(Click to see a thumbnail image)1 1910 Mr. James Shimbashi and his young
friend behind the Dallas Hotel looking back on to 3rd Ave. S. Mr.
Shimbashi was a cook at the Dallas at the time. (Click to see a thumbnail image)
2 1915 Threshing on the O.K. farm, section
#4 in the Raymond area. Identified are Mr. Harry Yoichi Hironaka,
center left, and Mr. Henry Kojun Iwaasa, center right.
3 1918 This was the first Hironaka family
home, a small farm 1.5 miles west of Raymond.
4 1918 Fusae Hironaka died in the flu
epidemic of 1918. As there was no Buddhist church at that time,
the funeral took place in the Raymond town hall and was
officiated by the Mormon Church members. The L.D.S. church was
being used as an isolation ward.
5 1920 A farewell party was held for
Kinichi Iwaasa, the youngest brother of H.K Iwaasa, on his return
to Japan for the last time. The party was held at the Iwaasa
farm, approximately 6 miles south of Raymond.
6 1925 The Prince of Wales (later Edward
VIII) with Mr. & Mrs. James Zenkichi Shimbashi and their
infant Edward. Mr. Shimbashi was employed as a cook at the Prince
of Wales Ranch during the future King's visit.
7 1930 Kaisuke Hironaka came to Canada as
an apprentice cook in 1918. [There is an historical error in this
text panel as Mr. Hironaka came to Canada to apprentice on his
uncle’s farm and not as a cook.] He returned to Japan to
marry in 1930. He returned immediately to Raymond and his wife
followed in 1931. This photo shows the traditional Japanese
wedding dress.
8 1935 The Y.B.A. (Young Buddhist
Association) Baseball team at Raymond, Alberta.
9 1938 The Kawamura and Hironaka families
enjoying themselves at Waterton Lake.
10 1938 The Raymond Buddhist Church
school children. Standing in the center rear is the Reverend
Yutesu Kawamura.
11 1942 The arrival of Japanese evacuees
at Picture Butte, from Mission, British Columbia. "There
were crowds of people-farmers and newsmen. We tried to hide to
avoid having our pictures taken. Wagons, horses and tractors
waited to take us. We were terrified, not knowing where we were
going. Some didn’t want to move. Women were crying. The
farmers hurried us." Iinterview with Mr. and Mrs. Eiji
Tashiro. A Dream of Riches.
12 1940 An example of the identification
card carried during World War II by all people of Japanese
descent. The card had to be produced when applying for travel,
work, rations, etc. Name on the card: Yoji (George) Takeyasu.
13 1944 Yoji (George) Takeyasu harvesting
sugar beets near Picture Butte.
14 1949 The celebration of the 20th
Anniversary of the Raymond Buddhist Church. Reverend Shinjo Ikuta
(left) and Reverend Kawamura (right) are in the white robes.
15 1950 A Kendo demonstration, Raymond,
Alberta. Traditional sports such as these have continued to
provide Japanese Canadians with major cultural links to old-world
Japan.
16 1950 Rosie Kawamura (holding the
bouquet) won the popularity contest at the Picture Butte School.
17 1952 Reverend Ensei Nekoda teaching
English to the Japanese ladies in Raymond, Alberta. [From left
side of the table: Mrs. Oishi, Mrs. Tadokoro, Mrs. Isa Kayata,
Mrs. Aiko Saruwatari, Mrs. Aiko Nishimura, Reverend Ensei Nekoda
(teacher), Mrs. Chiaki, Mrs. Tsuki Hironaka, Mrs. Makino,
Mrs.Yamazaki, Ms. Nakahama and Mrs. Saka.]
18 1954 The bridal party of Misae
Hironaka, before her marriage to Akira Masuda.
19 1966 The arrangement of individually
selected rocks during the construction of the Nikka Yuko Japanese
Garden.
20 1966 A young boy eagerly helps pick
stones for the Japanese Garden.
21 1967 Prince and Princess Takamatsu
opening the Nikka Yuko Garden. The Nikka Yuko Garden, which means
"Japanese-Canadian friendship," is Lethbridge’s
contribution to Canada’s Centennial.
22 1970 The Old-timer’s Party posing
in front of the Raymond Buddhist altar.
