Family information in Pitt Meadows in 1942

• Frank Hiroshi Kamiya (Son) – Born August 20th, 1938. No Records
• Archie Atsushi Kamiya (Son) – Born November 17th, 1939 (?). No Records

 
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History of the Kamiya Family

The following information is from the Nikkei National Museum and Cultural Centre.

Jiro Kamiya (ne Tsuneki) was born on August 29, 1910 in Shizuoka Ken, Japan. He married Toneko Kamiya on January 10, 1936; she was born on March 13, 1913 in Shizuoka Ken, Japan. His father was Torakichi Tsuneki, his mother was Sono Tsuneki and his siblings were Seichi, Kane, Sumi, Sei, Keizo and Otokichi.

The Tsuneki family were Master Carpenters for over 500 years. Torakichi Tsuneki Construction Co was the largest and best-known construction company in Shizuoka Ken. They built many of the churches, government buildings and schools in the city. In about 1926, a major typhoon/storm destroyed the large high school being built by Torakichi Tsuneki Construction and destroyed the half-built structure and because there was no such thing as builders’ insurance in those days, the contractor was obligated to rebuild the new school which put a major strain on the company and family. Therefore, Jiro and all the sons had to assist their father in rebuilding the school, so Jiro had to quit high school at age fifteen. Although he had aspirations of being an architect, he became a master carpenter by circumstance. Jiro’s sister Kane had immigrated to Canada and after working for his father for seven years without any wages, he made application to come to Canada with some help from his sister, Kane Saito. After five years his application was approved, and he immigrated in 1933. He first lived with his sister on the farm where he worked for room and board. In 1936 he went back to Japan and married Toneko Kamiya. In 1937 he found a job with Hammond Cedar Mill. He started working in the sawmill but because of his carpentry skills he had his own crew of about six people to build storing racks for the milled lumber. He worked at Hammond Cedar Mill for three to four years. Jiro would also help on the farm after he returned home from his regular job and on the weekends. He agreed to work the afternoon shift at the mill which allowed him to help on the farm during the day.

In 1942 along with over 21,000 Japanese Canadians, the family was evacuated, and he chose to go to Oak Bluff, Manitoba to keep his young family together and worked on the sugar beet farms. Initially they built a modest 16’x24’ 2-bedroom house; housing two families. Jiro and his wife contracted to work twenty acres on the sugar beets farm, thinning and weeding in the spring and harvesting the sugar beets in the fall. In between his commitment to the sugar beet farm, he and some of his friends took on carpentry work near their home and their mode of transportation was by bicycle; often cycling five to six miles away. Eventually he bought a car which enabled him to take on work a little further away from home and bring more tools to work. Jiro became well known for his fine work and people would patiently wait months to commission him, even though his wage was 15 cents more than the Caucasian carpenters.

In 1948 he was permitted to go back to BC and moved to Kamloops where his sister’s family had a farm. He worked out of town for nine months of the year at Douglas Lake doing carpentry work. In 1951, he came to Vancouver looking for year-round work and Matsumoto Shipyard asked if he would work on wooden fishing boats. Even though he had never worked on a boat they offered him employment. He worked for about ten years as their foreman doing all the finishing work in the cabin.

In 1961 he sought employment with Grimwood Construction and worked for thirteen years being involved in all aspects of construction from set-up and layout to finishing, which enabled him to work virtually twelve months of the year. He then worked for Dawson Hall Construction starting as a door installer then doing everything that was required on the job until he retired at the age of sixty-eight.

Upon retirement he helped his nephew build a house on Mayne Island and eventually started to build his own summer house on Mayne Island in 1985 which he completed in 1988. Jiro’s hobbies included growing prize chrysanthemums, sport fishing and five pin bowling where he maintained an average of 245 when he was fifty-five to sixty years old and won many club trophies and championships.

He moved to Nikkei Home in 2001 as his wife was not well and needed more care than he could provide at home. While at Nikkei Home Jiro continued to make chopsticks out of hardwood given to him. He has made over a thousand pairs up until he was 99 years old. Jiro donated many pairs to JCNM and to Tonari Gumi for their fundraising. He also gave away a pair to each guest who came to help celebrate his 99th and 100th birthday celebrations.

Toneko would pass away May 16th, 2004. Jiro passed away on March 9th, 2015.

 

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We are extremely fortunate that the Kamiya family has been willing to share their history with those around us and that they are still advocating for Japanese history. Listed below are more of their stories, you can find countless more through the Nikkei National Museum and Cultural Centre.

Okaeri oral history project – Frank Kamiya alongside Yvonne Wakabayashi (Tasaka) and Don Kazuo Iwanaka discuss their experiences or living through the Second World War as nisei (second-generation).

ICAS Interview with Jiro Kamiya – This interview is done entirely in Japanese. Jiro speaks about his life in Canada, working on the farms, his time in Manitoba and the post war period.

Interview with Jiro Kamiya – This interview done with Jiro Kamiya and his son Frank was conducted by Burnaby Village Museum Curator Lisa Codd focusing on the traditional ofuro bathhouse exhibit that was donated to the Museum by the Japanese Canadian Citizens Association.

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Internment Records