Stan Fukawa

Stan Fukawa was born in Mission, British Columbia, Canada in 1937. He taught at Malaspina University-College in Namaimo in Sociology and Japanese Language. After retirement, he served as President of the Board of the JC (now Nikkei) National Museum Society from 2000 to 2003, and received the Canada 125 Medal (1992) and the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Medal (2013) for community service.

He writes articles relating to Japanese Canadian history and co-authored Spirit of the Nikkei Fleet, a history of the Japanese Canadian fishermen in British Columbia with his wife, Masako.

Updated January 2014

Stories from This Author

My Father, “Repatriation”, and Medicare

June 10, 2016 • Stan Fukawa

In March 1956, my parents Shoji and Toki Fukawa became Canadian citizens. It was not a lightning-bolt decision, but a series of events that made them decide to apply for citizenship. Memory of the events following the forced removal in 1942, the internment, and the emotional turmoil associated with the dispersal of Japanese to other parts of Canada or to Japan were fading. Since the expiry of the War Measures Act and the granting of the franchise to Nikkei in …

agriculture Alberta Canada Canada War Measures Act, 1914 citizenship families farming Japanese Canadians postwar repatriation resettlements Tommy Douglas World War II

Japanese Diaspora - Cambodia

Nov. 6, 2014 • Masako Fukawa , Stan Fukawa

The Japanese traders who were the first to visit Cambodia were concentrated in Japanese quarters around Phnom Penh and Pinalu. An estimated 1,500 Japanese, mostly merchants, Christians, and some former samurai, lived in the region in the 17th century. Some came to hold fairly important positions such as, for example, guards or royal functionaries. The Christians were ministered by three Japanese Jesuit priests who were born in Japan but were educated and ordained in Macao, considered to be the Rome …

Angkor Wat Asia Cambodia Hawaii historic sites history human geography Japan Japanese Americans Japanese diaspora migration Nikkei religion religious architecture religious institutions temples travel United States

Japanese Diaspora - Vietnam

Sept. 3, 2014 • Masako Fukawa , Stan Fukawa

We love to travel and like most travelers, have a bucket list of places we want to visit before we die. At the top of our list are the UNESCO world heritage sites which, in 2014, number close to one thousand. Our travels have been greatly enriched by learning about and meeting with Nikkei who left their homeland and dispersed throughout the world. The Association of Nikkei and Japanese Abroad, estimate that there are between 2.5 and 3.0 million Nikkei …

cemeteries Hawaii Hoi An human geography Japanese Americans Japanese diaspora migration Nikkei slavery travel United States Vietnam

Rescuing Wayward Men and Raising the Status of the Japanese in Canada: Early Goals for a Chapel/Hospital

Jan. 9, 2014 • Stan Fukawa

The Steveston Japanese Fishermen’s Hospital came into being unexpectedly and, in reviewing its history, the reader will realize that its birth, though understandable, was anything but planned. It is now seen as a symbol of honour for a much maligned minority. When a dentist, Dr. Umejiro Yamashita, and a surgeon, Dr. Seinosuke Oishi—both from Japan—came from Portland, Oregon and urged the building of a church in Steveston, BC for Japanese fishermen in 1895, their intention was not to create a …

aquatic sports British Columbia buildings Canada Christianity churches communities fishing generations health healthcare hospitals immigrants immigration Issei Japan Japanese Canadians Japanese Fishermen’s Benevolent Association Japanese Fishermen’s Hospital Japanese hospitals medical care migration Steveston