Sally Ito's cultural memoir mines fresh territory as she writes about the 4,000 Japanese Canadians who were "repatriated" to Japan during the Pacific War. The story of these "Emperor's Orphans", the upheaval of their lives, and their struggle to establish themselves in a country ripped apart by war, is one that has not received a great deal of attention by English writers.

Ito reviews her childhood growing up in a suburb of Edmonton which offers a fascinating juxtaposition to her two trips to Japan where she retraces her family's journey and scrutinizes the choices they make about remaining in Japan or returning to Canada and the lifelong ramifications this has for her extended family.

Emperor's Orphans will have a strong appeal to those interested in the Pacific War, Canadian-Japanese history, and cultural memoirs.

Sally Ito was born in Taber, Alberta and grew up in Edmonton and the Northwest Territories. She studied at the University of British Columbia and the University of Alberta, and travelled on scholarship to Japan, where she translated Japanese poetry. Her first book of poems, Frogs in the Rain Barrel (Nightwood, 1995) was runner-up for the Milton Acorn People's Poetry Award. Her second book, Floating Shore (Mercury Press), won the Writers Guild of Alberta Book Award for short fiction, and was shortlisted for the Danuta Gleed Literary Prize and the City of Edmonton Book Prize. Her work has appeared in numerous periodicals such as Grain, Matrix and the Capilano Review and in the anthologies Breathing Fire: Canada's New Poets and Poets 88. Ito lives in Edmonton with her husband and son.

Sally Ito's profile page