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Summary: This portion of the interview is about Toki Miyashita’s memories of the internment, separation of her father from the family to work on road camps, where she was born in Richmond at the Nelson Brothers “fishery”, confiscation of home in 1942, eventual Redress, and lingering feelings of fear and dis…

1 audio

Repository: City of Burnaby Archives

Summary: This portion of the interview is about Toki Miyashita’s memories of the internment, separation of her father from the family to work on road camps, where she was born in Richmond at the Nelson Brothers “fishery”, confiscation of home in 1942, eventual Redress, and lingering feelings of fear and distrust in her family. She also talks about visiting Hiroshima on her trip to Japan in 1980

Date Range: 1930-1990

Length: 00:13:56

Subjects: Wars - World War, 1939-1945; Persons - Japanese Canadians

Interviewer: Fowler, Rod

Interview Date: February 27, 1990

Scope and Content: Recording is of an interview with Toki Miyashita, conducted by Rod Fowler. Toki Miyashita was one of eleven participants interviewed as part of the SFU/Burnaby Centennial Committee's oral history series titled, "Voices of Burnaby". The interview is about Toki Miyashita’s family’s internment during WWII, her awakening interest in Japanese culture after the war, her subsequent interest in teaching others about Japanese crafts and arts, and becoming a helpful intermediary between Burnaby and visitors from Japan. The interview explores her interest in the Ainu of Japan and their possible link to the aboriginals of BC, her impressions of the Ainu carver Nuburi Toko, and her involvement in the events surrounding the creation of the sculpture “Playground of the Gods” for Burnaby Mountain. The interview also contains interesting details about the art of Japanese flower-arranging. To view “Narrow By” terms for each track expand this description and see “Notes”.

Biographical Notes: Toki Miyashita was born in Richmond B.C., ca. 1935, at the Nelson Brothers “fishery”, a second generation Canadian descended from the Oikawa family who settled on Don and Lion Islands (Oikawa-shima). In 1942 the Japanese Canadians in BC were forcibly moved from the coast and their belongings confiscated. Toki Miyashita, her parents, two brothers, and grandparents were first taken to Hastings Park where her father was separated from the family to work in road camps, and the rest of the family were interned in New Denver. Her resourceful grandmother moved the family to land outside the internment camp, growing a large garden from seeds brought with her. In 1946 the family moved to Kamloops and in 1958, after finishing high school, Toki Miyashita moved to Montreal to be with relatives and a small Japanese community. At this time she became interested in Japanese culture and took a Japanese language course at age 22. She learned about Japanese flower-arranging (Ikebana), paper folding (Origami), silk doll making (from a Russian Jew), and how to wear a kimono. She began demonstrating these arts in schools and to other groups, which she continued doing when she, her husband and two young children moved to Burnaby in 1969. Toki Miyashita has been called an unpaid “ambassador” of Japanese culture to the Lower Mainland. She has acted as liaison between Burnaby and her sister city Kushiro in Japan, which involved her in the creation of the Ainu sculpture “Playground of the Gods” on Burnaby Mountain for Burnaby’s Centennial. Toki Miyashita is a recognized Master in Ikebana Sogetsu, a school of flower-arranging, and has served on the board of the Vancouver Ikebana Association. She also served on Burnaby’s Family Court in the 1980s.

Total Tracks: 11

Total Length: 01:34:10

Interviewee Name: Miyashita, Toki

Interviewer Bio: Rod Fowler returned to university as a mature student in the 1980s after working about twenty years in the field of economics and computerization in business in England, Europe and Western Canada. He graduated with a BA from SFU in both History and Sociology in 1987, his MA degree in Geography in 1989, and his PhD in Cultural Geography at SFU. He taught courses in Geography, Sociology, History and Canadian Studies at several Lower Mainland colleges, before becoming a full time member of the Geography Department at Kwantlen University College.

Collection/Fonds: SFU/Burnaby Centennial Committee fonds

Series: Centennial Oral History project series

Transcript Available: Transcript available

Media Type: Sound Recording

Web Notes: Interviews were digitized in 2015 allowing them to be accessible on Heritage Burnaby. The digitization project was initiated by the Community Heritage Commission with support from City of Burnaby Council.

