Licensing

Lorene Oikawa

My family on my father’s side were fishers and boat builders.  I think it’s appropriate that Oikawa means big river.  At least that’s what I remember when I was a child when I asked what does Oikawa means.  My father’s side of the family came in 1906 on a ship called the Suian Maru.  It took several weeks to travel from Japan to Canada.  They settled on small islands in Vancouver.  One was named Oikawa before World War II.

Read her story that she developed during this workshop >>