NIKKEI IMAGES Japanese Canadian National Museum Newsletter ISSN#1203-9017 Winter 2002, Vol. 7, No. 4

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Contents

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Nikkei Week 125th Anniversary Dinner Address 1JCNM President’s Report 4UVic Conference 7Early Japanese Canadian Community in Tofino 7A “Nagaya” in Vancouver 1050th Anniversary of the Steveston Judo Club 11A Perfect Gift for the Holidays at the Museum Shop 12Roy Miki Wins 2002 Governor General’s Award 12How Long Was Amerika’s Five Years 13Memories of East Lillooet 14

Nikkei Week 125th Anniversary Dinner Address by Lieutenant-Governor Iona Campagnolo

Consul General of Japan in Vancouver Mr.Ozawa, honoured guest, Reverend Nagano, PresidentHayashi of the National Nikkei Heritage Society, Mr.Fukawa President of the Japanese Canadian NationalMuseum, Mr. Paul Kariya, Coordinator of theFishermen’s Reunion Project Committee, Honoured fel-low British Columbian Women and Men of Japanesedescent.

I am delighted to greet you in Nikkei Week asyou celebrate and remember a number of important an-niversaries. First, we join in this gala welcome for theReverend Paul Nagano of Los Angeles on this 125th an-niversary of the arrival of grandfather, Manzo Nagano inBritish Columbia. Young Manzo Nagano set sail on aforeign ship, landing in New Westminster in 1877, justfive years after B. C. had joined Confederation. He fishedon the Fraser for a few years then returned to Japan, onlyto journey back a second time, locating in Victoria, wherehe became a man of property, owning a successful busi-ness on Government Street that prospered until destroyedby fire in 1922.

The British Columbia of a Century ago was ahard and difficult place for almost everyone. With a wholevast array of humanity from all over the world seekingnew lives, people were too busy surviving to be hostileto each other in those early days. They all wanted a bet-ter life for their families and worked furiously towardthat goal. Although it has turned out to be a long andtortuous route, I think we can safely say now, that thebetter life they all sought has been more or less attained.

We know British Columbia today as a thrivingcommunity of many peoples. I think we are in a momentright now when a transition from our pioneer ethic to aglobal one is in full swing. The land we share has AL-WAYS been home to a surprising variety of human dif-ferences. Contrary to our customary assumptions on thematter, this province is NOT 200 years old, but is an-cient beyond belief.

Before the first European Explorers arrived,some 10 millennia of human history had been lived here

Lieutenant-Governor Iona Campagnolo addressing guests atthe Nikkei 125 Celebration Dinner. (Roy Hamiguchi photo,2002)

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Nikkei Images is published bythe Japanese Canadian

National Museum

Editorial Board:Stanley Fukawa, Grace Hama,Frank Kamiya, Mitsuo Yesaki,

Carl Yokota

Subscription to Nikkei Imagesis free with your yearly subscription to JCNM:

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JAPANESE CANADIANNATIONAL MUSEUM

6688 Southoaks Crescent,Burnaby, B.C., V5E 4M7

Canadatel: (604) 777-8000fax: (604) 777-7001jcnmas@telus.net

www.jcnm.ca

AnnouncementsAnnouncementsAnnouncementsAnnouncementsAnnouncements

JCNM & NNHC MochitsukiNational Nikkei Heritage Centre

Kingsway and Sperling Ave., Bby.Dec. 29, 2002, 12:00 to 4:00 p.m.mochi, manju and lunches for sale

ShinnenkaiJapanese Canadian Community

New Year’s CelebrationNational Nikkei Heritage Centre,Jan. 18, 2003, 5:00 - 8:30 p.m.

$30 adults, $20 children,includes buffet dinner.

by the First Peoples. The human fam-ily that evolved here had lived in en-closed valleys, along the many hos-pitable Riverbanks and in protectedpockets and coves on the ruggedCoast. A densely forested land bor-dered by a wild and unpredictableOcean kept most people from know-ing each other. There was little needto communicate because the land andwaters so abundantly supplied theirneeds for food, shelter and clothing.Over the centuries numerous 1st Na-tions and Aboriginal Peoples devel-oped a host of different languages,cultures, traditions and beliefs thatwere sustained until the terrible newdiseases began to take their appall-ing toll. By 1862, the population wason the way to being a tiny fraction ofwhat it had once been, and the greatdiversity of cultures with all theirsongs, dances, languages and artsnearly died too.

To those Aboriginal Peoplewho remained, a very cosmopolitanmix of settlers were added, includ-ing German, Portuguese, Scots, En-glish, Hawaiian, Chinese and even U.S. citizens and starting with Mr.Manzo Nagano: the Japanese. In theearliest days there seems to have beenlittle evidence of antagonisms be-tween them all and a special ‘RainLanguage’ called Chinook was de-veloped to communicate across thecomplexity of languages of the time.In those earliest days there weremany examples of cooperation andgood fellowship across racial andethnic lines, but as the numbers ofnew citizens increased, the face ofracism was unmasked and visibleminorities began to be excluded fromthe good life they sought.

One of those exclusions con-tinues to trouble our society throughsucceeding generations. My fatherworked for Anglo-BC Packing Com-pany at North Pacific Cannery on theSkeena River. So like some of you, Iwas a Skeena River kid, born into the

fishing industry and convinced it wasa world that would always exist! TheCannery was structured on the Colo-nial model with a carefully segre-gated strata of white bosses, bluecollar whites, Japanese men whofished and Japanese women whowere prized hand-canners, and Chi-nese and Aboriginal workers. We alllived in careful demarcation fromeach other, our tiny temporary houseswere calibrated to demonstrate ourstatus, and each located in a separateenclave. We shopped at the Companystore, using Company Coupons or‘Scrip’ instead of money adding to atotal purchase that was deductedfrom our annual wage at the end ofthe Fishing Season. My first friendswere Japanese and Aboriginal, wewent to school together and weworked together but at the Cannerywe were discouraged from playingtogether, although we always foundways to do so. (I began work in thecannery at age 10 for 42 cents an hourand suspect that some of you mighthave too.)

Following the bombing ofPearl Harbour and the US entry intoWorld War 11, the internment of Ca-nadian Citizens of Japanese Heritageto the Camps began in the spring of1942 when I was nine. The Navy andthe RCMP arrived at the little Can-nery in the early Spring with instruc-tions that were followed to the letter.The resulting upheaval was forevercoupled in my mind with the coinci-dental removal of Aboriginal chil-dren from their homes to ResidentialSchools. These two events have in-fluenced my personal philosophy andactions ever since!

I witnessed the great flotil-las of Japanese owned Fishing Boats,lashed together and towed down theriver to disposal points, where theywere purchased at cut-rates by non-Japanese Fishers so that their own-ers could pay for their incarceration!I remember the great Custodial build-

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ings packed to overflowing with con-fiscated furnishings and preciouspersonal possessions of Japaneseneighbours and friends, who wereobliged to travel to the Camps with aminimum of hand-baggage. I remem-ber standing on the dock and laterbeside the train tracks, watching mychildhood friends and their familiesdepart against their will, with tearson both sides! Even now, Sixty yearslater there remains an unresolvedapprehension among many of us whowitnessed the sad exodus. It was agrand occasion this past May, whenI assisted the Mayne Islanders as theydedicated a splendid Japanese Gar-den to the memory of the familieswho had been interned, and thenlinked it to all the other Island resi-dents from now on.

