Obasan

Obasan (1981) is a work of historical fiction by Japanese-Canadian author Joy Kogawa (1935-present). Partially based on Kogawa's experiences growing up in an internment camp during WWII, the novel follows Naomi Nakane's journey into the past as she tries to come to terms with her family's collective trauma.

Obasan: Summary

It's 1972. Naomi Nakane is a Japanese-Canadian woman working as a middle school teacher in Alberta. She receives news that her Uncle Isamu, also known as Uncle Sam, has died. Naomi's Uncle and Obasan (aunt) Ayako helped to raise Naomi and her brother, Stephen, during WWII.

When Naomi returns to the town of Granton to help arrange the funeral, she reconnects with her Obasan, who remains stoic and silent in the face of grief. Naomi's Aunt Emily is an outspoken activist who wants to talk about the family's experience during WWII. At first, Naomi refuses to engage with her childhood's painful, repressed memories. Naomi's attitude begins to soften when she receives a box of letters written between her Aunt Emily and her estranged mother. The letters force Naomi to begin thinking about her family's traumatic experience.

Fig. 1 - Naomi and Stephen end up at an internment camp in British Columbia.

Her grandparents had emigrated to Canada from Japan and became highly successful. Naomi's parents enjoyed a comfortable middle-class lifestyle, raising the family in a beautiful house near Vancouver. Their lives were forever changed by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941. Due to the threat of invasion by Japanese forces, the Canadian government enacted harsh laws that prohibited the freedoms of Japanese Canadian citizens.

Since Naomi's mother was in Japan at the time of the attack, she could not re-enter the country. With their father hospitalized, Naomi and Stephen are forced out of their home to become refugees. The government decrees that all Japanese Canadian citizens must remain in internment camps for the duration of the war. The children are sent to a camp in Slocan, British Columbia, where they reunite with Obasan and Uncle.

Over the next three years, the camp becomes a bustling town, and Naomi begins to feel connected to her community. On the other hand, Stephen becomes increasingly bitter and ashamed of his heritage. Their father arrives, but the family cannot find anything out about their mother in Japan.

After the war ends, Japanese Canadians are given a choice to return to Japan or stay and work on beet farms. On the farm, the family faces terrible living conditions and low wages. Completely separated from her community, Naomi grows bitter and heartbroken when her father dies in the hospital.

The restrictions on the Japanese Canadian community are finally lifted in 1949. Naomi and Stephen move to Granton, where Uncle and Obasan raise them. The older family members do not speak about their traumatic time in the internment camp, but the experience left deep scars. Stephen begins to withdraw from others but shows talent as a musician. He eventually moves to Toronto to live with Aunt Emily and study music.

At Uncle Sam's funeral, a family friend reads two of his letters which hint at the destiny of her mother and grandmother. Naomi begs her family to reveal the truth. She learns that most of her family who'd been in Japan were killed by the atomic bombing at Nagasaki. Her mother was left horribly disfigured by the bombing. Deeply ashamed of her appearance, she hid from her children and remained silent for the rest of her life.

Obasan: Characters

Here is a look at the most important characters from Joy Kogawa's Obasan.

Naomi Nakane

The narrator and protagonist of the book, Naomi, is the literary stand-in for author Joy Kogawa. As a 36-year-old, Naomi prefers to avoid the past and feels it is morbid to dwell on her time in the internment camps. However, this staunch resistance to looking back masks her inability to cope with the trauma inflicted on her family during WWII. Despite the past, Naomi has forged a respectable living for herself as a dedicated middle school teacher. She prides herself on her ability to work hard and fit in.

Although Naomi is the novel's narrator, she reveals little about herself to the audience. This silence reflects a cultural and personal coping strategy that allows Naomi to function despite the past. Naomi is part of the family's Sansei, or third generation. Though she feels connected to her Japanese heritage, Naomi feels torn between her Canadian and Japanese identities.

Fig. 4 - Each generation of Naomi's family is classified by their connection to Japan. Naomi and her brother Stephen are part of the Sansei (third) generation.

Obasan Ayako Nakane

Obasan is Naomi's aunt and wife of the recently deceased Uncle. When Naomi and Stephen become separated from their parents during WWII, Obasan acts as a surrogate mother to the pair. She is tremendously generous and supportive and bears the burdens of life in the internment camp with patient silence.

