| biography | Isaburo Tasaka emigrated to Portland, Oregon in the late 1800s, but soon learned of the Steveston fishing bonanza, and so began commuting back and forth between Oregon and BC. By 1905, he and his wife moved to Steveston, BC to export 'salted fish' to Japan; It was a lucrative business. Unfortunately, Steveston's water was polluted and their eldest son, Hajime, died as a result. Afterwards, the family decided to move to Saltspring Island where the water was clean. The couple had seventeen more children with fifteen surviving to adulthood.
One of their son's, Arizo (born in Ganges, 1907) was the second eldest surviving son, after Koji Tasaka. Arizo and Koji were sent to Japan when they were young to receive a Japanese education. Arizo returned to Canada in 1924; a year after the great Tokyo earthquake.
In 1935, Isaburo and his wife returned to Japan after moving from Saltspring Island in 1929 and to Steveston, BC.
Arizo fished for a time, but his calling was as a barber where he apprenticed under Mr Hirai in Steveston, BC. In 1938 Arizo built and opened his own babrershop. (The building still stands and is now used as a bike shop.)
When the war broke out, the family was interned in Greenwood, BC. Arizo continued his barber business in Greenwood, and lived there until 1989. With health issues, Arizo and Hatsue, his wife, moved to Vancouver to be with their family. The couple had nine children.
Chuck, Arizo and Hatsue's son, reconnected with the Nikkei community after fourty-one years of coaching in Ladysmith, BC. During this time, Chuck has been involved with the Greenwood Museum where he helped put together three murals that tell the story of the three Franciscan Orders who helped the Nikkei people during the Internment period. |