When the forced departurestook place, hysteria was everywhere,there were stories of Japanese ArmyColonels acting as “Spies” among usand the coastal Union Steamshipswere told to maintain blackouts sothat “Japanese Submarines” wouldnot torpedo them. When word camethat Japanese bombers had struckDutch Harbour, Alaska, we all movedto the mountains for a day. In suchan atmosphere humiliation of the ‘en-emy’, injustice and hate were fre-quently displayed and as with all suchdark emotions a terrible price waspaid, in lives blighted, hopes dashedand opportunities denied. CanadianCitizens of German and Italian de-scent were not removed to camps ourPrime Minister McKenzie King saidat the time so he could see no reasonto treat Citizens of Japanese descentany differently, but BritishColumbians changed his mind.Canada treated its Citizens of Japa-nese heritage worse than the U. S.did: families were separated, intern-ees were forced to pay the costs oftheir shabby incarceration and fol-lowing the War, they were given achoice of either returning to Japan, a

country most had never seen or notbeing allowed to return to the PacificCoast until 1949. Not surprisinglymany never returned to this province.Even when redress was finally wonand an Apology accepted, none of ushave forgotten, and few have for-given ourselves for what occurred.

There were many after-ef-fects of the internment: friendshipswere ended, major employers werelost, schools were closed. There weresome voices of defense and support,a newspaper article of the time statesthat Japanese Canadians are “cour-teous, civil, hospitable and of excel-lent community spirit toward theirfellow citizens”. Christmas lettersfrom internees to their neighboursoften contained maps to hiddencaches of sake and other elements ofgood cheer.

Scars remained for genera-tions, but you have continued to bethe loyal Canadians, some evenjoined the Canadian Armed Forcesand fought for a Canada that wouldnot even let them vote. Though nowit is acknowledged that you wereloyal, even when unjustly taken fromyour homes and penalized, you havecontinued to enrich the society thatyou share and your many strengthsadd positively to this multifacetedculture that are all still ‘weaving to-gether’ in this precious place. I thinkof the writings of Ann Sunahara, ofJoy Kogawa, of Ken Adachi. I amreminded of the wisdom of that mag-nificent civil servant, former DeputyMinister of Finance for Canada,Tommy Shoyama. B. C. has ben-efited greatly from the ideas andwork of so many people of Japaneseancestry; people like T. Buck Suzukiand of course the remarkable Dr.David Suzuki, too. We have alllearned to enjoy the best of Japaneseculture in everything from fine foodto those distinctive traditional Japa-nese gifts of reserve, minimalism,aestheticism and respect.

Our National Consciencedemands that what happened to Ca-nadian citizens of Japanese descentsixty years ago does not ever happenagain. As we leave it to history, the20th Century is beginning to comeinto focus; many of us believe it willbe remembered as 100 years of bloodand injustice. If this new 21st Cen-tury is to be remembered for some-thing other than continued bloodlet-ting and darkness, it is up to everycitizen to work toward global humanrights and balancing the existing Glo-bal Economy with a just Social andEnvironmental ethic and rule of law,that is capable of benefiting allpeople, not merely we privilegedWesterners whose good fortune con-trasts starkly with a world of peoplein need.

What can we do with whatwe have learned from the internmentof Japanese Canadian Citizens? Wecan work right now to assure thatCanadians of the Islamic Faith areprotected from the kinds of injusticethat took place six decades ago. Wecan reach out to them right now tosecure their place in Canada as loyalCanadians. We can study and learnthat Islam is NOT synonymous withterrorism and we can work to assurethat our fellow citizens appreciatethat loyal Moslem Canadians DONOT represent a threat to our Nation!

A few days ago, we experi-enced a re-telling of last year’s ter-ror attack. We now know that theUnited States and our major Cana-dian population centers were pro-tected by a decision that directedhundreds of possibly terrorist passen-ger Air Planes to Airports in our out-lying areas. The peoples of Yukon,the Maritimes and Newfoundlandaccepted their role and rather thanprotesting the threat to themselves,gave hospitality and kindness in re-turn. In thanks, a Texan expressed hisgratitude on television by saying,

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“You still have something in Canadathat we have lost in the U. S.”

That elusive quality of hu-manity and ‘generosity of spirit’ thatmany Canadians still have is our se-cret weapon and one of our greatestnational treasures. We can keep faithwith those who gave us our birthright,if we assure that the curse of historyforgotten is NEVER visited on those

generations who follow us! As thegreat founder of Aikido, MoriheiUeshiba taught us: ‘The divine is notsomething high above us. It is inheaven, it is in earth, it is inside us.’As your Lieutenant Governor, I am,like you, very proud of our beautifulBritish Columbia, but I am keenlyaware that its most important beautyrests in hearts of its people! We have

learned much together. Theexperience of the Nikkei in Canadahas helped us all to better understanda fundamental 21st Century truth,that is: if the human family is tosurvive and our civilization besustained: we must honour ALL theworld’s descendants with the samerespect that we once reserved onlyto our own ancestors! a

Museum’s Purpose(Mission): “to promote a betterunderstanding and appreciation by allCanadians of Japanese Canadianculture” and “to promote anawareness of the contributions ofJapanese Canadians to Canadiansociety.” – the Constitution of theJCNM.

The Museum, in the 2001-2002 Year, has had a challengingyear. Boards of directors, over theyears, have tried to build andmaintain a cooperative and mutuallyrespectful team including staff,volunteers, members, donors, usersand the Board. A capable anddedicated team can, with the aid ofsupporters and friends, endure theups and downs that inevitably visitall organizations and accomplishimportant goals. Theaccomplishments of the past yearbear convincing testimony to thestrength of an organization, even inthe face of difficulties.

The Merger:The Board has negotiated a

merger with the National NikkeiHeritage Centre Society (NNHCS)which will maintain the name of theJapanese Canadian National Mu-seum, and the basis of a nationalmuseum in the scope of its work. Ina period when funding is a problemand the number of competing Nikkeiorganizations is large, it makes a

Japanese Canadian National Museum President’s Report,2001-2002 by Stan Fukawa

great deal of sense to merge with anorganization with the same purposesin its Constitution, a shared belief inthe mutual benefits of a merger, andan impressive record in fundraising.It is not only in the for-profit worldthat rationalization holds promise.Our communications with our mem-bers on this critical decision resultedin an impressive participation rateand the approval of the merger deci-sion by a remarkable 95.1% of thevotes.

Nikkei Week 125:The JCNM Board took a

major leadership role with theNNHCS, in a 5-group co-sponsorshipof a major historical JapaneseCanadian event, Nikkei Week 125,which celebrated 125 years ofJapanese settlement in Canada.Audiences inside and outside of theJapanese Canadian community –5000 of them, attended the eventsduring the nine days and many moreheard about it and read about it in themedia. The CBC had daily noticesand interviews and lengthy articlesappeared in the Japanese languagepress and community newspapers.

The Lieut. Governor, theHonourable Iona Campagnolo, in hersympathetic speeches at the openingdinner and at the unveiling of theJapanese Fishermen’s Memorialsculpture, gave an officialrecognition of the injustices suffered

by many Nikkei. The families ofManzo Nagano and TomekichiHomma came from far and wide andtheir participation in the speeches andhistorical session, and attendance atmany events throughout the week,brought a sense of history.

Onsite events at NikkeiPlace included the opening of NikkeiHome (Sept. 13), the Gala Dinner(Sept. 14), Family Histories andHarry Aoki’s Last Powell St. Concert(Sept. 17), the Nagano – HommaEvening (Sept. 18), the InternmentReunion Dinner (Sept. 19), a TaikoConcert (Sept. 20), and the NikkeiFestival (Sept. 21-22). Off-siteevents were “Obaachan’s Garden” indowntown Vancouver (Sept. 16), there-naming of the New World Hotelon Powell St. as Tamura House inhonour of the pre-war Nikkei banker(Sept. 18) and the JapaneseFishermen’s Memorial unveiling inSteveston (Sept. 20).

