Chuck Tasaka

CharlesHachiro

Chuck Tasaka is the grandson of Isaburo and Yorie Tasaka. Chuck’s father was 4th in a family of 19. Chuck was born in Midway, B.C., and grew up in Greenwood, B.C. until he graduated from high school. Chuck attended University of B.C. and graduated in 1968. After retirement in 2002, he became interested in Nikkei history. (Profile photo courtesy of Nelson photographer)

Updated October 2015

food en

Nikkei Chronicles #11—Itadakimasu 3! Nikkei Food, Family, and Community

Canadian Nikkei Comfort Food

By Chuck Tasaka
4 Sep 2022

I previously wrote an article on Nikkei food that was uniquely Japanese Canadian: kan-ba-lando chow mein that evolved in the coal mining town of Cumberland, B.C., and Denbazuke from New Denver internment camp. Fuki is symbolic of Japanese immigration. In the late 1800’s, when poor people from rural villages came to Canada or Amerika, for some reason they brought this insignificant root that is grown on the hillside of Japan. My theory is that perhaps these villagers thought that there wouldn’t be any Japanese food in Canada, and therefore concealed fuki roots onto the ship. Anot…

community en

Greenwood's 80th Anniversary Commemoration

By Chuck Tasaka
12 Aug 2022

Mission Accomplished. Greenwood’s 80th Anniversary of the Japanese Canadian Internment Reunion Concert, held on July 16, 2022, was a resounding success! With people shaking hands, embracing each other with hugs and big smiles all around, there was that ambience of camaraderie and friendship. The Japanese Canadian Survivor Health and Wellness Funding goal was achieved. How significant was this event held in the first internment ‘camp’ in British Columbia? First of all, there were some 23,000 Japanese Canadians in Canada at the time prior to 1942. Most of them lived around t…

community en

United Church’s Role in Greenwood

By Chuck Tasaka
26 Apr 2021

I have written extensively on the Franciscan Friars and Sisters of the Atonement’s Japanese Catholic Mission connection with the Japanese Canadians in Steveston and Vancouver’s Powell Street Japantown. Of course, they were the ones responsible for bringing the mostly Catholic Japanese Canadians to the first internment site of Greenwood in 1942. The United Church groups were to be sent to internment camps in Kaslo, Tashme, New Denver, and Slocan area, however, the government decided to send the overflowing United Church members to various ‘camps’. Esumatsu Nakata…

community en

Sacred Heart School Yearbook Memoirs - Part 2

By Chuck Tasaka
2 Apr 2021

Read Part 1 >> 1945-46 Yearbook A message from Mayor W.E. McArthur Sr.: Most of you are of Japanese origin, and although you are Canadians in every sense of the word, you had to undergo hardships which were caused by the hatreds which sprung up during the war. During the past four years, you have stood up under this burden in a manner which is very creditable. As the Mayor of the Town, I have found you to be very fine children indeed, and I will always be keenly interested in your future welfare. You have heard me say these things many times before, but I am sure they bear repeatin…

community en

Sacred Heart School Yearbook Memoirs - Part 1

By Chuck Tasaka
1 Apr 2021

In my previous article, I wrote that Greenwood became the first ‘internment camp’ in British Columbia, thanks mainly to the collaborative effort of then Mayor W.E. McArthur Sr. and Franciscan Friar Father Benedict Quigley to bring mostly Catholic Japanese Canadians and their friends and relatives to Greenwood in 1942. The Franciscan Sisters established Sacred Heart School when the federal and provincial government was debating as to who was responsible for funding education. B.C. government was a definite ‘no’. As a result, Greenwood had an early start for the Japanes…

Submit an article

Discover Nikkei

Japanese migrants and their descendants

Chuck Tasaka

Nikkei Chronicles #11—Itadakimasu 3! Nikkei Food, Family, and Community

Series this author contributes to

Nikkei Chronicles #11—Itadakimasu 3! Nikkei Food, Family, and Community

Intercultural Communication Through Sushi

Roger Arakaki, Chef and Teacher

Nikkei Chronicles #11—Itadakimasu 3! Nikkei Food, Family, and Community

Food for Thought—TikTok & Tamagoyaki

The Nisei Women Who Fought—And Won—An Early Redress Battle In Seattle

子どもをサーファーにするため渡米 ― 五十嵐ツトムさんとミサさん

Nikkei Chronicles #12—Growing Up Nikkei: Connecting with Our Heritage

Journal Entry #Lesson 3450: "Sharpen Your Pencils!"

