Keeping History Alive

The No. 5 Japanese Townsite Storyboard Project

The Village of Cumberland on Vancouver Island has made great strides in preserving, and encouraging interest in, many aspects of its history. The preservation of Cumberland’s Japanese history is no less a part of this effort as seen in the Village’s designation of No. 1 Japanese Townsite and the Japanese Cemetery as heritage sites. To help recognize the historic significance of Cumberland’s other Japanese community of No. 5 Road, there are plans to erect a storyboard in the vicinity of former No. 5 Japanese Townsite that will display photographic images and brief stories by former No. 5 residents of life in the community prior to their forced evacuation during World War II. Funds are available for construction of the storyboard. Such storyboards have been erected elsewhere in the Village of Cumberland to inform visitors of life in the former No. 1 Japanese Townsite and the once thriving Chinatown.

To facilitate the No. 5 Japanese Townsite Project, Cumberland historian Florence Bell, and archivist Catherine Yasui invite former No. 5 Road residents to submit any stories and/or photographs of their family life there. We request that persons in photographs be identified and other helpful information such as the date (or approximate year/month/day), location or event be included. Enlarged copies of photographs will be used on the storyboard but to ensure the clearest of images, we request original photographs be sent from which high resolution copies can be made. Unless expressly instructed otherwise, all originals will be returned once high-quality copies have been made. Alternatively, copies of photographs (whether paper or electronic) are also acceptable.

For further information and to submit electronically, please contact Catherine Yasui at catherineyasui@gmail.com. Hard copy submissions can be sent to Florence Bell, Box 123, Cumberland, BC, V0R 1S0. Please include a return address or contact information to allow Project organizers to return original photographs or clarify any information.