The Yamada children grew up at King Edward Bay, where their parents, Kanichi and Masano Yamada, established a home and dairy farm. The children attended Bowen Island School and formed friendships with other island children. Their experiences show that Canadians of Japanese descent were not simply workers on Bowen—they were families and members of the…

In 1887, regular steamship service began between Yokohama and Vancouver, making travel between Japan and British Columbia more accessible. The new connection contributed to increasing migration from Japan. Many early immigrants came seeking work and economic opportunities in British Columbia’s growing industries. Photo: SS Abyssinia arriving at Vancouver, June 14, 1887 Learn more

Japanese Canadian workers were also part of the agricultural life of Bowen Island. By 1931, Harry Mochizuki was recorded as head of the market gardens operated by Union Steamships. He lived on Bowen with his wife Hisa and their daughter Sayako, alongside Japanese Canadian labourers who worked in the gardens that supplied produce for the…

One of the earliest known references to a Japanese person on Bowen Island comes from the Mannion property at Deep Bay. Norah Wilmot, daughter of Joseph and Sabina Mannion, later recalled that her father employed a Japanese gardener there. Her account provides an early glimpse of Japanese life and work on Bowen Island. Photo: Terminal…

In May 1942, Canadians of Japanese descent were forcibly removed from Woodfibre and other Howe Sound communities. The New Canadian reported that the Union Steamship S.S. Lady Cynthia carried 250 people from Woodfibre to Vancouver. Families left behind homes, work and a community that had developed over decades along the industrial coast. Image: The New…

In 1895, British Columbia amended the Provincial Voters’ Act to exclude Japanese residents from the provincial voters’ register, denying them the right to vote in provincial elections. The restriction applied regardless of British subject status and became part of a growing system of legal discrimination against people of Japanese descent in British Columbia. Source: Provincial…

As Canadians of Japanese descent were forcibly removed from the B.C. coast, their homes, businesses, farms and other property were placed under the control of the federal Custodian of Enemy Property. Families were told their property would be protected. Instead, much of it was subsequently sold without their consent, making it extraordinarily difficult for people…

In 1899, Edward Galbraith pre-empted 55 acres at what became Galbraith Bay. His daughter Bessie later recalled that her father “hired some Japanese” who built a bunkhouse and cook shack. The workers remained for a year or two, cutting cedar into shingle bolts that were hauled to shore and loaded onto scows for Vancouver. Learn…

In 1943, the federal government authorized the Custodian of Enemy Property to sell property belonging to Canadians of Japanese descent who had been forcibly removed from the coast. Homes, farms, businesses, vehicles and personal possessions were liquidated without their owners’ consent. The sales destroyed much of the economic foundation people had built before the war…

The 1901 Census records thirteen Japanese men living in two logging camps on Bowen Island, providing the earliest surviving names we have identified for Japanese residents on the island. Most were recorded as loggers. Their names appear to have been recorded phonetically by the census enumerator, so the historical spellings require careful interpretation. Source: Census…

During the 1901 Fraser River fishing strike, nine Japanese fishermen working near Point Grey were seized and taken by boat to Bowen Island. According to later court testimony, they were left at Seymour Bay during the night without oars, sail or equipment. Bowen resident Alexander Seymour assisted the men, who returned to Vancouver and reported…

On September 7, 1907, an anti-Asian demonstration in Vancouver developed into violence as a crowd moved through Chinatown and then into the Japanese neighbourhood around Powell Street, damaging businesses and homes. Japanese residents defended their community. The riot reflected the intense anti-Asian racism and exclusion that Japanese immigrants encountered in British Columbia. Learn more

As the federal government pursued plans to deport Canadians of Japanese descent to Japan, opposition grew across Canada. Students and professors at the University of Saskatchewan protested the policy. Professor S. Mack Eastman argued that stripping Canadians of their nationality and deporting them because of their ancestry violated the principles of the new United Nations…

In November 1907, ten Japanese men staked mineral claims on Bowen Island, reflecting Japanese participation in another of the industries developing around Átl’ḵa7tsem / Howe Sound. Provincial mining records show considerable prospecting on Bowen that year, with 22 mineral claims recorded on the island. Source: B.C. Minister of Mines, Annual Report, 1907, p. L158. Learn…

In 1908, Canadian Minister of Labour Rodolphe Lemieux negotiated an agreement with Japanese Foreign Minister Tadasu Hayashi to restrict immigration from Japan. Under the Hayashi-Lemieux Agreement, Japan limited passports for male labourers and domestic servants to 400 annually. Returning residents and certain family members were exempt, contributing to the growth of Japanese Canadian families and…

Canada’s Immigration Act of 1910 expanded the federal government’s power to restrict immigration and deport people it considered inadmissible. That year, an Order-in-Council imposed an additional financial barrier on immigrants of “Asiatic origin,” requiring them to possess $200 on arrival, compared with $25 required of other immigrants. These measures added to the restrictions already limiting…