📷 Nikkei National Museum / 2013-20-1-9

It was the fall of 1942, and Chizu Negoro was on a train to Hope. Her husband, Shinichi, was travelling with her, as were sons Hitoshi and Takashi (10 and 7), their toddler daughter Kazumi, and their year-old baby girl Emi.

They had little with them. The family had been forcibly removed from their home to Hastings Park in the summer, along with thousands of other Japanese-Canadian families. Their gramophone, 119 records, Emi’s baby bath, and the kids’ see-saw were left behind at their home in Vancouver. Shinichi’s coat hanger machine was left too—the self-employed coat-hanger-maker had been labelled an enemy alien and shipped to a road camp in the North Thompson earlier that year. (He was only reunited with his family in Hastings Park after a cave-in at the worksite killed the man next to him. Shinichi was allowed to accompany the body back to Vancouver.)

In early October, all six members of the Negoro family were loaded onto aging rail cars, along with 144 others. They got on in Vancouver. They got off in Hope, the inside edge of the 100-mile exclusion zone, and walked over the station platform to climb into waiting trucks. From there, the Negoro family would make the 22km journey through the mountains to Tashme: the largest Japanese-Canadian concentration camp in Canada.

The Museum: Beginning

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Elinor Hanschke2 years ago

Thank you! This is a part of BC history that needs to be heard. The a Japanese were not treated well, and yet as a people group they have chosen to forgive. My best friend is Japanese and we have had hours of conversations about the Japanese internment. His parents were in interned, all his relatives were and they lost everything. Their homes and business sold by the BC government for Pennie’s compared to what it was worth. There are many reasons for anger, bitterness, unforgiveness. How different the Japanese story in BC has played out in comparison to Truth and Reconciliation of our First Nations. A comparison article would be an interesting read.

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Zena Craig2 years ago

Excellent article. It is horrible the way the Japanese Canadians were treated. There is also a museum in Midway BC where a lot of them were in a camp there. I was there a couple of years ago and went through it. It really opens one’s eyes to see the way they had to live.

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John Glena3 years ago

Very sad. War causes Governments to do cruel things. Seizing houses and businesses is wrong. Who benefited from these seizures? Back in the 50's we had Japanese friends in the Vernon area who told us horror stories of how they were treated. It broke my heart to hear the stories.

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Annie Richard3 years ago

Based on fvcurrent articles on Tashme, me and a friend visited the museum this year. Would have loved to speak to Ryan about the future of the museum etc..but he was speaking with a Japanese family and decided to come back another time. It is a very interesting place to visit and this is what we need more of in BC. History is what we need . The rest of the world has no idea about Tashme!

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Janet Pohl3 years ago

I agree. It is wonderful how the owner bought the property and turned a large portion in to this Historic Museum. It was the largest Japanese Internment Camp in B C

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