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Time Traveller: They're dining in fine style at this Japanese picnic

This photo was taken more than 100 years ago near Seymour Creek in North Vancouver, the site of a Nikkei village that was recently excavated by students from Capilano University
japanese-picnic

Tosaku Kato was a successful logging contractor in the Lower Mainland area, and ran logging camps in North Vancouver in the early decades of the 1900s.

Here is a photo of a picnic Kato hosted ca. 1912-15 near Seymour Creek, the site of a Nikkei village that was recently excavated by students from Capilano University. Officials of the Japanese Consulate are among the guests pictured, and Kato’s son Shigeo can be seen behind one of the men.

Tosaku Kato was amongst those forcibly removed to New Denver as part of the Japanese Internment during the Second World War.

Visit the MONOVA website for more information about the history of the North Shore and to plan your visit to MONOVA: Museum of North Vancouver, now open at 115 West Esplanade in The Shipyards.

Currently, MONOVA: Archives of North Vancouver, at 3203 Institute Road in Lynn Valley, is open by appointment only. Contact: [email protected]

Navigate culture on the North Shore by using the North Shore Culture Compass.