Obasan

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.”