In 2024, the National Association of Japanese Canadians (NAJC) is looking at geographic locations where Japanese Canadians lived after migrating to Canada, since the 1800s, and where they were interned/incarcerated in 1942. We respectfully acknowledge the ancestral and unceded territories of Indigenous peoples who are the traditional keepers of the lands and waters.
The Story of Japanese Canadians in Sandon and Kaslo
By Lorene Oikawa, Past President NAJC
Sandon and Kaslo are connected by highway 31A, a 50-minute drive apart, now, but in the 19th century, people depended upon the railways. Sandon and Kaslo are also connected by a history of rich ore deposits that drew in thousands seeking to make their fortune.
Sandon was known as the Monte Carlo of North America and had 5,000 to 10,000 at its peak and services to match. Visitors could choose from 29 hotels, 28 saloons, theatres, opera houses, a curling rink, a bowling alley, three breweries, and the largest red-light district in the west. It also had the first hydroelectric utility and a downtown street built over a creek. More than fifty buildings in the town were destroyed by a fire in 1900 and the town had to rebuild itself. The town went into decline in the 1920s.
Kaslo is east of Sandon and located on the west shore of Kootenay Lake. It incorporated as a city in 1893 and is the oldest incorporated community in the Kootenays. It was reincorporated as a village in 1959. In the late 19th century, Kaslo also saw a surge of its population to about 3,000. In 1894, the city had to rebuild after being hit by floods and fires. In 1898, the SS Moyie, a sternwheeler started service between Kaslo and Nelson. It would be the last sternwheeler in Canada when it retired in 1957.
After the decline of the mining industry in the early 20th century, Kaslo became known for producing award-winning apples and cherries. In 1933, the orchards were hit with disease and competition and fruit growing came to an end. Kaslo is known for the oldest remaining municipal hall in BC. The wooden structure was built in 1898 and is a designated National Historic Site of Canada. In 1988, the Village of Kaslo was the first municipality in Canada to formally apologize to Japanese Canadians.
Japanese had been immigrating to British Columbia since the 1800s and establishing themselves in various industries and living along the west coast. Japanese Canadians faced discrimination since first arriving in BC. Their job opportunities were limited, and they were often working the most dangerous or least desirable work at lower pay than white workers. They were not allowed to vote, and professional accreditations weren’t recognized. They weren’t dissuaded and continued to work harder and longer and saved their money.
Eventually they created their own opportunities. They bought fishing boats, businesses, farms, homes, and their families grew and thrived. Racist politicians continued to monitor Japanese Canadians and set up discriminatory laws.
In 1941, the attack on Pearl Harbour gave the racist politicians the pretext to set up a plan to remove Japanese Canadians from the coast. They ignored the police and army’s recommendation not to take any action since there was no evidence of wrongdoing.
The government had to move about 22,000 Japanese Canadians, children to seniors, from the west coast. They decided to move them to the “ghost towns” in the interior and the forced uprooting took place in 1942. The injustice would continue with dispossessing Japanese Canadians of all property and possessions, incarceration, and exile.
Sandon had only 50 residents when 953 Japanese Canadians arrived. Sandon was designated for those who were Buddhist. A Buddhist temple was set up near City Hall.
Sandon was the first of the camps to close because of the severe winters, and most Japanese Canadians were relocated to New Denver.
Kaslo’s population tripled when about 1,200 Japanese Canadians arrived. Twenty skilled Japanese Canadians arrived earlier to upgrade the town’s derelict buildings including the Langham which was build in 1896. The workers worked quickly and efficiently, and even included a Japanese bath, ofuru, at the back of the building. 80 people lived in the Langham including six members of the Konno family. Today, the building is a museum and includes a replica of the Konno sleeping quarters with beds made by the person who made the original beds.
