Itsuka

“Profoundly political, exquisitely intimate, Itsuka reverberates with longing and hope.”—The Canada Times
 
Already a Canadian bestseller, the sequel to Joy Kogawa’s award-winning novel Obasan follows the character Naomi Nakane into adulthood, where she becomes involved in the movement for governmental redress. Much more overtly political than Kogawa’s first book, the story focuses on reaching that itsuka—someday—when the mistreatment of those of Japanese heritage during World War II would be recognized.
 
Although during the war both the United States and Canada interned Japanese-Americans and confiscated their property, when the war ended the property of those in Canada never returned to them. This is the story of the fight to get government compensation for the thousands of victims of the wartime internment, which was, unbelievably, only accomplished in 1988. Both a moving novel of self-discovery and a fascinating historical account of the fight for redress, Itsuka ends with a message of inspiration and hope.

Joy Kogawa was born in Vancouver in 1935 to Japanese Canadian parents. During World War II, Joy and her family were forced to move to Slocan, British Columbia, an injustice Kogawa addresses in her award-winning novel, Obasan. Kogawa has worked to educate Canadians about the history of Japanese Canadians, and she was active in the fight for official governmental redress. In 1986, Kogawa was made a Member of the Order of Canada and in 2010, the Japanese government honored her with the Order of the Rising Sun "for her contribution to the understanding and preservation of Japanese-Canadian history."