At eight years old, Grace Eiko Nishikihama was forcibly removed from her Vancouver home and interned with her family in the BC Interior. This moving memoir features Grace, now a grandmother, alongside passages from her late mother Sawae's journal. Sawae, an educated woman, immigrated to Canada in 1930 with her husband, full of hopes for a new life. However, by 1942, over 22,000 Japanese Canadians on the West Coast faced internment, with their belongings and homes confiscated and sold by the Government of Canada. After the war, restrictions persisted for four more years, forcing those of Japanese ancestry to relocate "east of the Rockies" or face deportation. Left with nothing, the Nishikihama family first moved to rural Manitoba and later to Winnipeg. At eighty-four, Sawae began documenting her memories for her children, ensuring they knew their family's story. While translating her mother's journal, Grace added her own experiences, exploring generational trauma and differing interpretations of their struggles. Despite her background in art and her role as a gallery director, Grace seeks to understand her past while confronting sexism and racism. As an advocate for reconciliation, she shares her story with future generations, drawing on her mother's teachings of hope and resilience symbolized by cherry blossoms.
