When Canada declared war on Japan in December 1941, Japanese Canadian fishermen were among the first to feel the consequences. The federal government, citing national security, ordered the confiscation of over 1,100 fishing boats owned by Japanese Canadians along the Pacific coast. Representing families’ livelihoods built over decades, the vessels were seized by the Royal Canadian Navy and the RCMP, often with little notice, and turned over to the Custodian of Enemy Property. While authorities claimed the boats were being held for safekeeping, most were sold off at a fraction of their value to non-Japanese buyers, effectively stripping Japanese Canadian families of their economic base. This marked the beginning of a wider program of dispossession and internment that targeted the entire Japanese Canadian community during the war. 

Nuit Blanche, an all-night, Toronto-wide arts festival, will see the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre turned over to making visible these losses.  
Over twelve hours, the hull of each fishing boat confiscated during WWII will be reproduced on our gallery walls by artist Louise Noguchi with the support of a community of announcers, narrators, collaborators, and co-conspirators. 

Louise Noguchi is a Japanese Canadian artist whose work interrogates cultural identity, representation, and memory through photography, video, and installation. Over her career, she has moved from examining the myths and spectacles of the West, such as cowboys and magicians, to probing the erasures and legacies of Japanese Canadian history, including internment and dispossession. Her recent practice engages directly with archival materials and historical narratives, making her a vital figure in conversations about art, memory, and Japanese Canadian experience. 

Tea will be served, and you are invited to remain and bear witness. Texts and other materials on Japanese Canadian history will be made available in addition to other slow and reflective activities. 

The drawn hulls and a time-lapse video of the performance will remain in the gallery until the show closes on January 23, 2026.