Mandy Shintani admires the samurai sword now housed at the Nikkei National Museum.[Mandy Shintani]

Just a child at the time, the third-generation Japanese-Canadian—or Sansei—had little understanding of where, exactly, the sword came from and why it was there.

It belonged to her father, that much she knew, but the reason it stayed hidden away and how it had come into his possession in the first place remained unanswered.

“When I was a kid,” explained Shintani, “I didn’t even know he’d been interned,” referring to Canada’s racially motivated policies of the Second World War where more than 22,000 Japanese-Canadians were forcibly removed from the West Coast, then incarcerated after Japan launched the Dec. 7, 1941, assault on Pearl Harbor.

The greatest mystery, however, appeared to be her father’s sword.

The truth would eventually be revealed that George Shintani—who passed away in 2022, age 96—served in military intelligence as a linguist and interrogator with the Brits as part of South East Asia Command. There, in 1946, he received the blade from a surrendering Japanese officer—later concealed in the Shintani family home.

“He never really felt comfortable being the owner,” said his daughter. “He always wanted to figure out how to give it back to the original family, but he never could.”

The 400-year-old artifact has since found a new custodian with the Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre in Burnaby, B.C. Meanwhile, Shintani, a therapist by trade, has produced and released the recent podcast “Samurai in Our Closet.”

Part tribute to her father, part tribute to the broader Japanese-Canadian experience, the podcast, with upward of 70 interviews, shines a light on those tense years before, during and after the war.

Among those involved in the project is Susan Yatabe, a fellow Sansei whose father and uncle worked with George Shintani in southeast Asia investigating Japanese war crimes. She, too, has embarked on a journey to unearth the wartime stories of her family, working as a researcher for the Nikkei National Museum.

Here, both Shintani and Yatabe discuss the podcast with Legion Magazine, emphasizing the importance of showcasing these forgotten tales.

Canadian members of South East Asia Command en route to the Pacific. The crew (left to right) pictured at Southampton, United Kingdom in 1946. Back row: Klark Ito, S.J. Chin, George K. Hasegawa, F. D. Shelton, Jimmy Inose, Min Yatabe, Joe Sato, Art Sakamoto and Jack Oki. Middle row: Harry A. Curran, Greg M. Ohashi, Frank Matsubuchi and K. Kitagawa. Front row: Peter McKenzie, T. P. Horne, Tom I. Yamashita, M. Mickey Nobuto, George Shintani and Llewellyn Fletcher. [Capt. Llewellyn Fletcher]

Shintani: My father was a very good man with a kind heart. He loved to laugh and enjoyed life immensely, which is just so astounding when you know what he went through. He believed in the best of mankind, even though he had experienced and witnessed some of the worst of humanity, both in his service overseas—working on some of the most significant war crimes of WW II—and at home in Canada.

He was the most loyal Canadian I have ever met.

As that Nisei generation [second-generation Japanese-Canadians] became seniors, they started opening up more. I think many of them especially began telling their stories after the federal government’s apology [to the formerly interned] in 1988, which I’d say went a long way toward helping them feel safer about speaking up.

Most Japanese-Canadians broadly know about the internment over the war, but I’d say that most don’t know the true stories around that. I’d also say that many don’t know about Japanese-Canadians serving in the military, as they originally weren’t allowed [to volunteer, with most enlisting only after policy changes in early 1945].

I feel that as our [third] generation become seniors, we have to ensure that the next generation understand the stories because we didn’t learn about them in Canadian history books. There’s more information out there nowadays, but we must further collect and remember these stories before that entire [second] generation is gone.

I hope “Samurai in the Closet” plays a role in that.

About the samurai sword

Shintani: I think my father hid the sword for many reasons. For one, he had a deep respect for it because he knew what it would have meant to the Japanese officer. He recognized that these were family heirlooms that families kept for generations, hence why he always wanted to find its original owner. And for a long time, I think he didn’t want to talk about any stories associated with it.

Let’s remember, too, that for many Japanese-Canadians after the war, integration [into predominantly white Canadian culture] was vital. We didn’t have anything around the house that reflected traditional Japanese culture. We didn’t speak the language. My father probably never displayed the samurai for that same reason.

About podcasting the broader Japanese-Canadians experience

Probably the hardest part of doing the podcast was also the best part: hearing the heart-wrenching stories for the first time, not just the loss of homes, businesses, and treasured belongings, but equally, the loss of community, culture and basic human rights. Stories of cruelty and injustice, not only through the internment itself but also of those forced out of the sites once they had rebuilt their lives.

I never felt comfortable crying before making the podcast—which I think is not uncommon for many Japanese-Canadians—but I cried every day hearing these stories, not just because of the sadness, but because of the incredible resilience.

It was a massive collaborative effort—everyone from researchers to historians to family members, including a lot of daughters of men who had served in uniform.

Yatabe: I want the podcast to teach Japanese-Canadians about their history, which includes, but actually goes beyond, the internment to those in the military in WW II.

I think a lot of people would probably not believe that until listening.

About Yatabe’s involvement  

Yatabe: I helped Mandy where I could, although I wouldn’t say I did research for her. She would ask me questions, and if I didn’t know the answers immediately, I knew where to find them. I’ve got many books and people who can help me. Mandy did a huge amount of work on the podcast—I maybe did five per cent.

Shintani: See, that’s that Japanese-Canadian modesty—Susan helped a lot.

Yatabe: I’ve also been working on another project for the Nikkei Museum. We’re creating a new website called Warrior Spirit that includes the histories of First World War, Second World War and Korean War veterans [of Japanese heritage].

Listen to the “Samurai in Our Closet” podcast here and check out the Warrior Spirit website at japanesecanadianveterans.ca.

This abridged interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.