Chuck Tasaka

Chuck Tasaka was born in Midway, B.C., but he spent most of his life growing up in Greenwood, B.C., the first Japanese Canadian Internment site. Grandfather Isaburo lived in Sashima, Ehime-ken, immigrated to Portland, Oregon in 1893, then to Steveston and came with his wife Yorie to settle on Salt Spring Island in 1905. They decided to return to Sashima permanently in 1935. Chuck’s father Arizo was born on Salt Spring Island but lived in Sashima during his youth. His mother was born in Nanaimo, B.C., but was raised in Mio-mura, Wakayama-ken. Chuck attended University of B.C. and became an elementary teacher on Vancouver Island. After retiring in 2002, Chuck has spent most of his time researching Japanese Canadian history and he is presently working on the Nikkei Legacy Park project in Greenwood.

Updated September 2024

Stories from This Author

MAINICHI GAMAN: Broom, Mop, and Apron

Dec. 13, 2018 • Chuck Tasaka

For many centuries, women fought for gender equality, especially in the political forum. As early as the late 1800’s, women in Canada struggled to gain stronghold for the “Right to Vote.” Most politicians were adamant that women’s place should be in the home, having babies, raising them, cook for their husbands, and to keep the house tidy. Nevertheless, women in Canada could run for political office. One woman who spear-headed this movement was Nellie McClung. She and four other women …

aesthetics Canada elections food gaman (values) metaphysics political science psychology theory of knowledge values voting wives women World War II World War II camps

75th and 76th Anniversary of the Greenwood Nikkei Internment Ceremony

Sept. 19, 2018 • Chuck Tasaka

Back in 1971, then Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau declared that Canada would adopt a multicultural policy that recognizes and respects a diversity of languages, customs and religion. In 2015, Trudeau's son Justin, who also became Prime Minister, stated that “Diversity is Canada’s Strength” and over the past few years, there has been a push to encourage inclusion of all ethnic communities. In British Columbia, the provincial government initiated a project to recognize the accomplishments of once marginalized ethnic groups, …

British Columbia Canada communities Greenwood (B.C.) historic sites history Japanese Canadian Highway Legacy Project Japanese Canadians World War II

Canadian Nikkei’s Pilgrimage to J.A. Internment Camps - Part 3

July 27, 2018 • Chuck Tasaka

Read Part 2 >> TOPAZ MUSEUM-DELTA, UTAH After Moab, we drove straight west to Delta where the Topaz Museum is located, although to our disappointment the museum appeared to be closed. We stopped next door at the Delta Historic Museum where two ladies assisted us. Apparently, a volunteer there got her schedule mixed up. Again, luck was on our side and the lady opened the door to the Topaz Museum. I didn’t expect Topaz Museum to be so complete, with …

Canada concentration camps Idaho Japanese Americans Japanese Canadians Minidoka concentration camp pilgrimages Topaz concentration camp United States Utah Washington World War II World War II camps Yakima Valley

Canadian Nikkei’s Pilgrimage to J.A. Internment Camps - Part 2

July 20, 2018 • Chuck Tasaka

Read Part 1 >> NEXT STOP: PORTLAND Our next stop was in Portland, Oregon to visit their magnificent Japanese Garden. When Nobuo Matsunaga, the former ambassador to Japan to the U.S. visited this garden, he proclaimed it to be, “The most beautiful and authentic Japanese garden in the world outside of Japan.” The garden is twelve acres and nestled in the West Hills of Washington Park overlooking the city. Designed in 1963, this garden has a Flat, Tea, Strolling Pond, …

agriculture California Canada concentration camps gardening gardens Japanese Americans Japanese Canadians Japanese gardens Manzanar concentration camp Oregon pilgrimages Portland (Or.) Tule Lake concentration camp United States World War II World War II camps

Canadian Nikkei’s Pilgrimage to J.A. Internment Camps - Part 1

July 13, 2018 • Chuck Tasaka

I have always been intrigued by and curious about the Japanese American internment history for years and have watched Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) programs religiously to learn about the wartime incarceration experience. Since there are many documentaries about Japanese Americans, and only a few films on the Japanese Canadian internment experiences on the local Knowledge Network, I know more about the Japanese American history. The 442nd Regimental Combat Team (RCT) history had a huge impact on me. I admire their …

Bainbridge Island Canada Japanese Americans Japanese Canadians pilgrimages United States Washington World War II World War II camps

Happy Hockey Hapas’ “Dream Season”

June 1, 2018 • Chuck Tasaka

Every team across Canada dreams about winning it all, and in 2018, Richmond’s Seafair Islanders Bantam hockey club’s young U-15 (ages 13-14) finished the season as winners of the Pacific Coast Tier One regular season with a record of 19-1, and moved on to the play-off series to qualify for the B.C. championship. In Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, the Islanders went undefeated in round-robin play with wins over Yukon 13-2, Racquet Club of Victoria 6-0, and Prince George 4-1. In …

British Columbia Canada hapa hockey racially mixed people Richmond (B.C.) sports

Mystery Album - Part 2

Feb. 13, 2018 • Chuck Tasaka

Read Part 1 >> Excerpts taken from the 1946 SHS Yearbook Mayor McArthur’s speech to the 1946 grads: Most of you are of Japanese origin, and although you are Canadians in every sense of the word, you had to undergo hardships which were caused by the hatreds which sprung up during the war. During the past four years, you have stood up under this burden in a manner which is very creditable. I have found you to be very fine …

albums British Columbia Canada Greenwood (B.C.) photograph albums photographs photography schools yearbooks

Mystery Album - Part 1

Feb. 12, 2018 • Chuck Tasaka

How this ‘mystery album’ fell onto my lap is, in Japanese, fushigi or in English, ‘surreal.’ To top it off, this album belonged to a young lady in Greenwood, my former hometown! My cousin Yvonne phoned me to say that she received this photo album from her former colleague at Capilano University. They were both art instructors. The lady’s partner who was also an artist, passed away and she was cleaning out his accumulated collection. The partner apparently collected old …

albums British Columbia Canada Greenwood (B.C.) photograph albums photographs photography schools yearbooks

First Lady Plumber in Canada Is a Nikkei

Nov. 23, 2017 • Chuck Tasaka

Anna (Fujimura) Higashi grew up in Woodfibre, B.C. Her grandfather Isaburo Fujimura and son Taichiro, seventeen years of age, came to Canada in the early 1900s. Isaburo was a caretaker of a community bath on Powell Street (Japantown). Taichiro worked for a railroad company that took him to the province of Ontario. Once finished, he returned to Vancouver, but soon after Taichiro left for Powell River to work at the pulp and paper mill. Later, he found work at Woodfibre …

British Columbia Canada Greenwood (B.C.) Japanese Canadians plumbers Powell Street (Vancouver, B.C.) streets Vancouver (B.C.) Woodfibre

Canadian Nisei! You Know You’re Old When…

Oct. 24, 2017 • Chuck Tasaka

The Nisei—the group who suffered the most during the World War II incarceration of Japanese Canadians and Americans—is now heading into the twilight of their lives. They survived and succeeded because of their resilience, perseverance, and determination. Now, they can enjoy the fruits of their labor as they proudly look back and reminisce about that period in time when they had to overcome great adversity. I was a very young Sansei growing up in Greenwood, British Columbia, where I had …

Canada generations Japanese Canadians Nisei