Additional Photographs Index
A1 Circa 1910-1912, photograph of the Dallas Hotel
Staff consisting of 5 men standing and 5 women sitting. Yoichi
(Harry) Hironaka is the man on the far right of the photo and Mr.
Shimbashi is standing on the far left. Others in the photo
include Linda Carr, Adeline Johnson, Nellie Finnie, and James
Gibbons.
A2 Mr. James Shimbashi, (date unknown).
A3 Circa 1911-1913, photo of Ichiro Hayakawa taken
at Raymond. Mr. Hayakawa was born in Japan in 1884 and died there
in 1975. He lived in Canada from 1905-1926 and came to Raymond
around 1910 as a labor contractor with a party of Japanese
workmen hired to harvest sugar beets. He opened a small grocery
store in Raymond and later opened one in Cranbrook, B.C. In 1912,
they moved to a small farm outside Cranbrook. He has three
children living in the USA: Fred in Florida, Ruth in Detroit and
S.I. Hayakawa, past president of the campus at the University of
California and former senator in the US Government, and Grace is
living in Japan. History
A4 Yoichi "Harry" Hironaka on the left,
and Mr. Shimbashi on the right sitting on a prop of a crescent
moon wearing a face. A banner with Lethbridge printed on it is
behind them. Taken at the 7th International Dry
Farming Congress, at the exhibition grounds, in a
photographer’s booth. The congress was October 21-26, 1912.
Mr. Shimbashi apprenticed cooking under Mr. Hironaka. Mr.
Shimbashi went on to cook at the E.P. Ranch and Mr. Hironaka
cooked at the Dallas Hotel in Lethbridge. In 1915, the Hironakas
sold the restaurant they owned in Raymond to Mr. Shimbashi.
A5 This is a copy of a photo Yoichi Hironaka sent
to Japan in 1912, when he asked his family to find him a wife.
A6 This is a copy of another photo Yoichi Hironaka
sent to Japan in 1912, when he asked his family to find him a
wife. Yoichi came to Canada in 1907. The marriage between him and
Tsuki Kanehiro was arranged by their families. They exchanged
photos, met for the first time on April 9, 1913, in Vancouver,
and were married the next day.
A7 A
photo of Tsuki Kanehiro sent to Yoichi Hironaka in 1912.
A8 Florence Hironaka remembers her mother, Tsuki
Kanehiro, telling her it was this ship that she came to Canada on
in 1913 or it was the one she traveled on when she went to Japan
in 1919.
A9
Yoichi and Tsuki Hironaka taken on their wedding day April 10,
1913, in Vancouver, B.C. Both are dressed in western clothes.
A10 Yoichi and Tsuki Hironaka and their second
child, daughter Fusae, September 6, 1915.
A11 Portrait taken of Yoichi and Tsuki Hironaka in
1918 with their second child. The Hironakas' first-born died 13
days after birth and Fusae died in 1918 during the flu epidemic.
A12 Photo of Fusae Hironaka standing on
the right, and baby Ikey Hironaka on the left, in 1918.
A13 Photo of Fusae Hironaka on the right
and Ikey Hironaka on left, both sitting in a pram, in 1918.
A14
In 1919 Tsuki Hironaka, with son Ikey, went to Japan on a
visit to introduce her son to her parents. Both are in
traditional Japanese Kimonos. At the time of the photo Tsuki was
pregnant with son Shigehiro. He was born in September 1919, but
died in Japan at the age of six months.
A15
Hironaka Family (date unknown) Father: Harry Yoichi,
Mother: Tsuki, Akira (Ikey) standing and Baby Tucker (Takashi).
A16
Christmas in the Hironaka home (date unknown). Children
sitting in their living room next to the Christmas tree. From the
right: Jim, Florence, Ikey and Tucker.
A17
Photo taken in 1926, Mrs. Hironaka with three children,
Ikey (with cat), Tucker, and Florence (in Tsuki’s arms),
standing in front of their second home in Raymond. The house was
built in 1925 and an addition was built later.
A18
Circa 1919-1920, Mr. Tanaka riding a horse at Raymond. Mr.
Tanaka went back to Japan in the 1920s and never returned. He has
a brother living in Coaldale, Alberta.
A19
A farewell party for Mr. and Mrs. Tanesaburo Kosaka and
family (who are sitting in the center of the front row). It was
taken in 1929 in front of the Hironaka home in Raymond.
