“Embracing Our Japanese Heritage”
Mr. Ed Hayashi
Born in April 1937, Steveston, Richmond, British Columbia
Moved to Taber, Alberta in 1942, stayed until 1950
Retired carpenter
Parents originally from Shiga Prefecture
From Steveston to Southern Alberta
Mr. Ed Hayashi and his family left Steveston in 1942. Their destination was Taber, in southern Alberta. Mr. Hayashi says he doesn’t remember much about living in Steveston or moving to Alberta.
“I don’t remember because I was quite young at that time. So, I don’t remember leaving BC,” he said.
In Taber, his parents worked on a sugar beet farm. Why Alberta? Many of the government-supported internment camps were in BC, but Mr. Hayashi explained, “At that time, my parents had four kids. We were all one year apart.” He was the oldest, with three younger siblings. ” My parents want us to live together. And that’s why I think they chose to move to Taber, Alberta.” Sugar beet farms needed workers, and families who chose to relocate to the farms were allowed to move together.
However, the living conditions were not much better than in the internment camps. He recalled, “We lived in a company house. It was a shack. Now, those days were very cold and no insulation, no electricity.” The only source of heat was a coal stove. “It’s a stove where you have to put coal in and then heat the house. That’s all we had for heat. I remember very cold days, my mother used to have a rock, and put it on the stove and heat the rock up. And then use old blankets around the rock. And, put it beside the bed so we can keep our feet warm.”
He remembers that the water boiling on the stove would freeze over by the next morning. “That’s how cold it was,” he said. In winter, temperatures in Taber averaged around minus 10 degrees but could drop as low as minus 40. Despite those conditions, the six family members lived in a small shack without electricity or insulation. Even so, he added, “It’s a good experience of this,” with no trace of hardship on his face.
Heating wasn’t the only challenge. “There wasn’t much food,” he recalled. “We ate what we grow. I think we grew things that (would) last during the winter. My dad used to go maybe once a week shopping then. Everybody’s grocery there.” The nearest town for grocery shopping was 2 to 3 miles (about 3 to 6 kilometres) away, and his father would make the trip in an old truck. “We ate what we got. We’re not very fussed about food. We ate what was on the table. So that’s how we lived.”
A Childhood Without Feeling Discrimination
Even during the internment period, Mr. Hayashi attended school. He went from Grades 1 to 3, along with his younger siblings. They got to school by horse-drawn buggy. “I remember going to school on a horsing buggy those days,” he smiled. Although living conditions were harsh, as a child, “We enjoyed some of the things we played on the field.”
He even had a white friend. “We were small. We didn’t know too much about the war, you know? So, we had a good time, I guess in some ways,” he added.
He also attended Sunday school. “When we were small, we went to Sunday school,” he remembered. “Every Sunday, there used to be a lady that came to pick us up on her car. And take us to Sunday school in Taber, Alberta. So, we look forward to going to Sunday school. So, we learn more about Jesus Christ.”
Looking back on his school days, he doesn’t recall experiencing any particular discrimination against Japanese Canadians. “We were kids so I guess we didn’t have that much discrimination,” he reflected.
Back to Vancouver
In April 1949, after the Canadian government lifted the restriction, and Japanese Canadians were finally allowed to move freely in the country. The Hayashi family lived in Taber until 1950, when they returned to Vancouver. Mr. Hayashi’s father, who wanted to return to fishing, found a job at the Great Northern Cannery in West Vancouver.
“When we came back, in fact, we didn’t have no money to come back,” he said “So, my dad had to borrow money from his aunt to come back from Alberta to Vancouver.” His father repaid the borrowed money by working as a fisherman. Mr. Hayashi recalls that his parents faced hardships, both in Alberta and after returning to Vancouver.
In West Vancouver, they lived in a company house. He remembers that other Japanese Canadian families also lived there. At that time, Mr. Hayashi was 12 years old and attended school in West Vancouver. He and his siblings were the only Japanese Canadians attending from the cannery. All his classmates were white, but even so, he said he didn’t particularly feel any discrimination.