Narumi Ogusuku Ubiquitous Nikkei Artist

Herald Salutes – Staff Sergeant Higuchi

The Morgenthau Diaries and FDR's Troubling Views of Minorities

書評：和泉真澄『日系カナダ人の移動と運動―知られざる日本人の越境生活史』

1992年渡米、目標は「アカデミー賞」— 俳優の井上英治さん

Kizuna 2020: Nikkei Kindness and Solidarity During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Tiempos pandémicos: teletrabajo y koden digital

Kizuna 2020: Nikkei Kindness and Solidarity During the COVID-19 Pandemic

COVID-19 e os heróis anônimos

香川県海外移民の父：今雪真一の情熱と功績

第３部：金子正則知事の南米訪問とその主な見解

We Need Your Help!

Help us expand translations on Discover Nikkei.

Get updates

Support this project

A project of the

Major support by

Journal Entry #Lesson 3450: "Sharpen Your Pencils!"

Narumi Ogusuku Ubiquitous Nikkei Artist

Herald Salutes – Staff Sergeant Higuchi

The Morgenthau Diaries and FDR's Troubling Views of Minorities

Mercedes Luna: Thriving Within Her Rich Heritage - Part 2

Mercedes Luna: Thriving Within Her Rich Heritage - Part 1

Remembering Roger Daniels

Journal Entry #6am – 8am: "Childhood Delusions..."

Digging up Ways to Honor Her Ancestors—Kyoko Oda and Ireichō

Aloha 'Oe, Dr. Franklin Odo: Remembering a Brilliant Scholar and a Special Mentor and Friend - Part 2

Aloha 'Oe, Dr. Franklin Odo: Remembering a Brilliant Scholar and a Special Mentor and Friend - Part 1

Journal Entry #78.79 Years: "This Mortal Coil..."

Cuando llegue el momento

Journal Entry #At Least 195 Degrees...: "Unusual Tastes..."

Parental Responsibilities

Chapter 11 (Part 2) Picture-Bride Marriages on the Rise

Miye Sugino—Art as Advocacy: “To me, art is a reclamation of identity”

Veteran History – Earl Terao: Kotonk in Paradise

Poetry - Cow 1 Is Not Cow 2

Virgil William Westdale Takes One Last Flight at 104

Journal Entry #5 Great Powers: "I'm Telling You Why..."

No Christmas Like an Inouye Family Christmas

Reflections on a Pilgrimage: The Dust of Poston

Grammy-Nominated Musician Masa Takumi and His Move to the U.S. in 2018

ByFood.com: A Cornucopia of Information for Planning Food Adventures and More in Japan — Part 1

Academy Award Nominated Writer Iris Yamashita Uses Her Lifelong Love of Writing to Forge Her Next Chapter

Dr. T.T. Yatabe, the American Loyalty League, and the Birth of the JACL

Chapter 11 (Part 1) Picture-Bride Marriages on the Rise

How Do Nikkei Living in Japan Spend Their New Year?

Bay Area Man Recalls Career Exploring World for Energy in Exotic Places

Journal Entry #70 MM, B.C.: "Santa Claus is coming to town!"

In Tribute to Roger Daniels: The Father of Us All

Remembering Roger Daniels—A Reflection

William Saroyan and the search for "The Japanese American Novel"

Joe Oishi’s Nursery and The Promised Year

Stone Songs

Reflections on a Concocted Conversation

40 Years of Toronto Taiko with Kiyoshi Nagata — Part 2

'A Heuristic Model' for Historians to Emulate with Other Camps

Nikkei in Motown: Masao Hirata, Diego Rivera and Japanese in Detroit

Journal Entry #2023: "I Resolve to Win the Lotto..."

Japanese Canadian Culture Through a Japanese Lens

A Lifetime Christmas Gift

Two Books That Shine New Light on the Nisei Experience in Japan

Expansion

Recollections from Jerome and Rohwer

ByFood.com: A Cornucopia of Information for Planning Food Adventures and More in Japan — Part 2

Candies Falling from the Sky

40 Years of Toronto Taiko with Kiyoshi Nagata — Part 1