Irene Tsuyuki
Born December 3, 1925

Irene Tsuyuki was born on Powell Street, the heart of the Japanese Canadian community, in Vancouver, BC. Her mother passed away in childbirth so relatives adopted Mrs. Tsuyuki and her brother. Her father owned a shoe store and she enjoyed helping there during ...

(2008, 43 minutes)

Alfie Kamitakahara
Born January 29, 1929

Both of Alfie Kamitakahara's parents were from a small village in Japan. Growing up in a large family in Steveston, Mr. Kamitakahara describes his childhood as a 'Huckleberry Finn' lifestyle; afternoons spent rafting down the river and...

(2008, 30 minutes)

Kazue Oye
Born November 19, 1912

Kazue Oye was born in Steveston, BC in 1912. Since her family lived in a house provided by a fishing company, they did not pay taxes. To attend public school at this time a family had to pay taxes. Mrs. Oye attended a school provided by the Ja...

(2008, 35 minutes)

Marie Katsuno
Born November 8, 1923

Marie Katsuno was born the daughter of a fisherman. She grew up in East Burnaby and would often take the inter-urban tram to Powell Street, a community of which her mother was a part. Her Family eventually moved to West Vancouver and was pa...

(2008, 34 minutes)

May Komiyama
Born May 19, 1922

May Komiyama was born in Vancouver, BC and grew up in a non-Japanese neighbourhood of Marine Drive because of her father’s career. Her father was one of the few people who had been baptized as a Christian in Japan, but her grandfather disowned h...

(2008, 33 minutes)

Midge Ayukawa
Born June 26, 1930

Midge Ayukawa grew up in a mixed-background neighbourhood in Vancouver, BC as the only girl in a family of boys. Her father was self educated and both parents were from Hiroshima. She was sent to Japanese school but felt out of place with her ...

(2008, 44 minutes)

Shirley Omatsu
Born August 30, 1929

Shirley Omatsu was born in Vancouver, BC. In Japan, her grandfather believed the West was where the future lay and her father was encouraged to go to Canada. Mrs. Omatsu has fond memories of growing up on the 300 block of Powell Street in V...

(2008, 35 minutes)

Tak Miyazaki
Born August 1, 1929

Tak Miyazaki was born at the Japanese Hospital in Steveston, BC in 1929. Although he was a fisherman’s son Mr. Miyazaki would always get sea sick while on the water and never thought he would be a commercial fisherman. During relocation Mr. Mi...

(2008, 44 minutes)

Susumu Tabata
Born December 9, 1925

Susumu Tabata was born in Steveston, BC to a father who was an engineer on a fish packing boat. During the Depression his parents worked for eight to ten cents per hour. He remembers that although they were never rich, they never suffered e...

(2008, 47 minutes)

Tom Kuwabara  Born March 29, 1922
Shig Kuwabara  Born February 6, 1924

These two brothers were born in Skeena River, BC to a fisherman father. Their mother died when they were very young and the boys were sent to live with relatives in Japan for eight years. When given the ch...