title

 

Nakamoto Family collection

 

general material designation

 

[graphic material]
extent

 

11 digital files

 

date

 

1937-1946

 

scope and content

 

The collection consists of one series. The series are digital photographs, mostly of group portraits taken in Vancouver, BC and Tashme, BC.

 

biography

 

Kazuto "Kaz" Nakamoto was born at 3425 West 4th Avenue in Kitsilano, Vancouver, BC with assistance from a midwife. Kaz's father owned a dry cleaning business and the family lived and worked in the same building on West 4th Avenue. Mr and Mrs Nakamoto had four children.

 


 

When the Nakamoto was forcibly removed from the coast, the Nakamoto's were sent to a small place on Alexander Street for a short period of time before being sent to Hastings Park. The family was then sent to Tashme until the end of the war. After Tashme, the family was restricted from returning to the coast. The family decided against deportation and they were sent to Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. The family was sent to an unused facility by the airport and there were around 300 Japanese Canadians there. Kaz recalls being bused to school everyday. During the winter, the bus would get stuck in the snow on the highway and the students would have to walk home in the snow. Other times, the blizzards would be so bad that Kaz and the other students would stay in the YMCA. Kaz recalls there was a lot of snow in the winter time and sometimes it would pile up on one side of a building and they would toboggan down the side for fun. In 1949 when all restrictions were lifted, the family moved once again. Kaz's father had a cousin in Greenwood, the Imai family, and they ran a shoe repair shop. The Nakamoto family moved into the back of the shoe repair shop with the Imai family and they lived together for 6 months. During that time, Kaz picked up the Kyushu dialect from the Imai family. In 1949 after staying in Greenwood, Kaz's father got a job at the Grand Forks hotel. The family lived in Grand Forks, BC from 1949 to 1954. In 1955 Kaz moved back to Vancouver after graduating from school.

 

number

 

2013.30

 

organisation

 

Nikkei National Museum
access

 

Open