SURREY 鈥� By the time Zennosuke Inouye returned from fighting for Canada during the Great War, he鈥檇 settled in 性视界传媒 to grow berries on a farm.

Years later, during the Second World War, he鈥檇 found himself in an internment camp, his land taken away from him by the Canadian government.

Inouye was among many Japanese-Canadians who suffered through such hardships after the bombing of Pearl Harbour. It didn鈥檛 matter that he was president of the 性视界传媒 Berry Growers鈥� Association for a time and, according to those who knew him, a good neighbour and community member.

Today, Inouye鈥檚 story is told by Kevin Takahide Lee, a New Westminster-based actor and musician who works as a member of

At community events, mostly in the summer months, the troupe鈥檚 professional actors recreate the lives of early 性视界传媒 settlers, including reeve T.J. Sullivan, teacher Mary Jane Shannon, carpenter Eric Anderson and others.

Lee didn鈥檛 know much about Inouye before he took on the role.

鈥淗is story is so unique,鈥� Lee said, 鈥渂ecause he was the only Canadian veteran of Japanese descent to have kept his land in the end, and that鈥檚 quite phenomenal. The internment and, even more so, the reparation is something that resonates with  Japanese-Canadians.鈥�

Inouye鈥檚 80-acre farm was located on Sandell Road, today known as 128th Street, in the heart of the Strawberry Hill area. During the Second World War, the 鈥渆nemy鈥� property was repossessed by the government. Eventually, his land, along with many other pieces of property owned by Japanese-Canadians, was sold under the Veterans鈥� Land Act of 1942 and banked for distribution to veterans of the war once it was over.

But, in a flurry of letters and verbal appeals, Inouye, a war veteran, successfully fought to get his property back.

鈥淚f you have a chance,鈥� Lee encouraged, 鈥渢he museum has those letters and, if you work from the first one to the last one, and you know his story, it鈥檚 a very emotional journey, just to go through it. The man tried so hard, and it wasn鈥檛 just writing letters, because he was going out of his way to connect with different individuals. Some of those individuals were supportive and tried to help him, but others were racist, and that was something that really resonated with me.鈥�

Lee, who is Japanese-Canadian, has performed with the Re-enactors over the course of three summers.

鈥淚 went on a tour of a Japanese internment camp here and there was a lady on that tour who actually knew Zennosuke and I got so much information from her,鈥� Lee explained. 鈥淭hat was so valuable to bring that character to life because, of course, he was a real person.鈥�

In his first summer with the troupe, Lee met and performed for members of Inouye鈥檚 family at 性视界传媒鈥檚 Fusion Festival and also at an event at 性视界传媒 Museum.

鈥淭hat was a bit intimidating, because you want to be sure to do the job well and, especially when it鈥檚 an ethnic role,

(Zennosuke Inouye is pictured above)

you鈥檙e not tokenizing it,鈥� he related.

Each member of the Re-enactors troupe has three stories to tell about their character during a performance, from three different periods of their life.

In Lee鈥檚 case, the monologue about Inouye鈥檚 internment is the heaviest and, for him and others, the most emotional.

鈥淭he first two are the happier ones and with the third one, I get the strongest audience reaction, and it really varies,鈥� Lee said. 鈥淪ome (people) celebrate, others apologize. I feel some people feel that they have played a role in the internment. There was one lady who came up to me and more or less apologized, because her father was one of the individuals who was selling the Japanese-Canadian land. It鈥檚 really interesting, the reaction.鈥�

tom.zillich@thenownewspaper.com