Later, he left school and attended a carpentry training program for a year. After completing three years of apprenticeship, he started working as a carpenter. During that time, he felt discrimination against Japanese Canadian carpenters. Since being a union member was essential for finding work, he joined in 1957. He recalls that it was a challenging time to find carpentry jobs. Although he had Japanese Canadian friends among his fellow carpenters, they never spoke about the internment period.
On the Canadian Government’s Internment Policy for Japanese Canadians
Mr. Hayashi did not directly participate in the “Redress Movement.” He remembers that well-educated individuals led the movement around 1988 and that he received $21,000 as part of the redress settlement.
When asked about the Canadian government’s internment policies toward Japanese Canadians, he said, “That’s a shame.” He added, ” I think Japanese Canadians lost everything. They lost their house. They lost your fishboat to where they work to make a living. They lost a lot, a lot of things that we never got back.”
He then shares a story about a tour he took to Salt Spring Island, organized by Tonari Gumi (Japanese Community Volunteers Association). He speaks about a Japanese man who had arrived in the late nineteenth century. “Tonari Gumi had a trip to Salt Spring Island on a tour, not very long ago and I went on that tour. And this Japanese man from Japan had 500 acres he bought. Now it’s worth a lot of money. And he never got a penny back. Isn’t that a shame?”
In the late nineteenth century saw Japanese immigrants settled on Salt Spring Island, making living through fishing and farming. But Mr. Hayashi added, “(They) lost everything. So that’s a shame.” Before the war, the Hayashi family lived in a company house, so they didn’t own a house that could be confiscated. However, their fishing boat was taken, and even after the internment ended, it was never returned.
Embracing Our Japanese Heritage
Mr. Hayashi’s first trip to Japan was in 1985, at the age of 47. He went to work as a carpenter. In Vancouver, he met a Japanese man named Mr. Suzuki, who was looking for someone to build a house in Japan. “I could speak a little Japanese,” he laughed, recalling how he was asked, “Would you be interested in building a house in Nishinomiya?”
He continued, “I start thinking myself, I’m living right now in Vancouver and got a good opportunity to go to Japan. A free trip and you get money coming from Japan. So, my job here closed down. I went to Japan. The free trip and make money at the same time and see Japan, what an opportunity.” He stayed for three months, and the house he built still stands in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture.
When asked about his first impression of Japan, he said, “Japanese people are very polite, you know, very polite people. And very nice and they try to help. I’m Japanese-Canadian. I don’t speak too good of Japanese. I got along.”
His connection with Japan continues to this day. He currently volunteers at “Tonari Gumi”, a Japanese Canadian volunteer organization in Vancouver founded in 1974. Its purpose is to assist the first-generation Japanese immigrants who, after being released from internment, were already seniors and spoke Japanese as their native language.
“I like to volunteer. I help seniors. I still help seniors. I’m senior myself. But, I’m still pretty active,” he chuckled.
He learned his Japanese from his parents. “I learned from my parents. We were talking at home so I picked it up.” It has been further polished through his work with Tonari Gumi. He added, “They speak mostly (Japanese). So, I picked it up and then I kind of get better. Every time I go out, I speak, you know, I can hear them speaking and I can understand what they are talking about.” Throughout the interview, Japanese phrases slip into his conversation.
As for Japanese culture, Mr. Hayashi believes it’s something to be preserved. “I think we should keep our culture. It’s very important that we’re still Japanese. We have culture. I think we should keep it up.” This includes the attitudes associated with being Japanese. “The Japanese people are very polite”, he continued. “And most of them are honest people. I’m saying most. And I like to keep it that way. We’re well known for good people, honest people, and hard-working people.”
Working hard is a value he inherited from his parents. He worked diligently as a carpenter, raised a family, owned a home, and considered his life a successful one. He often reflects on the hardships his parents endured, both in Alberta and after returning to Vancouver.
He has also shared the story of the internment period with his children. “They know what we went through. I talked to them.” He believes it is important to pass on the history of what happened to Japanese Canadians. Regardless of what he and his family went through, he said, “I’m still very proud to be a Japanese Canadian. I’m happy where I am.”
(Text: Naomi Mishima)
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