Exhibitions:We had three exhibitions

during the past year. The veryprofessional inaugural exhibit,“Reshaping memory…” focusing oninternment, opened in September,2000. It was created by our secondExecutive Director, Grace Thomson,who was very successful infundraising for it. She was aided inthe exhibit by the MuseumCollections Curator Susan Sirovyak,

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Vancouver museum designer DavidJensen, and the Miki/Kobayashibook, “Justice in Our Time.” As aneducational resource for visitingclasses, the exhibit was teamed withan NFB video, a social studiesworkbook created by teachers, and asession with internment campsurvivors. The importance of livingpeople in museum offerings wasattested to by the highest ratingsbeing awarded by social studies’teachers to the survivors’ talk overthe other parts of the program. InNovember, 2001, the inauguralexhibit was sent on a 2002 tour ofNanaimo, Port Alberni and CampbellRiver. The year 2003 will see it goingeast to the Prairies and Ontario.

The second exhibition was areturn visit of “Unearthed from theSilence” about the pre-war StevestonJapanese Canadian community andis a collaborative production with theRichmond Museum. JCNM staff,including the first ExecutiveDirector, Michael Wilson, played akey role in creating this exhibit whichwas shown earlier at our EastBroadway location.

The third exhibition was Dr.Henry Shimizu’s very fine “Imagesof Internment” consisting mainly ofhis paintings of life in the NewDenver internment community. Itarrived August 20 and stayed in theMuseum gallery until Sept. 19. Itmissed the last three days of NikkeiWeek due to a prior commitment andthereby lost an opportunity to be seenby thousands of visitors to the NikkeiWeek festival on Sept. 21-22.

Collections:Over the past year, our

collection has been enriched by theaddition of bound copies of the NewCanadian, a gift from ThomasShoyama and the estate of Mrs.Chiyo Umezuki (late widow of long-time publisher Takaichi Umezuki).Another significant gift was

delivered in September, the Jitaro andSumiko Tanaka Collection ofarchival materials including a type-written diary of the war years,scrapbooks of newspaper clippingsand reports written by Mr. Tanaka onsignificant items like the MassEvacuation Group and the hearing onMorii’s purported gangsterism andlinks to the Black Dragon Society.Mr. Tanaka was advisor to andrepresentative of the Spanish Consulwho was responsible for protectingthe human rights of Japanese aliens.He was also, in 1926, a member ofthe Asahi baseball team (which werethe Terminal League champions)together with two brothers and fourbrothers-in-law.

Work with Nikkei Organizations:We have been assisting the

Japanese Fishermen’s ReunionCommittee in honouring andpreserving the history of the Japanesefishers who have contributed somuch to this key B.C. industry. Ouraid has been in financial managementand the preparation of the photoexhibit.

The Museum annuallysupports the Powell St. Festival inAugust, including pre-selling raffletickets. This year we had two booths:one in the Buddhist Church sellingbooks, videos and a map of the pre-war Powell Street Japanesecommunity, and the other in theNikkei Place tent, explaining ourwork. The Museum’s Powell StreetWalking Tour was a hit as always.Both Board and staff have beeninvolved in this work with Nikkeiorganizations.

Work with educational institutions:In late August, the JCNM

was recognized by the organizers ofthe University of Victoria conference“Changing Japanese Identity in aMulticultural Canada” as a majorsupporter and participant in that

conference. A museum panel mainlydealing with oral history, includedtwo Board members (Dr. Paul Kariyaand Stan Fukawa), a formeremployee (Reiko Tagami) and amuseum volunteer (Mary Kitagawa).Museum staff, Daien Ide and KenjiMorishita were at the Museum tableto explain our work to Conferenceparticipants, and Kenji, a universitystudent hired on a summergovernment subsidy showed hisexcellent Power Point presentation ofphotographs from the Museumcollections. Reports were alsopresented by Grace Thomson and JimWolf from the JCNM involvementwith the UVic Art Dept. in a two-yearproject on pre-war JapaneseCanadian photographers.

Social studies teachers in thepublic school system are keenlyinterested in the Museum, especiallyin the context of the internment.Exhibit-centred programs, travelingsuitcase programs, internmentsurvivors as speakers have been andwill continue to be requested.

Newsletter and Web-site:The Museum’s newsletter,

“Nikkei Images,” has had a banneryear with issues running more pagesand stories than ever before in itshistory. The most recent issuecovered subjects as diverse as thehistory of Kendo in Canada, JapaneseCanadian contributions to fishingtechnology, memories of theinternment years, the memorial to thevanished Terminal Island JapaneseAmerican fishing community,tributes to Tommy Shoyama, ToyoTakata and Tsuneharu Gonnami, anda ceremony dedicating a Japanesegarden on Mayne Island. TheMuseum website, www.jcnm.ca, hasbeen in operation for the past twoyears and its potential is enormous.Both these important arms of theMuseum are the work of volunteers.

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The Museum in Japan:An international project

initiated by the JCNM in celebrationof the 125th anniversary of ourJapanese Canadian heritage is tointroduce, to Japan, the film,“Obaachan’s Garden” by LindaOhama. Tama Copithorne, theMuseum Board Programs co-chairhas been working tirelessly – tocreate the subtitles in Japanese, andin negotiations with Linda, the NFB,the Canadian Dept. Of ForeignAffairs and International Trade,Toyota Canada, Canadian Embassyin Japan, the Japanese PrimeMinister’s Office, Canada-JapanFriendship Societies, Asahi Shimbunand many host organizations inJapan, to obtain the support requiredto show the film in Japan. Linda, herdaughter Caitlin and Tama will betaking the film on a tour of Japan to15 venues from Hokkaido toKagoshima during the month ofNovember.

In April of this year, I madea pilgrimage to Manzo Nagano’s lastresting place in Kuchinotsu village,Nagasaki prefecture Japan. Ireceived a very enthusiastic receptionfrom the Mayor of Kuchinotsu andthe Governor of Nagasaki. TheMayor fell ill in the summer and wasunable to attend the Nikkei Week 125celebration. Relationships werebegun with the Canada Museum inWakayama-ken (which has materialon the immigrants to Canada fromMio village) and with the KuchinotsuMuseum. Japanese scholars inimmigrant studies can help us greatly.

Other Accomplishments:Fundraising, Meeting

National Advisors, Mochitsuki,

Assistance to Researchers,Continuation of Translation ofArchival Materials by Volunteers,Board Planning Session, MuseumVolunteers and NNHCS VolunteersBegin Working Together & GettingAcquainted.

Our Search for a Manager/Curator:The second Executive

Director in the Museum’s history,Grace Thomson, submitted herresignation in January, 2002. TheBoard regretfully accepted it andhired her, on contract, to complete theprojects that she had begun. Thiscontract ended May 31, at the end ofour fiscal year. Her dedication, workethic and expertise contributed to thedevelopment of the Museum.

A search for the third Execu-tive Director was advertised in Juneand the process did not run its coursedue to the change from a Part-Timeposition, reporting to the MuseumBoard, to a Full-Time position, re-porting to the CEO, Nikkei Place.This change was necessitated be-cause of the impending merger andthe rationalization of roles. The newposition will be called Manager/ Cu-rator. The advertising is on theinternet and will be carried in theNovember issues of the GreaterVancouver JCCA Bulletin and theNikkei Voice.