Another Japanese Canadian family was the author’s paternal family, the Oikawa’s from Vancouver who were a fishing family who also built fishing boats. They are descended from the Oikawa’s in Sendai Miyagi-ken who came to Canada in 1906 on a rough voyage aboard a ship called the Suian Maru. They left on August 31, 1906 and arrived on October 19, 1906. The 83 passengers settled on Oikawa Island and Sato Island in the Fraser River. Japanese historical names were erased in 1942, and the islands are currently called Don and Lion Islands. The City of Richmond recognized the historical names of the Islands in 2005. According to Oikawa history they were the second earliest group to be removed from Vancouver. They arrived in Kaslo and had to live in the dormitory-like conditions. Boys older than 14 years old and single men had to live in the basement. In 1944, the Kaslo camp was closed down and the Oikawa family was moved to Bay Farm.
Michiko Harada (née Kinoshita) said her family was one of the first to arrive at Sandon. “Our family was asked to move into the hospital which was located up the hill. We shared with three other families. Being a hospital we were surprised to see all the beds, stretchers, wheelchairs, bedpans etc. still there. Some old Issei in other rooms didn’t like the bathtub so they got together and build themselves a wooden Japanese type bath in the basement.” She recalls, “It was very cold with heavy snow during winter days and extremely hot in the summer.” The camp closed after two years and her family was moved to Slocan. A family friend came to meet them when they arrived and they brought along a friend, Ted Harada. She describes it as fate, because they would be together since that day.
Alice Kokubo (née Sakiyama) was born in Steveston. She says her grandmother heard that Sandon was designated for Buddhists and said that’s where the family would go. She described huckleberry picking on the mountain from August to September. She said they would take the huckleberries to Harris’ General Store and Mr. Harris would pay them in sugar which was rationed.
She said that the hydro plant was run by her father who was considered an engineer because he was a fisher and had experience on fishing boats. Mr. Yamazaki, who used to be an auto mechanic in Vancouver, also worked at the plant with her father.
She also shared an interesting story about finding Japanese kimonos. Apparently when the buildings were being cleared for the arrival of Japanese Canadians, a trunk was found that contained Japanese kimonos. She says they were taken to Mr. Harris who said they belonged to “ladies of the night” who were in Sandon when there was the mining boom. No one knew what became of the women.
Teiso Edward Uyeno attended the University of BC. He said his father warned him that his education wouldn’t be recognized, and he wouldn’t be able to get a professional job, but he wanted to learn so he did go. In 1942, he along with 75 other Japanese Canadian UBC students were forced to leave and incarcerated in camps. His father was a carpenter so he was sent to Sandon to upgrade the buildings. Later his mother, younger brother and sister, joined their father in Sandon.
Teiso was sent to New Denver where he helped build the sheds that Japanese Canadians would live in. Hide Hyodo who was organizing classes for Japanese Canadian children in the camps asked Teiso to teach science, mathematics and physical education at the Rosebery camp. She then asked him to teach the same subjects at the Kaslo camp. He commented that the facility wasn’t as good in Kaslo. He didn’t have any privacy because he had to live “in the big hotel where young boys were, the dormitory for young boys.”
In 2008, Mary Kitagawa, a Japanese Canadian survivor of the incarceration, wrote to the University of British Columbia to ask the president to consider giving degrees to the 76 Japanese Canadian UBC students who were unjustly removed in 1942. It would take another four years, but UBC did grant degrees in a special May 2012 graduation convocation. Only 22 of the 76 students were alive in 2012. The rest of the students were represented by family members. Teiso Uyeno and Ted Harada were two of the living students. Ted (author’s family) was unable to attend the ceremony because of health reasons and the author attended on his behalf.
Many Japanese Canadian families were moved around to different camps so Sandon and Kaslo may be a familiar part of other families’ stories. Also, Japanese Canadian families in other incarceration camps will have had similar experiences of dilapidated buildings, poor living conditions, and isolation. You can read more stories in the book, Honouring Our People: Breaking the Silence, edited by Randy Enomoto. The book shares stories of Japanese Canadians in incarceration camps, road camps, sugar beet farms, so-called self-supporting projects, and Prisoners of War, exiles, and the stranded.
