The Samurai in Our Closet & Experiences of an Internment Camp Teacher May 7 & 13
Mandy Shintani’s journey began with the secret of a 450-year-old samurai sword hidden in her family’s closet — a mystery that led her to uncover her father’s largely unspoken internment and wartime past and to create the acclaimed podcast The Samurai in Our Closet.
In parallel, Susan Yatabe shares the story of her mother, a Grade 3 teacher who was interned in Kaslo, British Columbia during the Second World War. A rediscovered collection of her students’ artwork became the foundation of a 2025 museum exhibition, Experiences of an Internment Camp Teacher.
Mandy and Susan will be sharing their families’ stories at two presentations in May, one at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, ON and one at the HHOA Fish Hatchery in Haliburton, ON. See below for details.
World at War Speaker Series – The Samurai and the Teacher: Untold Stories of Japanese Canadians in the Second World War
Join us for a powerful evening in the World at War Speaker Series as one of the National War Museum’s historians welcomes Mandy Shintani and Susan Yatabe for a moving and deeply personal exploration of the Japanese Canadian experience during the Second World War.
Thursday, May 7, 2026, 7 – 9pm
Canadian War Museum
1 Vimy Place, Ottawa, ON
The Samurai in Our Closet
& Experiences of an Internment Camp Teacher
The Telling our Stories Speaker Series welcomes Mandy Shintani and Susan Yatabe for a joint presentation revolving around their families’ experiences during the Second World War.
Wednesday, May 13, 2026, 7 – 9pm
HHOA Fish Hatchery
6712 Gelert Road, Haliburton, ON