| biography | Shintaro Yamashita was born February 7, 1893 in Ogatamura, Hiroshima, Japan. He was the eldest son of Wakichi Yamashita and Yuki Hakata. Wakichi's surname was Fujii but he took the Yamashita name when he married. Wakichi was a successful businessman who sold fabrics. His business acumen however, suffered greatly due to his hospitable nature causing him to lose a lot of money to poor credit management. Yuki Hakata came from a samurai family and was a royal with wealth.
It was unusual for an eldest son to leave home as they usually inherited the family fortune but Shintaro, at nineteen, left to seek greener pastures in Canada.
He was sponsored by a family friend, Nakano, from the same village. Nakano promised work at a grocery store in Cumberland, BC. There was a larger Japanese community residing there who worked for the lumber mill or coal mine. Shintaro arrived in BC on May 22, 1912; he worked for the Nakano grocery store for three years. On April 14, 1915, he became a naturalized Canadian.
Over the years, Shintaro tried his hand at many business adventures including hauling lumber, chauffeuring in Vancouver and owning a gas station. His real success came when began running a taxi stand in 1915. By 1942 he had five taxi cars, two U-drive rental cars and an electrical appliance store.
He married Yoshiko Tarutani on December 13, 1923 by proxy wedding at Ogata, Hiroshima-ken, Japan. Yoshiko's Uncle lived in Vancouver and met the upstanding Shintaro and so persuaded his sister, Haru Tarutani to arrange the marriage.
The couple was blessed with five children: Kazue was born 1924 in Vancouver and died December 7, 1926, Ichiro Joseph Robert was born on August 7, 1926 in Vancouver, Teruye Rosemary Bernadette was born on October 3, 1929 in Vancouver, Ikumi Florence was born on October 7, 1933 and died on April 13, 1999 of colon cancer and Jiro Gerard James was born on October 10, 1942 in Minto Mine, BC and died of heart and kidney failure.
Shintaro was forced to leave his thriving businesses in May, 1942 due to the mass Evacuation imposed by the BC Government under the War Measures Act. His business assets were sold by the BC Security Commission for $1000, which was paid to him at $25 per month.
Since Yoshiko was expecting Jiro at the time, Shintaro chose to go to a self-supporting camp called Minto Mine in BC; an old abandoned gold mine town in the Cariboo district, rather than to a government operated internment camp.
There the family stayed until April 1949.
After the War, many people were forced east of the Rockies or repatriated back to Japan but none were allowed to return to Vancouver, BC. The family then decided to move to Toronto in May, 1949. Shintaro considered going into the electrical appliance business again but he no longer had any connections in a strange city and all his former customers were not readily available. Being a resourceful person, he took a job at a woodworking factory at Ewing and Gregor. Unfortunately, he was in a machinery accident, losing a finger and dexterity in his right hand. He was on Workmen Compensation for a long time. Until retirement, he spray-painted at J Lome Davidson Co; a furniture factory. He was never happy working for someone else. With diminished income and social stature, he did not participate in many Japanese social functions.
In February, 1954, under Yoshiko and Bob's name, the family purchased a modest house at 212 Langley Avenue for $13.500. Bob married Sue Ohashi on June 16, 1956. On January 28, 1961, Terry married George Nakamura and bought out Bob's share of the Langley home.
Before Yoshiko died, she had left word with Mrs. Tomotsugu that in the event of her death, her share should go to Teruye since she lent her money to pay the mortgage. Shintaro's greatest tragedy was when Yoshiko died at fifty-two years of age of coronary thrombosis on February 17, 1958. So Terry and George lived at Langley Avenue with Shintaro and Jiro.
George started a plastic embedding business in 1963. Shintaro helped George by doing maintenance at the factory; first at One Crystal Arts Square and later at Musgrave. Shintaro suffered a mild heart attack in 1964 but fully recovered.
George and Terry were blessed with four sons. After the second son John was born, Jiro moved out to live with the Ladoucers. Shintaro was kept busy helping with the washing, fixing bikes and helping at the factory until his death on May 3rd, 1971 at the age of seventy-eight. He died of cancer of the pancreas. |