Many Canadian citizens of Japanese descent were deported to Japan following their WWII internment. Minoru's exiled family struggled with poverty. After fighting in the Canadian Army in Korea, Minoru was finally able to return to Canada. Minoru's son, Michael, sees himself today as completely Canadian. The story is narrated by Minoru and Michael, the film's director, using drawings and photographs.

Why do you think Minoru’s family came back to Canada after being exiled years earlier?

The bombing of the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, by a nation he knew only by name, thrust nine-year-old Minoru Fukushima into a world of racism so malevolent he would be forced to leave Canada, the land of his birth. Like thousands of other Japanese Canadians, Minoru and his family were branded as an enemy of Canada, dispatched to internment camps in the interior of British Columbia, and finally deported to Japan. Directed by Michael Fukushima, Minoru's son, the film artfully combines classical animation with archival material. The memories of the father are interspersed with the voice of the son, weaving a tale of suffering and survival, of a birthright lost and recovered.