Naomi's journey into the past raises many important questions about identity and the danger of memory.

Identity

Throughout the book, Naomi faces the struggle for identity on both a personal and group level. Her family is made up of people who were born in Canada of Japanese descent and Japanese people who emigrated to Canada. Those in the first group have a strong sense of Canadian identity and patriotism, while those born in Japan, the Issei, have a stronger connection to their homeland.

During the war, the family's divisions become less important as everyone is viewed with suspicion because of their connection to Japan. This traumatic experience is rooted in identity and has a different impact on the various members of the family. Naomi finds some sense of belonging within her community but not in her home country, while Stephen rejects his Japanese heritage and attempts to blend into White Canadian culture.

Fig. 5 - Naomi struggles to balance her Japanese heritage and Canadian identity.

Aunt Emily first sees herself as a Canadian and downplays the significance of her Japanese heritage. Uncle Sam and Obasan are traumatized by their treatment and become closed to their Japanese identity, refusing to partake in any Canadian customs. Ultimately, Kogawa shows that none of these identity approaches are healthy.

Memory and the Past

In the beginning, Naomi is hesitant to face the past. She believes it is healthier to live in the present and ignore the pain she worked hard to forget. Naomi views those who focus on history as weak; however, with her uncle's death, she is forced to face the painful memories caused by her family's time in the internment camp.

Many of the characters in Obasan have their method of dealing with the past. Naomi's relatives represent the two extremes. On one side, Obasan and Uncle Sam work hard to forget the past and focus instead on happier memories; on the other, Aunt Emily is a tireless campaigner for justice who believes everyone should face the past head-on.

Naomi's painful journey through the past reveals that it is essential to deal with the past and acknowledge suffering and trauma. On a personal level, Naomi can only make sense of herself and her identity when she faces the past. This reflects the broader need of society to face up to its past mistakes to avoid repeating them.

Obasan: Analysis

Although Joy Kogawa drew from her own experiences in an internment camp during WWII, the novel is not directly autobiographical.

While the events of Naomi's life are fictionalized, Kogawa draws from her experiences to paint a vivid picture of life for Japanese Canadians in the internment camps. The novel's themes reflect Kogawa's journey as, just like Naomi, she struggled with her identity as a Japanese Canadian for many years. The author also drew on her family for inspiration as the character of Obasan is based on Kogawa's mother. The writer's journey from denial to acceptance also reflects the journey of the Japanese Canadian community. The novel first appeared in 1981, just as the Japanese communities in Canada and America began to break their silence on the trauma they endured in WWII.

The idea of silence constantly reappears throughout the novel. Kogawa explores how silence can be both beneficial and unhealthy when people are faced with repression and trauma. As the Canadian government began implementing restrictive and discriminatory laws against Japanese Canadians, many within the community remained silent. They believed their acceptance was the best way to display their loyalty to the country. This reflects a broader cultural norm in Japanese culture. Naomi remembers her mother imploring her to remain silent as a sign of obedience and good behavior.

Fig. 6 - By the 1990s, many members of the Japanese Canadian community were ready to break the silence about their experiences during WWII.

This form of obedience is represented by Uncle and Obasan, who often do not speak out or dwell on the bad memories. Obasan shuts herself off from the world and remains silent to protect herself from racism and violence. While this silence sustains them through tough times, Kogawa shows that, in the end, it turns them to stone. She ends up walled off from the truth of their past and other people.

Most of the time, silence results in negative consequences. As a child, Naomi cannot share her experience of sexual abuse and suffers in silence. Stephen also retreats into silence as a coping mechanism. After she is disfigured in the bombing, Naomi's mother uses silence to shut herself off from her children.

Obasan: Quotes

In Obasan, Joy Kogawa draws on her personal experience to tell the story of the Nakane family. Here is a look at some meaningful quotes from the book.

Silence is both a strength and weakness to members of Naomi's family. While some draw on it as a means of protection, others see it as a way to avoid the real pain of their shared past. In the beginning, Naomi thinks that speaking out about history only serves to reopen old wounds.

Aunt Emily fiercely proclaims her identity as a Canadian and often completely ignores her Japanese heritage. Despite the racism and discrimination faced by her family, Aunt Emily still believes in Canada. She argues that everyone needs to be open and honest about the past.