Traitor By Default - Dundurn

Traitor By Default

The Trials of Kanao Inouye, the Kamloops Kid

Published April 2024

Description

At the end of World War II, a young Japanese Canadian would stand trial and face execution for having committed war crimes and betraying his country.

One of the most bizarre stories to emerge at the end of the Second World War was that of Kanao Inouye. Born in Kamloops, B.C., in 1916, he had relocated to his ancestral homeland of Japan, and by 1942 was a translator for the Japanese army. He was assigned to the prisoner of war camp in Hong Kong where he became infamous as one of the “most sadistic guards” of the Canadian survivors of the Battle of Hong Kong. Scores of prisoners would attest to his brutality administered in revenge for the treatment he had received growing up in Canada.

His reputation was such that he was quickly apprehended after the war and faced charges of war crimes. But his subsequent trials became mired in questions as to who he really was. Was he a Canadian forced to serve in the Japanese military machine? Or was he a devoted soldier of his emperor obeying his superiors?

Contributors

Patrick Brode

Patrick Brode was born in Windsor, Ontario. He was called to the Ontario Bar in 1977 and has practiced law ever since. He has written four works on the history of law in Canada including Sir John Beverley Robinson: Bone and Sinew of the Compact, a finalist for the City of Toronto Book Award in 1985, and The Odyssey of John Anderson, a finalist for the Trillium Award in 1990.

Book Details

Paperback
April 2024
6x9 in
200 pp
9781459753693
PDF
April 2024
-
200 pp
9781459753709
ePub
April 2024
-
200 pp
9781459753716