As World War II tensions mounted between Axis and Allied forces, Canada adopted a policy of confinement and forced labour for the Japanese Canadian population. In 1942, when Tanabe was 16, he was forced to relocate from his home in Prince Rupert to the Slocan Valley, in BC’s interior. After two years in an internment camp, Tanabe was able to transfer to a prison farm in Manitoba. It was here that he had his first experiences with the Prairie landscape. After the war ended, Tanabe was able to attend art school through the Winnipeg School of Art. Early works reveal his experimentation with colour and form to create abstract, yet recognizable tracts of land, and mark the beginning of his fascination with the sweeping expanse of the Prairies. As World War II tensions mounted between Axis and Allied forces, Canada adopted a policy of confinement and forced labour for the Japanese Canadian population. In 1942, when Tanabe was 16, he was forced to relocate from his home in Prince Rupert to the Slocan Valley, in BC’s interior. After two years in an internment camp, Tanabe was able to transfer to a prison farm in Manitoba. It was here that he had his first experiences with the Prairie landscape. After the war ended, Tanabe was able to attend art school through the Winnipeg School of Art. Early works reveal his experimentation with colour and form to create abstract, yet recognizable tracts of land, and mark the beginning of his fascination with the sweeping expanse of the Prairies.