Audio Tracks

Track seven of interview with Toki Miyashita

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/media/hpo/_Data/_Archives_Oral_Histories/_Unrestricted/MSS187-017/MSS187-017_Track_7.mp3

Burnaby Lake Show / originals

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/archivedescription91683

Repository: City of Burnaby Archives

Date: 1962-1995

Collection/Fonds: Doreen Lawson fonds

Description Level: File

Physical Description: 71 photographs : col. slides ; 35 mm

Scope and Content: File consists of photographs compiled by Doreen Lawson for a slideshow presentation about Burnaby Lake. Slideshow primarily depicts the wildlife and foliage of Burnaby Lake, including: the American coot, green-winged teal, bufflehead, heron, american bittern, barn swallow, barn owl, painted turtle,…

1 image

Repository: City of Burnaby Archives

Date: 1962-1995

Collection/Fonds: Doreen Lawson fonds

Physical Description: 71 photographs : col. slides ; 35 mm

Description Level: File

Record No.: 618-001

Access Restriction: No restrictions

Reproduction Restriction: May be restricted by third party rights

Accession Number: 2015-15

Scope and Content: File consists of photographs compiled by Doreen Lawson for a slideshow presentation about Burnaby Lake. Slideshow primarily depicts the wildlife and foliage of Burnaby Lake, including: the American coot, green-winged teal, bufflehead, heron, american bittern, barn swallow, barn owl, painted turtle, muskrat, Canadian goose, beaver, wood duck, bullrushes, yellow and white waterlilies, yellow iris, and loosestrife. Also included in the slideshow are photographs of the BC Wildlife rescue and fisherman working in the Brunette River.

Subjects: Geographic Features - Lakes and Ponds; Animals - Birds; Animals; Geographic Features - Forests

Media Type: Photograph

Photographer: Lawson, Doreen A.; Chapman, Fred

Notes: Transcribed title; Title transcribed from sheets slides; Photographs contents are identified on many of the slide cases within the file.

Historic Neighbourhood: Burnaby Lake (Historic Neighbourhood)

Planning Study Area: Burnaby Lake Area

Images

Burnaby Lake Show / originals, 1962-1995 thumbnail

Burnaby Lake slide show

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/archivedescription91684

Repository: City of Burnaby Archives

Date: 1976-1999

Collection/Fonds: Doreen Lawson fonds

Description Level: File

Physical Description: 85 photographs : col. slides ; 35 mm

Scope and Content: File consists of photographs compiled by Doreen Lawson for slideshow presentations about Burnaby Lake. Slideshow primarily depicts the wildlife and foliage of Burnaby Lake, including: the painted turtle, heron, American coot, coyote, barn owl, rainbow fry, Canadian goose, and beaver, as well as a v…

1 image

Repository: City of Burnaby Archives

Date: 1976-1999

Collection/Fonds: Doreen Lawson fonds

Physical Description: 85 photographs : col. slides ; 35 mm

Description Level: File

Record No.: 618-002

Access Restriction: No restrictions

Reproduction Restriction: May be restricted by third party rights

Accession Number: 2015-15

Scope and Content: File consists of photographs compiled by Doreen Lawson for slideshow presentations about Burnaby Lake. Slideshow primarily depicts the wildlife and foliage of Burnaby Lake, including: the painted turtle, heron, American coot, coyote, barn owl, rainbow fry, Canadian goose, and beaver, as well as a variety of scenic photographs of the Burnaby Lake shoreline with mountains and the Metrotown skyline in distance. Also included in file are photographs of people canoeing, kayaking, feeding geese, and participating in conservation activities including fencing trees and testing water levels. Photographs also depict the pipeline leading into Burnaby Lake, lake dredging equipment, and an oil slick.

Subjects: Geographic Features - Lakes and Ponds; Animals - Birds; Animals; Geographic Features - Forests

Media Type: Photograph

Photographer: Lawson, Doreen A.

