The Sedai Oral History Collection is committed to collecting, documenting, preserving and sharing the history of Japanese Canadians. Sedai collects and preserves Japanese Canadian history through audio and video recordings, and continues to add to the collection.
For uses other than research or private study, please submit a request to heritage@jccc.on.ca.
No part of the Sedai Oral History Collection and the Sedai: Japanese Canadian Legacy Project may be used, scraped, or indexed for the purpose of training generative AI technologies or large language models.
Feature of the month
As students head back to school this month, Nick Yoshida is our Sedai Feature. Nick grew up in Steveston before he and his family were forcibly relocated to Kaslo in the summer of 1942. Despite this hardship, he went on to become a chemical engineer, thanks to his mother's insistence that he stay in school.
Nick Yoshida (2010.064) interviewed by Lisa Uyeda
This clip was compiled and edited by Karen Suzuki.
Learn more about the interviewee: https://jccc.on.ca/sedai-catalogue
Content and Historic Language Advisory for the Sedai Oral History Collection
Sedai captures a variety of Japanese Canadian experiences. They document joy, hardship, bitterness, forgiveness, levity, and more. Of course, many experiences discussed are traumatic, particularly around forced displacement, internment, and discrimination. Sedai is privileged to preserve and steward these stories, for the education of future generations. Sedai acknowledges that these stories may be upsetting for some researchers or community members.
In addition, because of the historical nature of the interviews, the ideologies and attitudes, as well as language used in Sedai project materials may not align with the JCCC’s values. In particular, certain language related to specific marginalized groups or euphemistic language around internment, that is now outdated or offensive. Language changes over time, however it is important to preserve language in context. The JCCC strives to use appropriate language in its descriptions and internally created documentation. The inclusion of such language in historical materials does not constitute an endorsement by the JCCC. Where relevant, disclosure statements are included in individual interview catalogue entries and transcripts.
If you have questions or concerns about the content or find records that you think require our attention, please reach out to us at heritage@jccc.on.ca with the accession number or permalink to the material.
Research
- Sedai Oral History Catalogue
- Descendants of Densuke Uyede – Detailed genealogy tracing back six generations, provided in English.
- Descendants of Kannhichi Hirowatari – Detailed genealogy tracing back seven generations, provided in English and Japanese.