2007 News and Information
Nikkei Fishermen Launch New Book
21 November 2007The Nikkei Fishermen's Reunion Project Committee presents the release of Nikkei Fishermen on the BC Coast.
Nikkei Fishermen on the BC Coast is a comprehensive record of the lives and histories of the Japanese-Canadian fishermen who have lived and worked on the West Coast over the last century. It represents a massive four-year collaborative effort by the Nikkei Fishermen’s Reunion Project Committee.
Join the Nikkei Fisherman as they launch their new book:
Date: Saturday December 1, 2007 Time: 1:30 pm Location: National Nikkei Museum and Heritage Centre Admission: 6688 Southoaks Street, Burnaby, BC
Date: Sunday December 2, 2007 Time: 1:30 pm Location: Steveston Buddhist Temple Admission: 4360 Garry Street, Richmond, BC
When Japanese immigrants first came to British Columbia in 1877, many of them took up commercial fishing. Over several generations, fishing became a way of life for new and established immigrant families and their numbers soon swelled into the thousands. During WWII, their boats were confiscated and they were forcibly removed from the coast, but many returned after the war to take up their old trade. Fishing was more than a job for these families; it was central to the Japanese-Canadian experience in British Columbia.
With the dawn of the new millennium, a sea of aging faces and changing times led many Nikkei to the realization that the fishing industry as it was had come to an end on the BC coast. To make sure the sacrifices and hardships endured by the pioneering fishermen are never forgotten, the Nikkei Fishermen’s Reunion Project Committee was formed. In 2003, the Nikkei Fishermen’s Book Committee was created to undertake the enormous task of collecting the 3,860 names and 770 biographies of Nikkei fishermen from British Columbia.
