Abandoned: The Stories of Japanese War Orphans in The Philippines and China

Join us on Saturday, December 7th at Innis Town Hall - University of Toronto for the first ever Canadian screening of a documentary shedding light on the untold stories of Japanese war orphans in the Philippines and China:

Prior to the Asia-Pacific War, the Philippines had the largest prewar Japanese community in the region numbering 30,000 people. Today, there are second-generation Japanese who were left behind in the Philippines after being separated from their Japanese fathers amid the post-war confusion. They are currently stateless.

In China, children were also left behind in the Japanese colony of Manchukuo after the war. While many have returned to Japan decades later, these orphans have protested and sued the Japanese government for discrimination and economic hardship due to a lack of support in overcoming language barriers and other social welfare issues as foreigners in contemporary Japan.

Abandoned: The Stories of Japanese War Orphans in The Philippines and China narrates a transnational, collective struggle for recognition from the Japanese state. As forgotten remnants of Japan’s imperial history, these war-displaced children continue to demand that the government acknowledge their existence almost 80 years after the end of the Second World War.

This event is co-hosted by the Filipino-Japanese Descendants Association, Japanese Canadian Arts & Activism Project and Japanese Canadians for Social Justice. We would like to thank our sponsors at the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, Dr. David Chu Program in Asia-Pacific Studies and Asian Institute of the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, and the Cheng Yu Tung East Asian Library.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Innis Town Hall, 2 Sussex Avenue, Toronto, Canada