Howard Shimokura

Howard Shimokura, who lived with his family in Tashme from 1942 to 1946, is a volunteer with the Nikkei National Museum in Burnaby, British Columbia and currently serves as Tashme Historical Project (THP) committee chair. His interest stems from the absence of a definitive public record of the Tashme internment experience and a life long curiosity about how Tashme functioned as a self sufficient village under the restrictions imposed by the authorities. Howard lives with his wife Jane in Vancouver.

Updated January 2017

Stories from This Author

A Website Captures History of Tashme Internment Camp

Jan. 11, 2017 • Howard Shimokura

In July 1942, the Tashme Internment Camp, the largest in Canada, opened its doors to Japanese Canadians who had been ordered removed from the coast following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Formerly called the Fourteen Mile Ranch, the camp was located 14 miles southeast of Hope, British Columbia (BC), just outside the 100-mile “protected” zone imposed by the government. It covered 1,200 acres and, at its peak, was home to 2,644 internees. Located in an isolated valley between high mountains, …

British Columbia Canada Canadian internment camps Japanese Canadians Tashme Historical Project (website) Tashme internment camp World War II World War II camps

The Last Living Asahi: Kaye Kaminishi and His Life in Baseball - Part 2

Dec. 30, 2015 • Howard Shimokura

Read Part 1 >> Kaye’s baseball career did not just end with the disbanding of the Vancouver Asahi. Kaye and his mother were evacuated to East Lillooet, one of the first self-supporting internment camps. Internees in self-supporting camps received no government support. For the first year, life was very hard, as the internees had to build their own homes and households in very primitive camp conditions. Camp internees were restricted from entering the town of Lillooet, which was across the …

athletes baseball British Columbia Canada Canadian internment camps Canadian Nikkei Youth Baseball Club (organization) East Lillooet internment camp generations Japanese Canadians Kamloops Kaye Kaminishi Nisei Pat Adachi sports Vancouver Vancouver Asahi (baseball team) Vancouver (B.C.) World War II World War II camps youth baseball

The Last Living Asahi: Kaye Kaminishi and His Life in Baseball - Part 1

Dec. 29, 2015 • Howard Shimokura

Much has been written and celebrated about the resurrection of the remarkable story of the Vancouver Asahi baseball team of 1914-1941. This retelling of the Asahi story, beginning with the publication of Pat Adachi’s book, Asahi: A Legend in Baseball in 1992, was followed by the release of Jari Osborne’s National Film Board film Sleeping Tigers: The Asahi Baseball Story in 2003, the induction of the Asahi baseball team into Canada’s Baseball Hall of Fame in 2003, and most recently, …

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