Educational Tour of Historic Joy Kogawa House
School groups are invited to tour the childhood home of Naomi’s Road author Joy Kogawa, located in the Marpole neighbourhood of South Vancouver. This 1912 bungalow was the site of many happy memories for Joy and her family before their forced removal to the B.C. interior in 1942. In 2006, the house was purchased by TLC The Land Conservancy of BC as one of few remaining properties expropriated during the Second World War and now serves as a historic reminder of the internment experience. During your school visit, students participate in work-station activities that explore Joy’s relocation and later forgiveness and understanding through writing the novels Obasan and Naomi’s Road.
The one-hour Historic Joy Kogawa field trip supports Grade 5 or Grade 11 BC Social Studies Curricula and can be adapted to meet other learning requirements and levels
Tour for Secondary Students
1. Introduction/ history and information about the house
2. Interactive video about the Kogawa family, their life at the house, their evacuation to Slocan, and subsequent years
3. Tour of the house and yard – with references to relevant parts of the novel
4. Photo and artifact tour
Tour for Elementary Students
1. Introduction/ history and information about the house
2. Interactive video about the Kogawa family, their life at the house, their evacuation to Slocan, and subsequent years
3. Photo and artifact tour
4. Tour of the house – with references to relevant parts of the novel
5. Postcard writing activity
6. Visit to Joy Kogawa’s cherry tree
7. Walking tour of the Marpole neighbourhood and former Japanese-Canadian homes
Proceeds from our school tours help to fund our writer-in-residence program, which invites writers to live and work at the house for a three-month period each year.
Cost: $4 per student, maximum 30 students.
Accompanying adults: Free
For more information or to book a visit, please contact Joan Shigeko Young at kogawahouse@yahoo.ca.