‘The children are always ours, every single one of them, all over the globe.’
— James Baldwin
Maya Tali
Japanese Canadians are commemorating the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as Gazans today suffer the impact of “six Hiroshimas” (1). The silence from the Japanese Canadian community as the war persists is a disgraceful paradox of the sentiment: “Never Again.”
Growing up as a second-generation, mixed-Japanese/Jewish Canadian, I was horrified by the countless stories of the victims of wars and the ways in which the Second World War impacted my family and communities.
Books, movies and plays such as “Barefoot Gen,” “Sadako” and “Grave of the Fireflies” were mingled in my educational curriculum alongside “The Diary of Anne Frank,” “Boy in the Striped Pyjamas” and “Hana’s Suitcase.”
Moreover, they were graphic: eyeballs dangling from their sockets; melting skin hanging from burnt bodies; rib bones protruding through skin. Piles and piles of bodies. Those images haunt me to this day.
Commemoration events and exhibitions across the country are marking the 80th of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the liberation of Nazi concentration camps.
At the same time, we are witnessing the deliberate starvation, torture and killing of Palestinian people by the state of Israel. As of July 23, 2025, 111 deaths have been reported due to severe malnutrition — at least 80 of them children (2).
Over the past 22 months, the media has reported stories from Gaza, too horrific for the majority of us in Canada to fully comprehend the magnitude of the situation:
People buried and burnt alive, their limbs pulled from under the rubble of their homes.
Children being orphaned by carpet bombings, while they search deserted streets for supplies for their families.
Mothers too weak and frail, unable to provide milk to their newborns.
These narratives are eerily similar to the aforementioned Japanese stories I heard and read about as a child, myself. Yet, despite glaring similarities between these two wars, Japanese Canadian groups commemorating Hiroshima and Nagasaki have remained hushed about the dire situation in Gaza.
The Japanese elementary school curriculum mandates all children to learn about the atomic bomb; as children of post-war Japanese immigrants, we could not choose to ignore this history. And likewise, as victims of the Holocaust, my Jewish family members instilled the message of peace and coexistence and the irreparable traumas of war experienced by children.
In Canada, Japanese Canadians were ostracized and labelled as enemy aliens, and children lost connection to their cultural heritage and language.
“Never Again” loses all meaning if we choose to ignore modern crimes against humanity while commemorating historic atrocities.
There is no excuse for turning away from our sisters, brothers and children in Gaza as we gather with community to mark the 80th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I implore you to pay attention to the genocide. To speak out against it. To use your money and voting powers in good conscience. And, most importantly, to never allow this suffering to be normalized.
References
https://www.ft.com/content/acb6116e-18cb-4af4-9eee-1c005869ef70
Maya Tali is a Nisei Japanese/Jewish Canadian with a passion for environmental and social justice.
