Chuck Tasaka

In this day of hi-tech computer with iPhone, iPad, Galaxy and so forth, whatever happened to the old fashion nicknames? Nowadays, you hear of famous athletes with nicknames like Burnsie, Burr, Marky, JJ, JR, or AJ. Quite vanilla, I think. There should be more ‘wasabi’ injected into the present day nicknames.

Nicknames back in the 40’s and 50’s were colourful, so much so that their real names were forgotten. In hockey, my favourites were: ‘Leaping Lou’ Fontinato, Bronco Horvath, Rocket Richard, Boom Boom Geoffrion, Clear the Track, Here Comes Eddie Shack, Turk Broda, Gump Worsley and the Golden ...

When the saints go marching in, oh when the saints go marching in…. oh when the Nisei-nts go marching in…… There was Christian influence in Japan when missionaries had travelled there in the 1800s. Even before that Jesuit priests from Portugal were present. Tokugawa government tried to put a stop to Christianity. The recent movie Silence is based on that part of history. By the late 1800s, Christianity was viewed as modern and progressive. Therefore, when Japanese immigrants came pouring into British Columbia, there were several Japanese ministers already established.

Goro Kaburagi was a Methodist minister (1879), newspaper editor, and ...

What was to be a simple, casual get-together to commemorate the 75^th Anniversary of the Japanese Canadian Internment, a Nikkei “Woodstock-like Love-in” occurred at St. Joseph the Worker School in Richmond on April 29^th!

The gym was packed and many people seem to enjoy seeing old friends, reconnecting with long-lost friends and meeting Nikkei from other camps. There were lot of smiles and heart-warming surprises.

Erica Isomura who made the beautiful poster also ran the slideshow of ten internment camps contributed by National Nikkei Museum. Crowds gathered at the photo display to see if they could find old ...

Did you know that there was a very small settlement of Japanese Canadians at the McLean Mill in Port Alberni on Vancouver Island in the early thirties?

Reading the Parks Canada backgrounder article and excerpts from Jan Peterson’s book, Twin Cities: Port Alberni, sent in by Maureen Hamagishi, R.B. McLean Lumber Company was a small family-run business that operated from 1926 to 1965.

Robert Bartlett McLean operated a sawmill business in the Cloverdale and Fraser Valley area for ten years. With the dwindling timber supply, he decided to join in on the Alberni lumber boom. Mr. McLean acquired ...

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WINTER: Winter fun almost equaled summer activities except for the below zero temperature. Skating, sleigh-riding, skiing, building snowman, igloo, shinny hockey, ice carnival and football in the snow kept the children busy.

Looking out the window and the children seeing the snow that fell the night before, they joyously jumped out of bed to put their winter clothing on. That was the scene that repeated most days in the Boundary-Kootenay district of British Columbia.

Back in the fifties, toys were hard to come by so children had to be resourceful. Skis? They were made out of cedar ...