Appreciation and Looking Ahead:This is my last opportunity

to speak as President of the JapaneseCanadian National Museum beforeit becomes merged with the NationalNikkei Heritage Centre Society. Iwould like to thank everyone who hasbeen associated with the Museumfrom its inception. Each Board and

staff and corps of volunteers has hadto struggle against ever-changingchallenges but all of them have beenvery committed to the Museum, andhave maintained their loyalty anddedication. Small staff size has beena constant part of the Museum,requiring staff to be flexible andresourceful, while offering a variedwork schedule and experience indifferent aspects of the enterprise.The past year required staff to workwith minimal supervision but this hasbeen true of most of the Museum’shistory. Volunteers, the backbone ofthe Museum from its days as a sub-committee in the JCCA, havecontinued to support us in officework, research and translation,fundraising activities andprofessional services. The Board ofDirectors, also volunteers, have beenrequired to spend a lot of time thisyear on particularly difficult issues.They have been very principled,patient and caring in the exercise oftheir duties. Thank you all.

The success of the museumto date has been dependent on thecommitment of many people whohave been motivated by anunderstanding of the importance ofhistory and of the JCNM as a history-preserving institution. The impact ofsuch events as Nikkei Week 125 andother parts of the museum programwill broaden the circle of those whounderstand both. This bodes well forthe future of the Museum and of theunion with the NNHCS. Our mergedsociety will assist in both thedevelopment of a stronger JapaneseCanadian community and a strongermulticultural Canada through itscontinued pursuit of theorganization’s mission. a

JCNM & NNHC MochitsukiNational Nikkei Heritage Centre, Kingsway and Sperling Ave., Bby.

Dec. 29, 2002, 12:00 to 4:00 p.m.mochi, manju and lunches for sale

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UVic Conference “Changing Japanese Identities in MulticulturalCanada” by Stan Fukawa

The Centre for Asia-PacificInitiatives at the University ofVictoria sponsored the above-namedconference from Aug. 22 to Aug. 24,2002 on their campus. Organizers ofthe event, Midge Ayukawa, JosephKess, and Hiroko Noro, were verypleased with the outcome. It was wellattended with over 200 delegatesfrom across Canada, the U.S. andmany from Japan – with representa-tives of both academic and commu-nity groups well represented.

In his introduction, JosephKess said, “Since the 1970’s Canadahas chosen to incorporate the conceptof multiculturalism as a definingcriterion of itself as a diverse andtolerant society, and Japanese-Canadians have probably had moreto do with our realizing the values ofmulti-culturalism than any othergroup in this society. Thoughnumerically small, their accomplish-ments as an ethnic group areastonishing, and so we thought it wasappropriate at this historic point tocelebrate this in a conference thatpaid attention to their experiences inCanada, as well as the changes theyhave felt in their own perceptions ofCanada and Canadian society.”

A sophisticated and personalkeynote address by Roy Miki of theSimon Fraser University EnglishDepartment followed, setting a seri-ous and critical tone to the Confer-ence, perhaps appropriate to the sub-ject matter of an ethnic group whichhad been transformed, as he said,from “enemy alien” to “model minor-ity” within a few decades. In intro-ducing Roy Miki, Midge Ayukawapaid tribute to the importance of histightly-honed linguistic skills in thechoice of words in the struggle forJapanese Canadian Redress.

It was wonderful to meet andconverse with “Tommy” Shoyama atthe Conference and the Conferencedinner. His smile is still a winningone and his mind is clear. MidgeAyukawa paid a well-deserved trib-ute to him at the dinner as our “Liv-ing National Treasure.”

Another highlight was theafter-dinner speech by the multi-tal-ented Terry Watada, who showed upas a stand-up comic and regaled uswith self-deprecating stories abouthis adventures with Asian gangsterswho interpreted his failure to winfame in the white media as an honor-able refusal to sell out.

The sessions themselveswere immensely varied, coveringeverything from history, religion, art,language and literature relating toNikkei, to concerns for cultural andlinguistic retention, multiculturalismin Japan, negotiating and discover-ing identity, women’s identity, youthand aging. They ranged from simpleoral histories to complex-soundingpolitical analyses.

Nikkei make up less than aquarter of one per cent of the popu-lation of Canada. And yet this con-ference spoke to a much larger is-sue—that of the immense struggle ofminorities (including women) againstthe overwhelming power of the ma-jority which defines reality for thewhole society and often sets the pri-orities—not surprisingly—in a self-serving way, without realizing howself-serving and unjust it is.

The Japanese Canadian Na-tional Museum was represented bystaffers Daien Ide and KenjiMorishita who manned the Museumtable and showed the photo displaycreated by Kenji, and Panelists PaulKariya, Mary Kitagawa, ReikoTagami and panel moderator StanFukawa. a

It all began in February, 2001with a phone call from Mary Kimotoof Ucluelet saying she had beenasked by Frank Kamiya of the JCNMabout a stone usu that Mrs. Okadahad used in Clayoquot Island to makekamaboko. (Nikkei Images, Winter2001, Vol.6, No.4). Mary had the usuin her back yard but she had promisedit to the planned Ucluelet museum.She said that there was, however,another usu which the Nishimurafamily had left behind in Tofino in1942. According to Mary, Ed Arnet,

Early Japanese Canadian Community in Tofinoby Midge Ayukawa with Edward Arnet

whose grandparents had been pioneerNorwegians in the Tofino area hadthe usu and he lived in the Victoriaarea.

It was not until early June,however, when a glance in theVictoria phone book and a phone callled to an invitation to the Arnet homein North Saanich, north of Victoria.Ed and his wife Dorothy showed methe Nishimura usu placed close totheir front door, filled with colourfulflowers. (See photo of Ed Arnet withthe usu.) What followed has been a

most rewarding cooperative venturein gathering a historical record of theJapanese families that had lived inthe Tofino area since about 1917.

A number of Japanesefamilies had rented property andhouses on land owned by Ed’smaternal grandfather, John Eik. Bycoincidence, it was on the very landadjacent to the “Eik Tree”, an 800year-old cedar tree which was gettingextensive coverage in the media atthe time that I was meeting with the

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Edward Arnet with the Nishimura usu used as a flower potholder. (Midge Ayukawa photo, 2002)

Arnets. The tree was slated to be cut down to make wayfor town-houses which were to be built on stilts topreserve the Indian midden below. (The Victoria Times-Colonist, November 21, 2001.) After a spirited protestwhich included a man who climbed the tree and refusedto come down, a moratorium was reached when it wasagreed that money would be raised by the Tofino NaturalHeritage Society to build a support structure for the tree.One of the arguments for the tree’s removal had been a“liability issue” due to its frailty.

In the following months, after our initial meeting,Ed, Dorothy, and Ed’s cousin Marjorie Sallaway (neeSloman) who had kept in touch with a number of JapaneseCanadians, provided me with photos, correspondencewith Japanese Canadian friends, and their grandfatherEik’s account books. According to records that John Eikmeticulously kept of his property (settlement #1 on themap, drawn by Tim de Lange Boom), some of the familiesthat rented houses from him were Sakauye, Yoshida,Watanabe, Tosa, Kawaguchi, and Nishimura. Ed also

named others such as Dabu (Tabe?), Hamanaka, andSakaguchi who lived at West Marina near Eik Bay (#2).There were also other small pockets of Japanese in theTofino area. In Storm Bay (#3) lived Morishita, Izumi,Mori, Nakagawa, Madokoro, and Kondo. The 1941Tairiku listed others such as Ezaki, Katsuro, and in nearbyClayoquot (#4 Stubbs Island), Igarashi, Karatsu, Katsuro,Kimoto, and Okada families. The Nakai family lived nearGrice Point (#5) at site #6. Mr. Nakai worked at the fish-buying station nearby while his wife taught at theJapanese School (#7).