Notes: Title based on contents of photographs; Note in black ink on recto of slide sheet photographs 618-002-1 : 618-002-9 originally housed in read: "Burnby Lake Slideshow"; Note in black ink on recto of slide sheet photographs 618-002-10 : 608-002-19 originally housed in read: "Burnaby Lake / Rejects (My Fav!)"; Photographs contents are identified on many of the slide cases within the file.

Historic Neighbourhood: Burnaby Lake (Historic Neighbourhood)

Planning Study Area: Burnaby Lake Area

Images

Burnaby Lake slide show, 1976-1999 thumbnail

Bee on a daisy on Burnaby Mountain

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/archivedescription97903

Repository: City of Burnaby Archives

Date: 1991

Collection/Fonds: Burnaby Mountain Preservation Society fonds

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 1 photograph : col. slide ; 35 mm

Scope and Content: Photograph of a bee on a daisy.

1 image

Repository: City of Burnaby Archives

Date: 1991

Collection/Fonds: Burnaby Mountain Preservation Society fonds

Physical Description: 1 photograph : col. slide ; 35 mm

Description Level: Item

Record No.: 629-104

Access Restriction: No restrictions

Reproduction Restriction: Reproduce for fair dealing purposes only

Accession Number: 2006-13

Scope and Content: Photograph of a bee on a daisy.

Subjects: Plants - Flowers; Animals

Media Type: Photograph

Notes: Handwritten note on slide reads: "Bee"; stamp on slide reads: "June 10, 1991."

Geographic Access: Burnaby Mountain Conservation Area

Planning Study Area: Burnaby Mountain Area

Images

Bee on a daisy on Burnaby Mountain, 1991 thumbnail

Harvestman on a trillium on Burnaby Mountain

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/archivedescription97856

Repository: City of Burnaby Archives

Date: 1992

Collection/Fonds: Burnaby Mountain Preservation Society fonds

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 1 photograph : col. slide ; 35 mm

Scope and Content: Photograph of a harvestman spider on a purple trillium flower.

1 image

Repository: City of Burnaby Archives

Date: 1992

Collection/Fonds: Burnaby Mountain Preservation Society fonds

Physical Description: 1 photograph : col. slide ; 35 mm

Description Level: Item

Record No.: 629-057

Access Restriction: No restrictions

Reproduction Restriction: Reproduce for fair dealing purposes only

Accession Number: 2006-13

Scope and Content: Photograph of a harvestman spider on a purple trillium flower.

Subjects: Animals; Plants - Flowers

Media Type: Photograph

Photographer: Wheately, Michael

Notes: Handwritten notes on slide read: "Harvestman on Trillium Burnaby Mt. BC" and "Copyright Michael Wheately"; stamp on slide reads: "04-09-92."

Geographic Access: Burnaby Mountain Conservation Area

Planning Study Area: Burnaby Mountain Area

Images

Harvestman on a trillium on Burnaby Mountain, 1992 thumbnail

Vanessa cardui painted lady butterfly on Burnaby Mountain

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/archivedescription97860

Repository: City of Burnaby Archives

Date: 1992

Collection/Fonds: Burnaby Mountain Preservation Society fonds

Description Level: Item

Physical Description: 1 photograph : col. slide ; 35 mm

Scope and Content: Photograph of a Vanessa cardui painted lady butterfly.

1 image

Repository: City of Burnaby Archives

Date: 1992

Collection/Fonds: Burnaby Mountain Preservation Society fonds

Physical Description: 1 photograph : col. slide ; 35 mm

Description Level: Item

Record No.: 629-061

Access Restriction: No restrictions

Reproduction Restriction: Reproduce for fair dealing purposes only

Accession Number: 2006-13

Scope and Content: Photograph of a Vanessa cardui painted lady butterfly.

Subjects: Animals; Plants - Grasses

Media Type: Photograph

Photographer: Wheately, Michael

Notes: Handwritten notes on slide read: "Vanessa Cardui Painted Lady Burnaby Mt. BC", "Butterfly" and "Copyright Michael Wheately"; stamp on slide reads: "07-10-1992."