A20
The members of the Buddhist church in Raymond gathered to
celebrate the arrival of the first shrine on September 1, 1930.
Rev. Nagatomi is holding Obutsudan. The church was purchased by
the Buddhists in 1929.
A21
Men, women and children standing and sitting around a
float they decorated for the July 1st, 1931, parade in
Raymond. The float represents a Japanese garden and there is a
lantern hanging from one side. Yoichi Hironaka is the man on top,
at the center of the float. Florence Hironaka is standing to the
left in a white dress and mother is standing on the extreme
right.
A22
Seven men, two women and one child posing, in 1932, by the
Buddhist church in Raymond. Rev. Nagatomi is standing second from
the right. Harry Yoichi Hironaka and son Robert in front. Tanaka
Giichi, Sawada (Joe) [family name unknown], Okawauchi Sansaku,
Kosaka Shozo, Rev. Nagatomi, Tomiyama Giichi. Seated in the
front: left - Mrs. Sotomatsu Sawada, right - Mrs. Sono Tanaka.
A23
Rev. Nagatomi, Yoichi Hironaka, Toshi Matoba, and Florence
Hironaka. (date and location unknown).
A24
Circa 1931-1932, Hironaka family picnic with friends: 1.
Rev. Nagatomi, 2.Naoichi Aimoto, 3. Mr. Oishi (unknown child), 4.
Unknown, 5. Kaisuke Hironaka, 6. Yoshino Hironaka, 7. Tsuki
Hironaka, 8. Florence Hironaka, 9. Mrs. Oishi (unknown child),
10. Unknown, 11. Mrs. Maruyama, 12. Mr. Maruyama carrying Robert
Hironaka, 13. Yoichi Hironaka.
A25
Japanese community picnic south of Raymond in 1931: 1.
Unknown, 2. Akira Hironaka, 3. Naoichi Aimoto, 4. Unknown, 5. Mr.
Halenda, 6. Kaisuke Hironaka, 7. Mr. Matoba, 8. Harry Yoichi
Hironaka, 9. Jiro Iwaasa, 10. Mr. Maruyama, 11. Mr. Oishi, 12.
Rev. Nagatomi. Children standing in the middle: 1. Jim Hironaka,
2.Unknown, 3. Unknown, 4. Unknown, 5. Unknown, 6. Tucker
Hironaka. Seated: 1. Mrs. Hironaka 2. Robert Hironaka, 3. Tsuki
Hironaka carrying Misae, 4. Florence Hironaka, 5. Miss Oishi, 6.
Yoshio Oishi, 7. Mrs. Oishi carrying her child, 8. Mrs. Maruyama.
A26
Florence Hironaka standing, Misae Hironaka, Robert
Hironaka sitting next to Rev. Nagatomi’s son, Masatoshi. The
photo was taken on the Hironaka farm near Raymond in 1932.
A27 Rev. Nagatomi, Jim Hironaka, and Mr.
Jiro Iwaasa standing next to a truck, 1931.
A28
Tsuki Hironaka with her son Marshall feeding chickens on
their farm. (date unknown).
A29
In 1933 Yoichi and Tsuki Hironaka and their six children
standing in front of their home near Raymond. From the left:
Yoichi, Tucker, Florence, Misae, Robert, Jim, and Tsuki holding
Marshall.
A30 1936, Hironaka
family photo. In the back row from the left: Jim, Tsuki,
Florence, Yoichi, and Tucker. Front row from the left: Misae,
Arthur, Marshall and Robert.
A31
Funeral Procession in 1936 for Rev. Kawamura’s
18-month-old son, who had died of pneumonia. Rev. Kawamura had to
officiate at the funeral of his son as there was no one else
available. James Shimbashi in the car, left to right: Rev. Y
Kawamura, Toshiko Kayata, man in background unknown, Mrs.
Kawamura, (Rose) Yukiko Kawamura in front, Florence Hironaka,
Leslie Kawamura carried by Mr. Maruyama, and Chiako Oshiro.
A32
Photo taken of Tsuki Hironaka and Arthur in 1937 in front
of the Hironaka home in Raymond. Arthur was the youngest of Tsuki
and Yoichi eleven children.
A33
Photo of a man in 1940 operating a tractor pulling a beet
loader. The loader is dumping the beets into a truck that had
"H.Y. Hironaka Raymond" written on the side.