Chuck Tasaka
@CharlesHachiroChuck Tasaka was born in Midway, B.C., but he spent most of his life growing up in Greenwood, B.C., the first Japanese Canadian Internment site. Grandfather Isaburo lived in Sashima, Ehime-ken, immigrated to Portland, Oregon in 1893, then to Steveston and came with his wife Yorie to settle on Salt Spring Island in 1905. They decided to return to Sashima permanently in 1935. Chuck’s father Arizo was born on Salt Spring Island but lived in Sashima during his youth. His mother was born in Nanaimo, B.C., but was raised in Mio-mura, Wakayama-ken. Chuck attended University of B.C. and became an elementary teacher on Vancouver Island. After retiring in 2002, Chuck has spent most of his time researching Japanese Canadian history and he is presently working on the Nikkei Legacy Park project in Greenwood.
Updated September 2024
Stories from This Author
Kinky, Ken-boh, Gacha-ba
July 17, 2024 • Chuck Tasaka
The old cliche, “What’s in a name?” Names like “Mad Dog” and “Scarface” are obvious. African-American names are very creative and unique. De’Andre, Shaquon, and JuJuan give more attention to people with these names. Former Yankee ace “Whitey” Ford or “Whitey” Herzog of the St. Louis Cardinals were probably given that nickname due to their whitest head of hair. Whereas, Nikkei with a “Whitey” nickname originated on account of his Japanese name Shiro. Both Nikkei genders could have the same …
The Ironies of the Japanese Canadian Internment History: Part 2—Discovering Japanese Canadian History
June 2, 2023 • Chuck Tasaka
Read Part 1 >> For too long, I lacked understanding about Japanese Canadian history and why World War II internment had happened. Even when I retired in 2002, I was still too busy coaching to research this history. I told myself that when I turned 65, I would dive deeply into this project. That was in 2010. I read voraciously, but there weren’t too many books on Japanese Canadian history. I studied Chinese Canadian, First Nations, Native American, and Japanese …
The Ironies of the Japanese Canadian Internment History: Part 1—My Family’s Life in Greenwood
June 1, 2023 • Chuck Tasaka
I was once so naive and ignorant about Japanese Canadian history. For many years, I neglected to dig deeper to learn about my personal family history as well as the larger injustices inflicted on Japanese Canadians. I was born in 1945 in Midway, British Columbia, just 9 miles west of Greenwood. In 1946, my family moved back to Greenwood, and that’s where I grew up. It was there that I was detained in a theoretical Canadian “internment camp” for Japanese …
Canadian Nikkei Comfort Food
Sept. 4, 2022 • Chuck Tasaka
I previously wrote an article on Nikkei food that was uniquely Japanese Canadian: kan-ba-lando chow mein that evolved in the coal mining town of Cumberland, B.C., and Denbazuke from New Denver internment camp. Fuki is symbolic of Japanese immigration. In the late 1800’s, when poor people from rural villages came to Canada or Amerika, for some reason they brought this insignificant root that is grown on the hillside of Japan. My theory is that perhaps these villagers thought that there …
Greenwood's 80th Anniversary Commemoration
Aug. 12, 2022 • Chuck Tasaka
Mission Accomplished. Greenwood’s 80th Anniversary of the Japanese Canadian Internment Reunion Concert, held on July 16, 2022, was a resounding success! With people shaking hands, embracing each other with hugs and big smiles all around, there was that ambience of camaraderie and friendship. The Japanese Canadian Survivor Health and Wellness Funding goal was achieved. How significant was this event held in the first internment ‘camp’ in British Columbia? First of all, there were some 23,000 Japanese Canadians in Canada at …
United Church’s Role in Greenwood
April 26, 2021 • Chuck Tasaka
I have written extensively on the Franciscan Friars and Sisters of the Atonement’s Japanese Catholic Mission connection with the Japanese Canadians in Steveston and Vancouver’s Powell Street Japantown. Of course, they were the ones responsible for bringing the mostly Catholic Japanese Canadians to the first internment site of Greenwood in 1942. The United Church groups were to be sent to internment camps in Kaslo, Tashme, New Denver, and Slocan area, however, the government decided to send the overflowing United Church members …
Sacred Heart School Yearbook Memoirs - Part 2
April 2, 2021 • Chuck Tasaka
Read Part 1 >> 1945-46 Yearbook A message from Mayor W.E. McArthur Sr.: Most of you are of Japanese origin, and although you are Canadians in every sense of the word, you had to undergo hardships which were caused by the hatreds which sprung up during the war. During the past four years, you have stood up under this burden in a manner which is very creditable. As the Mayor of the Town, I have found you to be very …
Sacred Heart School Yearbook Memoirs - Part 1
April 1, 2021 • Chuck Tasaka
In my previous article, I wrote that Greenwood became the first ‘internment camp’ in British Columbia, thanks mainly to the collaborative effort of then Mayor W.E. McArthur Sr. and Franciscan Friar Father Benedict Quigley to bring mostly Catholic Japanese Canadians and their friends and relatives to Greenwood in 1942. The Franciscan Sisters established Sacred Heart School when the federal and provincial government was debating as to who was responsible for funding education. B.C. government was a definite ‘no’. As a …
Mystery ‘Graffiti’ Revealed
Dec. 24, 2019 • Chuck Tasaka
Former Nelson Star editor, Greg Nesteroff, on January 21, 2015, wrote an article on names of Japanese Canadians scratched on the wall of the old ‘Slocan Hall’ or Legion/Oddfellows Hall. This building was undergoing renovation to expand the kitchen. As the contractors were peeling off the asphalt of the building, they could see the names of Japanese Canadians who were probably young teens during the internment years around 1944 or 1945. Only a handful of names were legible. The clearest …
Unsung Heroes of the Japanese Canadian Internment
May 7, 2019 • Chuck Tasaka
In present day Canada, the high profile Nikkei we hear of so often are people like David Suzuki, Joy Kogawa, Muriel Kitagawa, Thomas Shoyama, Santa Ono, Raymond Moriyama, Art Miki, Mary and Tosh Kitagawa, and athletes like Paul Kariya (hockey), Nathan Hirayama (Rugby 7), Vicky Sunohara (Olympic hockey), Special Olympic skier Brian McKeever and the Hall of Fame Vancouver Asahi baseball team (1914-1941). From 1942-1949, during the forced relocation from the B.C. coast beyond the 100-mile radius east to various …
Discover Nikkei Updates
Be in our video celebrating Nikkei worldwide. Click to learn how to submit! Deadline extended to October 15!
November 12
5pm PDT | 7pm PET
Featured Nima:
Graciela Nakachi
Guest Host:
Enrique Higa
Presented in Spanish
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