Ed painstakingly drew a detailed sketch,reproduced here, of the Eik property where some of theJapanese had lived. (See sketch). The previouslymentioned 800 year-old tree, and the various homes andoutbuildings are clearly shown. The Japanese built a damabout 16 feet wide and 4 feet deep across the stream tocatch water. They then buried a two and a half inch waterpipe behind the houses, which had branches to provideeach home with fresh pure water throughout the year.There were also taps for the vegetable gardens and the12 by 14 feet greenhouse. There was also a communalJapanese bathhouse and tall poles on the property fromwhich salted salmon were hung out to dry. (See thelegend).

The usu that had led to our meeting had beenused by Mrs. Nishimura. (There is a NishimuraChonosuke from Wakayama-ken in the Tairiku Nipposhalist, September, 1941, and in the December 1942 recordof people in Bay Farm, he is listed with wife Chiyo andfamily.) Mr. Nishimura had asked Ed’s father’s friend,Ralph Trelvik, a blacksmith/mechanic who servicedJapanese fishing boats to rig up the mechanism in thesummer of 1940. A car engine turned a belt-drive, whichin turn drove the hammer that pounded up and down andmashed the fish. The machine was in a workshop adjacentto the house that the Nishimura family rented from JohnEik.

The kamaboko was made from fresh cod, andthen canned. Ed believed that the Nishimuras had hopedto export it but the bombing of Pearl Harbour and thesubsequent expulsion had prevented the fruition of theenterprise. When the Nishimuras were sent to HastingsPark, they left behind in the shed fifteen to twenty caseseach of which contained 48 cans. Ed said that in 1946when he and his father checked the cans, the ends werebulging, and the contents were a pale yellow. They openedthe cans, poked holes, and dumped them off-shore.

In the spring of 1942, the Japanese had left theirfishing gear, household items, and many cords offirewood. Ed provided me with correspondence fromthe office of the Custodian in the Department of the

9

Map of the Tofino area and the location of Japanese settlements. (Tim de LangeBoom drawing, 2002)

Schematic drawing by Edward Arnet showing the Japanese settlement on John Eik’s property. 1.Eik Street cedar 2.Freshwater storage area 3.Stairs to Eik house 4.Tofino village road 5.Yoshi Kawaguchi home 5a.Wood storage and work area6.Boardwalk to fishing boat moorage 7.Fresh water stream 8.Vegetable garden 9.Greenhouse 10.Wood storage shed, alsoused to dry seaweed 11.25/30-feet poles to sun-dry fish 12.Watanabe home 13.Yoshida home 14.Sakauye home 15.TakeoSakauye home, second son 16.Takeo Tosa home, bachelor 17.Nishimura home 18.Kamaboko shed 19.Shed for storing fishinggear 20. Stairway to school and Tofino village

Secretary of State, listing all thearticles which had been declared bythe Japanese Canadians. TheCustodian asked John Eik to confirmthe information. Later in the winterof 1944/45 Mr. Eik was asked to selleverything and forward the money.(Copies of these letters are now atthe JCNM.)

Dorothy and Ed Arnet haveindustriously and enthusiasticallygathered together and reproduced anumber of photographs of the area,class photos, and Scout troops. Theseare also deposited in the JCNM as arecord and resource for researchersof the Japanese community in theTofino area pre-1942. Included in thecollection is an eulogy delivered byEdward Arnet at the funeral of TomKimoto in April 6, 1985, in Ucluelet.

Although we seem to dwellon the past injustices and thediscriminatory attitudes and practicesof the mainstream BC populace, itwas most pleasant to learn that in theTofino area there were families like

Continued on page 10

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From 1924 until 1933 whenI was four to thirteen years of age,my family lived in a nagaya (literaltranslation - longhouse) at 1934 Tri-umph Street between Victoria Driveand Semlin Drive, one block southof Powell Street in the Heapsneighbourhood. Within four blocksof our building, there were three othernagaya built by Japanese entrepre-neurs to provide inexpensive hous-ing for newly arrived immigrants. Formany families who lived there, thesenagaya provided the kind of supportfor young families that housing co-ops try to generate for their members.

My family had moved therefrom a logging camp in a remote for-ested area of the Lower Mainland somy older sister who had just passedher sixth birthday, could attendschool. Shortly after she startedschool, one of our twin baby broth-ers died. Our father went back to log-ging leaving his family behind, butthat winter after our move, he crushedhis left leg in an accident, and spentthe next nine years in and out of theVancouver General Hospital. Thoseyears must have been extremely dif-ficult for our parents, but I remem-ber them as relatively stable and care-free years as we had other motherskeeping an eye on us whenever ourmother had to be at the hospital orsomewhere else. My sister and I werethe oldest among the children, andwe passed many happy and produc-tive weekends and summers, playing“school” and organizing games,while minding the younger ones.

A Nagaya in Vancouver by Kiyoshi ShimizuI can only provide details

about our nagaya, but I assume thatthe facilities were very similar, withsome minor differences. On theground floor where our family livedthere was a central corridor with fourlarge rooms on the west side and amore open space at the back where asink, two toilets, and an alcove wherea kitchen stove and counter were lo-cated. On the east side were fiverooms. Each room had a door into thecorridor, and some of the rooms hadinterior doors connecting the rooms.The two families living on the groundfloor rented three rooms each, usingone room as a kitchen/eating area,and in the case of our family, oneroom as a bed-sitting room with awall bed that folded up during theday, for our parents, and the thirdroom with an adjoining door, as abedroom for the three children. Threerooms at the back were occupied bysingle men who cooked on hot platesin their own rooms, except for theman occupying the rear room. He wasable to use the stove in the alcove atthe back. On the second floor fourfamilies occupied the nine rooms. Inthe back there was a more spaciousarea without an alcove and a veranda,where the smallest children playedclose to their mothers.

The facilities were prettybasic. We carried water from the sinkto our kitchen, and heated water fordishwashing on the stove, using thekitchen table to do that chore. Wetook turns cleaning the toilets, sinkarea and corridor. A telephone was

Koyuki Yesaki and Oine Madakoro byMatsumoto nagaya on Fourth Avenue.(Yesaki Family photo, ca. 1935)installed in the front unit, and all theresidents in the nagaya shared in thecost. A furo (hot tub) was availablein the basement and was maintainedcooperatively. Water from the furowas used the following day for laun-dry by some of the families, but I canrecall that our mother did her wash-ing in the kitchen with water heatedon top of the stove.

In our nagaya there was afairly stable population of six fami-lies during the nine years we werethere. When a vacancy occurred, an-other family moved in soon after.Two of the single rooms were occu-pied by the same man. In the third

the Jacob Arnets and John Eiks whowere friendly neighbours andmentors. There is a photo of the BoyScouts in which Japanese boys wereactive members. This contrastsstarkly with the highly-publicizedstory of Chemainus, VancouverIsland, in which the late Shig Yoshidawas not accepted in the local troop,

became a Lone Eagle Scout bycorrespondence, and later ledJapanese Canadian Scout troops inChemainus and Tashme.

Ed showed me a photo hehad received from his friend, HieroIzumi, sent from Hastings Park in1942. It had been enclosed in a letterin which he wrote that he missed

Tofino. Ed said he replied, but didnot hear from him again. Hiero hadbeen “repatriated” it appears,according to a passage in FrankMoritsugu’s “Teaching in CanadianExile”, p. 351. Perhaps Hiero mayread this and will contact Ed. It willbe a most rewarding climax to thiswhole cooperative endeavour. a

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single room, students from Japanseemed to come and go.

