United Church Powell Street Kindergarten Graduates; Vancouver, BC

From this item, LOI has digitized a textual record.

The image shows a group portrait of young children organised into three rows all wearing dark caps and white gowns holding scrolls of what is most likely certificates. Behind them in the fourth row is a group of five women and one man. They are all seated in front of a cinderblock building lined with shrubs. The caption above them reads, "United Church Powell St Kindergarten Graduates, June 18, 1941." In the second, second from the left is Sumi Nishihata.

Komajiro Nishihata was a pioneer who came Vancouver in 1901. He left his home town of Echigawa cho, Shiga ken during the immigration boom. Komajiro's twin sons, Saburo and Jiro were born April 12, 1899 but remained in Echigawa cho, to acquire middle school education in Japan. They lived with an aunt until they graduated and came to Canada together on August 21, 1914 on board the Canada Maru. Immigration laws had tightened and the boys' father sponsored by Komajiro Nishihata from Big Bay near Comox, BC, and lived with him until 1921. Afterwards, the family was reunited and lived together near Port Moody, where Komajiro worked at the Port Moody Sawmill.

The digital copies of the records were acquired by the Landscapes of Injustice Research Collective between 2014 and 2018.

This record was digitized in full.