Stuff contributed by CharlesHachiro

Nisei: Yancha Kozo For All Seasons - Part 2

Chuck Tasaka

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Nisei: Yancha Kozo For All Seasons - Part 1

Chuck Tasaka

Post-war babies born in the internment camps should be considered the ‘Lucky Ones’? These children didn’t suffer the whole forced removal ordeal beginning in 1942. They were born in Greenwood, New Denver, Kaslo, Slocan City or Lillooet where there were hospitals. There were several Nisei doctors serving in those areas.

Mio-Steveston Fishermen Dialect

Chuck Tasaka

Whenever you hear of Mio, a poor, small fishing village south-east of Osaka in Wakayama-ken, the name ‘Amerika Mura’ comes to mind. To the villagers, Amerika was Canada and U.S. Gihei Kuno’s name became synonymous with Mio-Steveston connection. He was a master carpenter who was trying to raise fund to …

Nisei: The Games We Played

Chuck Tasaka

Nisei growing up on Powell Streets in the ’30s didn’t have that many toys so they had to improvise. Some boys picked chestnuts off the ground and pierced them with a needle with string threaded through to the other side and made bolos. The girls played hopscotch and skipping. Traditional …

You Are Canadian Nisei If . . . Part II

Chuck Tasaka

Discover Nikkei published my article titled, You Are Canadian Nisei If . . . on December 9, 2015. There were more Nisei traits uncovered to add to this article. I wonder if there are any more hidden gems regarding Canadian Nisei identity?

Nisei: Sports Brought “Wa” (Harmony)

Chuck Tasaka

The famous Vancouver Asahi baseball teams have been well-documented and the latest, a movie made in Japan called Asahi was the “icing on the cake”. Pat Adachi was the first to write the history of the Asahi franchise in her book titled Asahi: A Legend in Baseball. Jari Osborne followed …

Nisei: Summer Jobs

Chuck Tasaka

“What? I have to travel 400 km to work all summer? I will call family services!” No, no, that didn’t come out of the mouth of a Nisei. They followed their parents’ orders. The Child’s Labour Code was not discussed back in those days. Parents just said, “Mo, ichi-nin mae …

Nisei Saves! Mottainai

Chuck Tasaka


Nisei: Internment Camp Life

Chuck Tasaka

Greenwood was the first “internment centre” and Tashme was the last. In-between, there were Lemon Creek, Popoff, Bay Farm, New Denver, Rosebery, Sandon, and Kaslo. Self-supporting camps were East Lillooet, Minto Mine, Bridge River, and McGillivray Falls. Other self-supporting camps like Taylor Lake, Tappen, Blind Bay, Christina Lake, and Grand …

Nikkei Chronicles #5—Nikkei-go: The Language of Family, Community, and Culture

You-mo? Me mo!: Nisei Language and Dialect

Chuck Tasaka

I don’t have a PhD in linguistics but I hope that a budding linguist major will get interested in this topic. In Hawaii, the first boat load of about 150 Japanese immigrants came to this island as sugar cane laborers in 1868. It was called Gannen-mono, first-year people. However, it …

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About

A graduate of U.B.C. and retired teacher since 2002. Coached various sports for 41 years, but in 2010, I wanted to devote more time to the Nikkei history. I wrote two books, "Hanatare Bozu" and " Family History of Greenwood-Midway.

Nikkei interests

  • community history
  • family stories
  • Japanese/Nikkei food

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