My parents were innovators,and my recollection is that they pro-vided some leadership to the nagayacommunity. For instance our loggerfather supervised the clearing of landon the west side of the building sothat all the families could grow theirown vegetables. The east side wasmarshy, and after negotiations withtwo neighbouring families, a drain-age ditch was constructed by the men

through these properties to a brookrunning on the east side of the sec-ond property. A tanomoshi was or-ganized by the group to provide alump sum of money to assist one ofthe families in an emergency, and thisway of helping each other was re-vived from time to time. New Year’swas a special time in the nagaya withmochitsuki an annual event, and agreat deal of visiting among familiesand their friends. Fathers were oftenabsent for months at a time, but the

The Steveston Judo Club inits current form is celebrating its 50th

anniversary year in 2003 and we planto use the year to heighten awarenessof the benefits of studying judo. Wealso, would like to bring to light thecontributions the Japanese Canadianseniors and other judo club membershave made to the Richmond commu-nity by teaching judo and by partici-pating in such joint projects as theconstruction and enhancement of theSteveston Community Centre and theSteveston Martial Arts Centre. Wewould like to retell the story of theway in which the Japanese Canadiancitizens conducted themselves afterthe war and internment to fully par-ticipate in the Canadian society.Moreover, we would like to show

Proposed Project for the 50th Anniversary of theSteveston Judo Club by Alan Sakai

how the club has become amulticultural organization, which hasmembers of diverse ethnic origins. Torelate this story we have planned thefollowing events.

Firstly, we would like tohighlight the accomplishments andthe contributions the Judo Club mem-bers have made to the community.We plan to host an open house forthe community at large where we willbe recognizing the original sensei ofthe club with special plaques to behung in the Martial Arts Centre andto review the history of the club witha photo gallery. Only three of theoriginal 10 sensei are still with us atthis time. This will be done in Feb-ruary at our annual senior tourna-ment.

We also plan to have a re-union of all current and former mem-bers and friends of the club. In con-junction with this event we wouldlike to restore an original calligraphywritten by Professor Kano, whichwas done in 1938. Professor Kanowas on his way back to Japan froman International Olympic Committeemeeting in Cairo, Egypt. He visitedVancouver and wrote two largecalligraphies on canvas for theVancouver Judo Club and theSteveston Judo Club. On his wayback to Japan on the HIKAWAMARU, Professor Kano passedaway. During the war years Mr. T.Doi kept this writing and when theClub was restarted in 1953 hebrought it out to be displayed. It cur-rently hangs in our Judo Club. It hassome water spots and other damageand needs to be restored. We wouldlike to restore this print and rededi-cate it and our commitment to con-tinuing the study and teaching ofJudo at the reunion.

The third major project wehave is to make a video history of theSteveston Judo Club from 1927 to thepresent. This would cover not onlythe history of the Club, but will alsohighlight the contributions JapaneseCanadians have made to the

mothers received support from eachother. I am sure there were tensionsbetween families but somehow theyseemed to be overcome.

In 1934 the nagaya at 1934Triumph Street was taken over by Mr.and Mrs. Aoki who came fromCumberland to establish “MeiwaGakuen” in the building. I attendedclasses there to complete my 7th and8th years of Japanese schooling from1934 to 1936. a

Steveston Martial Arts Centre. (Steveston Judo Club photo, 1972)Continued on page 12

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Re-shaping Memory, OwningHistory: Through the Lens ofJapanese Canadian Redress, by theJapanese Canadian NationalMuseum, 84 pages, $15.00

The catalogue documentsthe inaugural exhibition throughreproductions of photographicimages from both public and privatecollections which participated in theexhibition, including those from theJapanese Canadian NationalMuseum’s own archives. Essays, byMidge Ayukawa, Roy Miki, andYuko Shibata, provide significantinsights into the exhibition’s thesis.The exhibition is about a history inthe making since the achievement ofredress on September 22, 1988. Itdiscusses the circumstances and con-ditions of the internment of JapaneseCanadians during World War II.Installation photos and variousquotes/voices from history areintegrated with the text.The cat-alogue is in English, with essaystranslated into French and Japanese.a

A Perfect Gift For The Holidays at the Museum Shopby Grace Thomson

multicultural society of Canada. Wefeel that the history of the JapaneseCanadian people in Canada needs tobe preserved for this and future gen-erations. We have consulted withvarious agencies and companies, in-

cluding Ken Kuramoto of CoyoteFilms Ltd. The cost would depend onthe quality and length of the video.We would like to produce one thatwould be of television broadcastquality. We will be approaching other

agencies to assist with the fundingof this project. This would be pre-sented at a number of venues but spe-cifically at the final year-end banquetcelebrating the end of the 50th yearanniversary. a

Roy Miki has won the 2002Governor General’s Award for Poetryfor his book, SURRENDER. Thisbook is published by The MercuryPress and distributed by Fraser Direct(ISBN 1-55128-095-7).

Adrienne Clarkson, Gov-

Roy Miki Wins 2002 Governor General’s Award for Poetryernor General of Canada, presentedthe awards at a ceremony at RideauHall on Tuesday, November 19, at 4p.m. Each laureate received a chequefor $15,000 and a specially craftedcopy of the winning book bound bymaster bookbinder, Pierre Ouvrard.

Cover of the catalogue of the inaugural exhibition.

The Governor General also presentedcertificates to the publishers of thewinning books, and The CanadaCouncil provided each publisher witha $3,000 grant to support promotionalactivities for the winning book. a

ShinnenkaiJapanese Canadian Community New Year’s Celebration

National Nikkei Heritage Centre, January 18, 2003, 5:00 - 8:30 p.m.$30 for adults, $20 for children, includes buffet dinner

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When I was studying in Ja-pan, I stayed with my grandparents.Grandfather was a man of few words,but Grandmother was a chatty per-son. She used to tell me all the sto-ries that happened in the village. Shewas in her mid-seventies and was agreat cook, but to my disappointmentthey were vegetarians. No one in thevillage ate meat in those days.

One day Grandmother askedme “Is it true that people in Amerikaeat cows and pigs, and did you eatthem too?”

“Yes, I did, Grandma.”“Oh, my dear!” she cried and

held her breath.Although they treated me

like a prince, eating meat was strictlyforbidden. As I look back it is hard,to imagine that I spent my adolescentyears without eating meat – perhaps

How Long Was Amerika’s Five Years by Larry Maekawathis is why I am enjoying a healthylife now.

Then came the tearful day tobid them farewell to them. I wasleaving for Canada. Grandmotherwas eighty and Grandfather waseighty-four. They stood at the gatewith lonely looks on their faces.

I bowed to them and said,“I’ll be back in five years. Please takecare and keep well until then.”

“My dear son,” saidGrandmother, with tears rollingdown her cheeks, “Amerika’s fiveyears is very long, you know. Whenyour Dad first left for Amerika, hewas eighteen years old and told methe very same thing. I’ll be back infive years. It was ten years later whenhe returned. He got married and wentback to Amerika with your Mother.Again he said, I’ll be back in five

years. This time it took him seventeenyears to come back! Amerika’s fiveyears seems so long.”

“Grandma, I will do my bestto send Mom and Dad home as soonas possible,” I promised her and thenwe parted. How they must havecounted the fruitless days for theirloved ones to return. In those daysJapan seemed so far away fromCanada. It took eight days for CPREmpress ships to cross fromVancouver to Yokohama, and twelvedays for Japanese NYK Line Maruships. Mail took one month to reachits destination. They had no longdistance telephone. How theJapanese pioneers and their familiesin Japan must have worried abouteach other in those inconvenientdays.

Upon returning from Japan,I mentioned to Mother and Fatherhow patiently their parents werewaiting for them. Father sighed andsaid, “I am well aware of my duty andresponsibility to return home and totake care of my aging parents. Butthings do not always turn out, as Iwant. You are too young andinexperienced to be left alone here. Imust stay with you for a few moreyears.”

