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Broken Promises

Broken Promises is a travelling exhibition which explores the dispossession of Japanese Canadians in the 1940s.

Displaced Japanese Canadians leaving the Vancouver area by train

In 1942, the Government of Canada detained some 21,000 people of Japanese descent living in British Columbia. Within a year, the government authorized the forced sale of their belongings, leaving Japanese Canadians with nothing. When the internment era ended in 1949, those who had been detained found their homes, farms, businesses, vehicles, pets, and personal items were gone.

Broken Promises is dedicated to revealing the history of the Japanese Canadian dispossession and the impact that period of injustice continues to have. An exhibition of the Landscapes of Injustice project, in partnership with the Nikkei National Museum and the Royal BC Museum, Broken Promises is a story of the violation of human and civil rights, the generational trauma caused by mass displacement, and the strength and resilience of the Japanese Canadian community.

Image provided courtesy of Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre

Multiple day event Jan 18 - Apr 14, 2024

Partners

  • This project has been made possible by the Government of Canada.

    Government of Canada

Contact

905-615-4860