Our Past is your Present!

The success of the salmon canning industry in the Fraser River varied over the years, but in the ‘boom years’ of 1870-1890, there were large runs of salmon in the north, middle and south arms of the Fraser River accompanied by high demands from foreign markets.

Fishermen came from Japan as early as 1877, looking for work opportunities and a better life. Many from Mio and Koza, Wakayama, and from Kagoshima, Japan, had heard the promising stories of those already here and decided to come to Canada to work in the expanding salmon industry. Many went to Steveston, while some settled on Sea Island. Vancouver Cannery (1896 – 1930) and Acme Cannery (1989 – 1918) on the southwest shores of Sea Island on the middle arm of the Fraser River welcomed the fishermen.

Most residents worked as fishermen, in canneries, or supported the community through boat building, fish collecting, or farm work. Despite hardships and basic living conditions—some in huts, bunkhouses, or self-built shelters—they saw one another as equals. Fishing provided a stable livelihood, prompting many to become citizens. Single men often brought Japanese wives to Canada through arranged marriages. Community activities like church, school, sports, and youth groups strengthened unity and identity. Their strong sense of community was on display when the Japanese Consul and his wife visited in 1912.

As members of the Japanese Canadian community on Sea Island were not landowners, their children could not attend public schools. Valuing education, they worked together to establish Sea Island School for the children who lived at the canneries. They agreed to provide a school room and equipment and furnish supplies. The Richmond School Board paid the salary of the teacher. It was the only school operating on Sea Island at the time and consisted of three rooms in two buildings on the wharf at Vancouver Cannery.

In the late 1930s, public school was available to cannery children. They took a school bus to Bridgeport Elementary on Lulu Island with local farm kids. After school, they attended Japanese Language School at Vancouver Cannery.

Free Time

Roy Nagata remembers playing with siblings and friends on the sandbars at low tide, building sandcastles or digging a bucket of surf clams further downstream using a rowboat. At high tide, they would go to the docks and dive off the diving board that was built by the community. He recalled that a friendly game of box lacrosse was always a great way to warm up before a swim. He shared that fall and winter sports were limited to basketball and skating whenever the high tide overflow of the dikes froze long and safe enough to skate on.

Toshitsugu (Toshi) Koyanagi also enjoyed playing with others on the sandbar in the summer when the tide went out, while heeding a warning from his parents to be careful around the water. Several drownings occurring in the past served as painful reminders of what could happen to those living so close to the river's edge.

Children at the canneries gathered firewood from the beach or transported it by wheelbarrow to where it was needed. At school, students took turns loading coal and heating the stove.

Social Activities

The Young People’s Society and sports were important to Japanese Canadian life on Sea Island’s southwest shore. The Sea Island Young People’s Society hosted social events for the community.

In the late 1930s, the Sea Island Hurricanes lacrosse team played near the canneries on Mr. Erskine’s property. They purchased their own equipment and used seine nets to keep the ball in play. The team competed both internally and with nearby communities. They were the 1939 Nisei Lacrosse League Champions.

The community also hosted a Sea Island Pentecostal Sunday School; families went to church together on Sundays, and Foursquare services were held in the school hall.

Fishing, Cannery Work and Boat Building

Fishing and cannery work peaked from May to October, with many workers moving to other industries like railroad, mining or logging camps during the off-season. Some workers stayed at the canneries to do repairs and maintenance, and to make cans and corks needed for next season. Many of the Japanese Canadians took on those made-by-hand tasks at the canneries.

While men were fishing, women often worked in the canneries. With mechanization of the canning process improving, rather than making cans or cutting the salmon, women spent their working hours hand-filling cans, often with their children on their backs.

At first, fishermen did not own boats and had to rely on those that belonged to the canneries, most often small, two-man wooden sailboats. By the early 1900s, Japanese Canadians were building most of the wooden boats used in the fishing industry. Many now owned and operated their own small fishing boat(s).

As a young man Toshi Koyanagi was involved in the fishing industry as a fish collector. A boat he used at Acme and Vancouver canneries was the Iona, built in the 1930s. It was a double-ender where the bow and stern both came to a point. Daily, collectors left the canneries in boats like the Iona to collect fish from smaller fishing boats at the mouth of the Fraser or farther out at sea. The collectors would pack the fish on ice and transport the catch to the canneries. In this way, fishing boats could remain on the water for longer periods of time during the short fishing season.

Japanese Canadian Internment - 1942

Prior to WWII, Japanese Canadians at Acme and Vancouver Canneries formed a thriving community. After the Pearl Harbour bombing in December 1941, the Canadian government classified these coastal residents as security threats and forcibly relocated most—many Canadian-born—to camps inland, confiscating property and demolishing homes. The last evacuation occurred on March 31, 1942; only personal belongings could be taken.

Despite challenging conditions, internees showed resilience. In 1944, Toshi married Shuzuko Yamada in New Denver, BC, where they both worked at a sanitarium; their son Leonard was born there.

The restrictions imposed under the War Measures Act were lifted March 31, 1949. Some returned to Richmond, B.C. In 1950, Sadajiro Asari and his family returned to Steveston where Sadajiro worked in the shipbuilding industry. He lived through much change, from building small wooden sailboat-type fishing vessels to much larger, more mechanized seiners.

In 1950, Toshi and his family returned to Sea Island and settled at 376 Shannon Road. Upon their return, Toshi was reunited with the Iona through William Montgomery, who had acquired the vessel from Crown Assets following the sale of confiscated properties. Grateful for the opportunity to continue his work, Toshi resumed his role as a fish collector with Nelson Brothers, a position he held for at least another decade. In 1955, Toshi relocated his family to Steveston. The Iona underwent a significant modification in 1960, with its aft deck being redesigned to accommodate a larger fish hold, thereby altering its original double-ended configuration.

The Iona was transferred to the City of Richmond (Britannia Steering Committee) on October 18, 1991. Despite some restoration efforts, extensive repairs are required due to the prolonged period the wooden vessel spent in water. Currently, the Britannia Shipyards National Historic Site showcases the well-travelled Iona in dry dock, with potential for further restoration.

Over forty years after their community was dissolved under the 1941 War Measures Act, former Japanese Canadian residents of Sea Island, Terra Nova, and Celtic Canneries reunited to honour the lasting bonds forged during cannery life. The Nikkei community's resilience to this day endures.