In the spring of 1939 Fatherretired from fishing and I took overhis trolling license. Within a year, Ibecame a fully qualified troller.Father was satisfied with my progressand started preparing to return toJapan. It was 1941 – five years afterI parted with my Grandparents. I wasdelighted at being able to keep mypromise to them. Unfortunately, thePacific War in December 1941 putan end to our anticipations, andGrandmother’s long awaited goldendream of a family reunion wasdestined never to be fulfilled. And myGrandmother’s voice, “How longwas Amerika’s five years,” stillechoes in my ears. aLarry Maekawa (left) and siblings before leaving for Japan. (Maekawa Family

photo, 1929)

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2002 A.D. - 60th Anniversary of Internment

Canada was already at warwith Germany in 1941. However theeconomy was booming and it was agood year for fishermen. Many Japa-nese fishermen were placing ordersfor new fishing boats. Sadajiro Asariwas contracted to build a forty-footseiner for his Finnish friend, TedDavidson, of Sointula near Alert Bay.In the midst of the construction, theJapanese navy suddenly attackedPearl Harbour. Immediately, all fish-ing vessels owned by Japanese Ca-nadians were impounded by the Ca-nadian Navy. All Japanese boatbuilders closed their boat shops withunfinished boats. But Asari wasbuilding a boat for a Caucasian fish-erman and was able to get permis-sion to complete the boat. The AsariBoat Works was on Sea Island,where over sixty Japanese familieslived. It was a harmonious and livelycommunity since early 1900. Meanwhile, mass evacuationsof all persons of Japanese origin werebeing enforced by the MountedPolice. In the beginning they detainedthe evacuees from the coast in thelivestock buildings at Hastings Park.From here, men of military age wereforced to go and work on the roadcamps in Northern Ontario. Leavingtheir families behind in that horribleHastings Park was a painful

Memories of East Lillooet by Larry Maekawa

separation. Young men started todisobey government orders, and theR.C.M.P. were running intodifficulties in rounding up the men.

At the time, there was achronic labour shortage in thePrairies. The government tookadvantage of this situation and startedsending Japanese families to thesugar beet farms. On the other hand,the government was also sponsoringself-supporting communities in theinterior of B.C. Sadajiro Asari choseEast Lillooet as his family’sdestination. But because of hiscontract to build Ted Davidson’sboat, he and his family stayed behind.He hired two helpers to hasten thecompletion of the boat, but they were

ordered by the government to leaveimmediately for the Alberta sugarbeet farms. Their departure delayedthe completion of the boat, leavingAsari to work ten to twelve hours aday.

After the Japanese wereevacuated from Sea Island, the Asarifamily was left in the midst of a ghosttown. Besides being lonely, theiranxieties and fears for the future wereunbearable. Finally the boat waslaunched in early May, and named“WHO CARES”. With the comple-tion of the boat, the Asaris had topack in a hurry. They were only al-lowed to take the necessities. As theydid not know if they would be sepa-rated, they packed a bag for eachmember of the family. In mid May,they finally set off for East Lillooetvia the ferry to Squamish, then theP.G.E. Railway to Lillooet. Upontheir arrival, they found 62 houseshad already been built by the firstevacuees, who had arrived in earlyMay, mainly from Vancouver, Haneyand Ucluelet.

East Lillooet was an unin-habited piece of land on the east sideof the Fraser River, opposite the townof Lillooet. To their surprise all theycould see was a tract of land coveredwith sage bush. The houses were

WHO CARES fishing herring in 1942. (Asari Family photo, 1942)

Some of the tarpaper shacks of the self-supporting Japanese community of EastLillooet. (Asari Family photo, ca. 1943)

15

roughly built with 2 by 4 stud framesand outside shells of clapboard, cov-ered with tarpaper. The interiors ofthe houses were partitioned accord-ing to each families’ needs.

There was no drinking wa-ter, so families had to haul water bybuckets from the muddy Fraser.Drinking water is one of the mostimportant necessities of life. Why didthe government ever allow the evacu-ees to move to such a place wherethere was no drinking water? Asariand a few others noticed a flume builtalong the sage bush field. They as-sumed there must be a pump some-where around, so they searched alongthe bank of the river until they foundthe pump. Asari with his experiencerepairing the engine in his packerboat, took the pump apart and had itworking. The men then built awooden reservoir tank, and filled itwith sand and gravel to filter themuddy water. At last people wereable to get clear water, but they stillhad to boil it before drinking.

Tne East Lillooet commu-nity also did not have electricity. Atnight, the only light available wasfrom kerosene lamps.

After the community gotpumped water from the river, the mencleared a portion of the land andstarted farming to generate income.Lillooet with its hot climate and richsoil was ideal for growing vegetables.They dug cellars under their homesand learned how to preserve producefrom the experienced farmers ofHaney. Somehow they workedthrough the hot summer weather,with temperatures well over 100O F.

With winter approachingand warnings that temperatureswould dip below 30O F., everyonestarted to cut firewood in a hurry. Asexpected, they went through the se-verest winter they had ever experi-enced.

The following summer, theycleared away sage bush, irrigated the

land and started growing tomatoes.Fortunately, the sandy soil was ide-ally suited for tomatoes. With every-one working together, they grew thebest tomatoes in the area. A packing-house and a cannery were built toprocess the production from theflourishing tomato farms. The Japa-nese farmers supplied tomatoes tothese factories until the end of thewar.

They built a school and acommunity center. Young adults withthe most education were selected toteach the younger children. The Ca-nadian government did not put in apenny to assist in the education pro-gram.

In 1947, Asari was hired bythe Chinese owner to restore his de-teriorating Parks General Store. Helater renovated Jim’s General Store,which was also owned by a Chinese.In November of that year, Asaribought Mayhome Rooms, which waslocated in the heart of the town. Thehouse was built by an English immi-grant in the Gold Rush era. It hadbeen kept in good condition and fur-nished with old English furniture.Mrs. Asari started a bed and break-

fast business with this building whichdid well. He modified Mayhome’sspacious living room into a doctor’soffice. As Lillooet was the entranceinto the Caribou District, people trav-eling to and from Vancouver, stoppedin this town.

Asari was also involved inthe expansion of the town courthouseand in building a new school. Heworked with a contractor to convertanother large private home into a hos-pital. Thus, the town of Lillooet wasthriving once again.

As I look back on these cha-otic evacuation days, the first recol-lection that comes to mind is the suf-fering and hardship experienced byour elders. They were met with anti-Japanese fanatics as soon as theylanded in Canada and fell prey to rac-ist politicians. They struggledthrough the “Dirty Thirties”. Dur-ing World War II, they were uprootedfrom their homes and lost all theirpossessions. But they bravely with-stood all these difficulties. We aredeeply indebted to our elders for theirperseverance and courage in plant-ing our roots firmly in this land offreedom and peace. a

Asaris operated the Mayhome Rooms as a bed and breakfast hostel after the war.(Asari Family photo, ca. 1947)

