The smell of hay permeates the air, only interrupted by the distinct whiff of animal faeces that catches you in waves. The interior of the space was vast and forbidding: tall brick walls, rough cement walls and rows of animal pens lined up all the way to the end. Stepping into the Hastings Livestock Barn on a chilly September night, I felt only a slight reprieve from the cold breeze, but I shudder to think about living here through the seasons.
Japanese Problem is a site-specific play reenacting the stories of over 8,000 Japanese Canadians who were detained here in 1942, before they were eventually moved into internment camps in Interior BC. The play is a collaborative work between survivors of internment, actors and dramaturgs, and it aims to educate the public on the racialization and forced incarceration of Japanese-Canadians.
Actors lead the audience through different parts of the old barn building, shifting between their own personas and their characters as they weave historical facts with personal accounts. Each time an actor entered, they introduced themselves and their families’ settler-migration histories, tracing their Japanese and European settler heritage, before stepping into the lives of their characters that are created based on personal accounts. As I witness these stories, I am constantly reminded by the architecture that the building was made to house animals, and yet forcibly hosted people instead.
The team handled the complex responsibility of their message with great sensitivity. It is clear that every creative choice had been thoroughly researched and debated, and some debates even made their way into the text.
In one instance, UBC BFA graduate Nicole Yukiko stepped out of her role as a nurse’s assistant, throwing the sick ‘baby’ onto the bed to reveal a bundle of cloth. Visibly upset, she refused to continue and instead told us how sick children were taken away into quarantine to prevent mass infection and how most of them never returned to their mothers. These Brechtian moments gave us space to reflect, honouring the memories of their contributors without putting us through their real emotional trauma.
Another UBC BFA graduate Daniel Deorksen played with the musical background, using a thoughtful blend of traditional Japanese tones — such as a tin whistle played like a shakahachi — and popular Western songs from the 40s.
Japanese Problem has been on tour throughout Western Canada since September 2017, and will play next at the Nikkei Museum. For more resources on Japanese-Canadian internment at Hastings Park, visit hastingspark1942.ca.
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