A powerful and passionate novel, Obasan tells, through the eyes of a child, the moving story of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War. Naomi is a sheltered and beloved five-year-old when Pearl Harbor changes her life. Separated from her mother, she watches bewildered as she and her family become enemy aliens, persecuted and despised in their own land. Surrounded by hardship and pain, Naomi is protected by the resolute endurance of her aunt Obasan and the silence of those around her. Only after Naomi grows up does she return to question the haunting silence.
“An internationally acclaimed, widely studied novel firmly entrenched in the Canadian literary canon.” — Kerri Sakamoto
Joy Kogawa is best known as the author of Obasan (1981), which is based on Joy and her family’s forced relocation from Vancouver during the Second World War when she was six years old. Joy’s other books for adults include Itsuka (1992, published as Emily Kato in 2005), The Rain Ascends (1995), and Gently to Nagasaki (2016). Her works for children are Naomi’s Road (1986, 2005) and Naomi’s Tree (2009). Since 1967, Joy has also published several poetry collections, including A Choice of Dreams (1974), Jericho Road (1977), and A Garden of Anchors (2003). Among her many honours, Joy has received an Order of Canada (1986), an Order of British Columbia (2006), and, from the Japanese Government, an Order of the Rising Sun (2010) for “her contribution to the understanding and preservation of Japanese Canadian history.”
View titles by Joy Kogawa
A powerful and passionate novel, Obasan tells, through the eyes of a child, the moving story of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War. Naomi is a sheltered and beloved five-year-old when Pearl Harbor changes her life. Separated from her mother, she watches bewildered as she and her family become enemy aliens, persecuted and despised in their own land. Surrounded by hardship and pain, Naomi is protected by the resolute endurance of her aunt Obasan and the silence of those around her. Only after Naomi grows up does she return to question the haunting silence.
Reviews
“An internationally acclaimed, widely studied novel firmly entrenched in the Canadian literary canon.” — Kerri Sakamoto
Joy Kogawa is best known as the author of Obasan (1981), which is based on Joy and her family’s forced relocation from Vancouver during the Second World War when she was six years old. Joy’s other books for adults include Itsuka (1992, published as Emily Kato in 2005), The Rain Ascends (1995), and Gently to Nagasaki (2016). Her works for children are Naomi’s Road (1986, 2005) and Naomi’s Tree (2009). Since 1967, Joy has also published several poetry collections, including A Choice of Dreams (1974), Jericho Road (1977), and A Garden of Anchors (2003). Among her many honours, Joy has received an Order of Canada (1986), an Order of British Columbia (2006), and, from the Japanese Government, an Order of the Rising Sun (2010) for “her contribution to the understanding and preservation of Japanese Canadian history.”
View titles by Joy Kogawa