16

Memberships are a vital part of the Museum, and we welcome your interest and support. New and renewing members for the period May 4, 2002 – August6, 2002.Mr. & Mrs. Ed Arnet, Sidney BCMs. L.A. Dinsmore, Scarborough ONMr. & Mrs. Mike Ebbesen, Burnaby BCMr. & Mrs. Kenneth Ellis, Winnipeg MBMs. Kana Enomoto, Scarborough ONMr. Joseph Fry, Vancouver, BCMs. Andrea Geiger-Adams, Burnaby BCMr. & Mrs. Art Gorai, Seattle WA USAMr. & Mrs. Roy Hamaguchi, Vancouver BCMs. Judy Hanazawa, Vancouver BCMs. Jennifer Hashimoto, Toronto ONMr. Yoshiharu Hashimoto, Abbotsford BCEllen Hayakawa, Bowen Island BCMrs. Susan Hidaka, Scarborough ONMs. Daien Ide & Mr. Hiroshi Mizoguchi,Burnaby BCMs. Judy Inouye, Port Moody BCMrs. Kimiko Inouye, West Vancouver BCMrs. Tokuko Inouye, Burnaby BCMrs. Lily Y. Kamachi, New Westminster BCMr. Roger Kamikura, Vancouver B.CMr. and Mrs. Alfred Kamitakahara, BurnabyBCMiss Dottie Karr, Chilliwack BCMr. and Mrs. Mac Kawamoto, Vancouver BCMr. & Mrs. Thomas Kobayashi, N.VancouverBCMs. Yoko Kusano, Ottawa ONMr. & Mrs. Ernest Lowe, Burnaby BCDr. Keisuke Maruki, Nagoya JapanDr. & Mrs. Carey McAllister, Nanaimo BCMr. & Mrs. Duncan McLean, Richmond BCMr. & Mrs. Arthur Miki, Winnipeg MBMs. Florence Mitani, Winnipeg MBMs. Rose Murakami, Salt Spring Island BCMs. Mary M. Nago, Lethbridge AB

Mr. Hiro Nakashima, Toronto ONMr. Henry Grant Naruse, Vancouver BCMr. & Mrs. Craig Ngai-Natsuhara, Burnaby BCMr. & Mrs. Shoji Nishihata, Richmond BCMrs. Sakuya Nishimura, Burnaby BCMs. Mary Ohara, Burnaby BCMs. Amy Okazaki, Calgary ABMrs. Jean Okazaki, Scarborough ONMs. Reiko Okubo & Mr. Guy Champoux, WhiteRock BCMr. & Mrs. Shinichi Omatsu, Vancouver BCMrs. Linda Reid & Family, Vancouver BCMrs. Joanne R. Rollins, Regina SKPatricia Roy, Victoria BCMrs. Michi Saito, Surrey BCMr. & Mrs. Alan Sakai, Richmond BCMrs. Helen Sakamoto, Burnaby BCMr. Dennis Shikaze, Burnaby BCMr. Henry Shimizu, Edmonton ABMr. & Mrs. Sam Shinde, Richmond BCMr. & Mrs. Masataka Shiroki, N Vancouver BCMr. and Mrs. Wataru Shishido, Vancouver BCMs. Miriam Smith, New Westminster BCMr. Eric Sokugawa and Family, NewWestminster BCSteveston Judo Club, Richmond BCMr. Ed Suguro, Seattle WA USAMs. Aiko Sutherland, Victoria BCMs. Hisako Takahashi, Lethbridge ABTakao Tanabe & Anona Thorne, Parksville BCMr. & Mrs. Henry Tanaka, New Westminster BCMr. & Mrs. Tom Taylor, West Vancouver BCMr. Michael A. Thomson, Winnipeg MBMiss Ikuye Uchida, Burnaby BCMr. Mike Whittingham, Richmond BC

Dr. Joji & Sachi Yamanaka, Delta, BCDr. Stanley Yamashita, Lebanon NewHampshire,USAMr. & Mrs. Stanley & Aileen Yokota, TorontoONMrs. Akiye Akada, BurnabyMs. Mieko Amano, BurnabyMr. & Mrs. Alan & Ruriko Davis & FamilyMr. John Duddles, RichmondMrs. Theresa Mori Emiko Enderle, Helena, MTMr. Kevin Fukawa, VancouverMr. & Mrs. William & Doris, Edmonton ABGirard, MissionMr. & Mrs. K. Kaminishi, KamloopsMr. & Mrs. Matt & Jean Kobayashi, KelownaMs. Mika Maniwa, VancouverMr. & Mrs. Michael & Aiko Murakami,Edmonton ABNAJC Kamloops Chapter, KamloopsMr. & Mrs. Dan and Rury Nakagawa, BurnabyMrs. F. Peggy Nakano, RichmondMr. & Mrs. Takashi Negoro, West VancouverMr. & Mrs. Robert & Jane Nimi, NorthVancouverMr. & Mrs. Harry & Shoko Nishimura, SorrentoMs. Toshi Oikawa, Toronto ONMr. & Mrs. Bjorn & Vivian Rygnestad,RichmondMs. Kathy Shimizu, VancouverMr. & Mrs. Tom & Mabel Tamaki, Regina SKMr. & Mrs. Tony & Kimie Tamayose, PortCoquitlamMr. & Mrs. Anne & Ron Tanaka, South SurreyTerry Watada, Toronto ONMs. Shirley Witherow, Pitt Meadows, BC

Donation in memory of Toyo Takata:Ms. Mishy Moffit, Toronto, ONDonation in memory of Roger Obata:Mr. Yoshio Hyodo, Brantford, ON

Mr. & Mrs. Wataru Shishido, Vancouver, BCMs. J. L. HashimotoMs. Tomiko MizuyabuMr. & Mrs. Doug OikeMrs. Lily Kamachi, New Westminster, BCMs. Tamae HamaguchiMr. Edward SatoMr. Tai GotoMs. Diane KariyaMs. Masako FukawaMr. & Mrs. Fujitaka TakeuchiMr. & Mrs. Yasuo NakanoMs. Beverley Inouye, BurnabyMichi Saito, SurreyMs. Susan Hidaka

Thank you to those individuals who have graciously donated to the Japanese Canadian National Museum between October 1, 2002 and November 15,2002.

Mr. Kiyoshi Kitagawa, North VancouverMr. & Mrs. Mac Kawamoto, VancouverMs. Sakuya Nishimura, BurnabyMr. Ken Katashi Hibi, Thunder Bay, ONMs. Amy Okazaki, Calgary, ABMr. Stanley Yokota, West Hill;Toyota Canada, Inc, Scarborough, ONMiss Ikue Uchida, Burnaby, BCMs Kana Enomoto, Scarborough, ONYoshiko Godo North Vancouver, BCKenneth A. Ellis, Winnipeg, MBAkiko & David Sutherland, Victoria, BCShoji & Eve Nishihata, Richmond, BCHiro Nakashima, Toronto, ONTamiko Katai, Yukio Egami,Ken & Hiroko YoshiharaMits Goto, Asayo MurakamiNaoharu & Misao TamuraJoyce OikawaMitsuo & Yoshiko Yamamoto

Bobby & Florence NishiReiji HamadaYoshiko MukuyamaKazue EgamiKimiko HashimotoSaichiro & Takeno MaekawaShoichi & Harumi KishiLinda SmithDiane GronlundEvelyn NegoroBob FlynnBetty TasakaLeona TeraguchiYosh YamasakiDianna JarboMr. & Mrs. Ernest LoweMr. Michael Thomson, Winnipeg, MBMrs. Kimiko Kaye Inouye, West Vancouver, BCMr & Mrs Don Tokawa, North Vancouver, BC

Mrs. Enderle, Helena MTMr. & Mrs. Kaminishi, KamloopsMr. Toshi Oikawa, Toronto, ONNAJC Kamloops Chapter, KamloopsMr. & Mrs Nimi, North VancouverMs. Maniwa, Vancouver

Thank you to those individuals who have graciously donated to the Japanese Canadian National Museum between May 1 and September30, 2002:

Ms. Amano, BurnabyMs. Sumiko Sato, BurnabyMs. Kay Akada, BurnabyMs. Irene Tsuyuki, White RockMr. Mamoru Yamane

Mr. & Mrs. Takashi Negoro, West VancouverTony & Kim Tamayose, Port CoquitlamJohn Duddles, RichmondPeggy Nakano, RichmondKathy Shimizu, Vancouver