From Vancouver's Powell St. to Toronto: Kay Mende’s Remarkable Life

Jan. 10, 2021 - Feb. 14, 2021

Katsuyo "Kay" Mende, a Canadian-Nisei, was born in Vancouver, B.C. on July 3, 1926. She wrote an account of her childhood and adolescence in Vancouver, British Columbia and paints a vivid picture of the plight of many Japanese-Canadian families during pre-World War II Canada and the injustices of the internment years. Her story is a testament to the courage and strength that she, her family, and her community summoned to overcome the oppression of those times.

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Canada communities Japanese Canadians Lemon Creek Powell Street (Vancouver, B.C.) prewar streets Vancouver (B.C.) World War II

Stories from this series

Part 6: Reunions, Redress, & Retirement

Feb. 14, 2021 • Katsuyo “Kay” Mende

Read Part 5 >> In the eighties and nineties, there were many reunions for the war years’ relocation centres and pre-war Japanese School classes. At one of the earlier Lemon Creek Reunions, we four Usami sisters were bold enough to perform on stage a dance with original choreography by Hayako-san, our instructor in pre-war days - “Tabigasa-Dochu”. Years later at another reunion, we four did “Shanghai-Dayori”, another creation of Hayako-san. There were many Japanese School reunions. The first one I …

Canada communities Japanese Canadians retirement reunions

Part 5: Establishing a JC Community in Toronto

Feb. 7, 2021 • Katsuyo “Kay” Mende

Read Part 4 >> The usual everyday happenings were of reacquainting with old friends, making new ones, attending dances on Fridays which were held at Labour Lyceum, a Ukrainian hall, on Spadina Avenue in the midst of a Chinese population. There were church concerts, picnics, social get-togethers, etc. Looking for a better job after the Seguins was not easily accomplished. After a few interviews, I was able to find employment in an office as a stenographer where I was able …

Canada communities Japanese Canadians Ontario postwar Toronto World War II

Part 4: Life in Lemon Creek Internment Camp

Jan. 31, 2021 • Katsuyo “Kay” Mende

Read Part 3 >> The life in Lemon Creek settled down to mundane everyday life. There was no running water in the individual homes. The pipes ran outside the houses, the faucets in the sink from the network of pipes were meant to serve every five or so homes. The people would not stand for this system. With winter coming, people just helped themselves to enough material to pipe in water into their own homes. Dad did the same to …

British Columbia Canada communities Japanese Canadians Lemon Creek World War II World War II camps

Part 3: Life before the war and upheaval to Lemon Creek

Jan. 24, 2021 • Katsuyo “Kay” Mende

Read Part 2 >> The only pleasure Frank used to have during these hard times was going fishing down Gore Avenue to make a few pennies selling the catch – a bucketful of “shiner perch” - to Japanese restaurants. “Tengu” was one of them, owners of which were grandparents of my current good friend, Pat. Frank used to scrape barnacles off posts protruding from the water down at the wharf, inside of which were worms that made the best bait. …

British Columbia Canada communities Hastings Park temporary detention center Japanese Canadians Lemon Creek Powell Street (Vancouver, B.C.) prewar streets temporary detention centers Vancouver (B.C.) World War II World War II camps

Part 2: A Japanese Canadian Nisei Education

Jan. 17, 2021 • Katsuyo “Kay” Mende

Read Part 1 >> The following are my siblings: Shigeru (Frank): b. 1924. He worked for the Dept. of Education, married Ruth Sasaki, divorced; Married Toshiko Otsuka, both deceased. Katsuyo (Kay): myself. b.1926. She married Ron Mende (deceased). Ayako (Betty): b.1930. She married Stony Nagata (deceased), lived in Richmond Hill Sachiko (Shirley): b. 1932 (deceased). She married Bob Takagi (deceased) and lived in Willowdale. Kinuko (Mary): b.1936. She lives in Toronto. Kenneth (Kenji): b.1940. He lives in House of Wellness, …

British Columbia Canada communities Japanese Canadians Powell Street (Vancouver, B.C.) prewar streets Vancouver (B.C.)

Part 1: Family History & Life on Powell St.

Jan. 10, 2021 • Katsuyo “Kay” Mende

“Our Mother’s account of her childhood and adolescence in Vancouver, British Columbia paints a vivid picture of the plight of many Japanese-Canadian families during pre-World War II Canada and the injustices of the internment years. Her story is a testament to the courage and strength that she, her family and her community summoned to overcome the oppression of those times. Rising above the adverse experiences of the past, Mom has always displayed an attitude of forgiveness, kindness, compassion, and a …

British Columbia Canada communities Japanese Canadians Powell Street (Vancouver, B.C.) prewar streets Vancouver (B.C.)

Author in This Series

Katsuyo “Kay” Mende

Katsuyo “Kay” Mende, a Canadian-Nisei, was born in Vancouver, B.C. on July 3, 1926. Following WWII and internment years, her family moved eastward and settled in Toronto where she married and raised 4 sons with husband Ron. She worked as a secretary for the electronics company, RCA, for over 20 years until her retirement in 1990. Widowed in 1999, she lived on her own, regularly attending Aqua-Fit classes and taking sumi-e lessons. She was reunited with her son Fred just shy of her 90th birthday. She suffered a stroke November 2017, and her limited mobility with the current COVID-19 crisis has left her housebound. She’s an avid sports fan, faithfully following the Leafs and Jays on TV, and especially the NBA’s Raptors.

Updated December 2021

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