegambariya, rebels whoeithersought internment toprotest the evacuation or whobelievedinJapan'seventualvictory. In a toobrief andgeneralafterword,W. PeterWard provides additional biographical details, explains thetankatradition, andsketches ahistory ofthe Japanese in the anti-Orientalsociety of BritishColumbia. Unfortunately, Wardmakes littleefforttorelatethebroader context specifically toNakano's experience. For example,Ward reportsnothingof Greenwood whereTao kano's familyresidednor doeshe explaintheoperations of the•c Security Commission whosedecision to separate the Nakanofamilyled to Nakano's internment atAngler.Ward,however, correctly describes these reminiscences asunique. Theyaretherecollections ofanunusual man,apoet whocoped with oppression in a mostcourageous way. PATRICIA E.ROYUniversity ofVictoria AHistory ofDalhousie LawSchool. JOHN WILLIS. Toronto,University ofToronto Press, 1979.Pp.viii,302.$20.00. Thisbooklengthhistory oftheDalhousie LawSchool isamajorcontribution to thescanty literature onCanadian legalhistory. ThelateDeanEmeritus ofthe School, HoraceE. Read,startedworkonthishistoryseveral yearsago.When Readdiedin 1975hehadcompleted afirstdraftoftheproject. JohnWillis,a ...