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Since the formation of the Nikkei Fishermen Book Committee in 2003, Masako Fukawa served as the main writer and managing editor for Nikkei Fishermen on the BC Coast: Their Biographies and Photographs (Harbour 2007) and Spirit of the Nikkei Fleet: BC's Japanese Canadian Fishermen (Harbour 2009).
Mainly a pictorial history, Pamela Hickman and Masao Fukawa's Righting Canada's Wrongs: Japanese Canadian Internment in the Second World War (Lorimer 2012) is an effective educational volume in a series that will cover residential schools, Italian internment, the Chinese Head Tax and the Komagata Maru incident. Strong on graphics, this volume recognizes there are lessons that need to be re-taught and re-learned for new generations. We learn the head of the military in Ottawa refused to allow military personnel for the round-up of Japanese Canadians in B.C. and prominent clergyman at the time publicly likened the confiscation of property and belongings to the Nazis' treatment of Jews in Europe. Fukawa was raised in Steveston
978-1-55277-853-1
Date Of Birth: Aug. 15, 1940
Place Of Birth: Prince Rupert
Ancestral Background: Japanese
Other Employment: educator/administrator
Awards:
Honourable Mention, BC Historical Soceity 2007
Winner: Canada-Japan Literary Award (2010)
Review of the author's work by BC Studies:
Spirit of the Nikkei Fleet: BC's Japanese Canadian Fishermen
Nikkei Fishermen on the BC Coast: Their Biographies and Photographs by Masako Fukawa
BOOKS:
Righting Canada's Wrongs: Japanese Canadian Internment in the Second World War (Lorimer 2012)
Spirit of the Nikkei Fleet: BC's Japanese Canadian Fishermen, Harbour Publishing, spring 2009, 978-1-55017-436-6 $39.95
Nikkei Fishermen on the BC Coast: Their Biographies and Photographs, Harbour Publishing, 2007
Internment and Redress: The Story of Japanese Canadians, Queen's Printer 2002
Internment and Redress: The Japanese Canadian Experience, Queen's Printer, 2002.
[BCBW 2012] "Japanese" "Maritime"
Mainly a pictorial history, Pamela Hickman and Masao Fukawa's Righting Canada's Wrongs: Japanese Canadian Internment in the Second World War (Lorimer 2012) is an effective educational volume in a series that will cover residential schools, Italian internment, the Chinese Head Tax and the Komagata Maru incident. Strong on graphics, this volume recognizes there are lessons that need to be re-taught and re-learned for new generations. We learn the head of the military in Ottawa refused to allow military personnel for the round-up of Japanese Canadians in B.C. and prominent clergyman at the time publicly likened the confiscation of property and belongings to the Nazis' treatment of Jews in Europe. Fukawa was raised in Steveston
978-1-55277-853-1
Date Of Birth: Aug. 15, 1940
Place Of Birth: Prince Rupert
Ancestral Background: Japanese
Other Employment: educator/administrator
Awards:
Honourable Mention, BC Historical Soceity 2007
Winner: Canada-Japan Literary Award (2010)
Review of the author's work by BC Studies:
Spirit of the Nikkei Fleet: BC's Japanese Canadian Fishermen
Nikkei Fishermen on the BC Coast: Their Biographies and Photographs by Masako Fukawa
BOOKS:
Righting Canada's Wrongs: Japanese Canadian Internment in the Second World War (Lorimer 2012)
Spirit of the Nikkei Fleet: BC's Japanese Canadian Fishermen, Harbour Publishing, spring 2009, 978-1-55017-436-6 $39.95
Nikkei Fishermen on the BC Coast: Their Biographies and Photographs, Harbour Publishing, 2007
Internment and Redress: The Story of Japanese Canadians, Queen's Printer 2002
Internment and Redress: The Japanese Canadian Experience, Queen's Printer, 2002.
[BCBW 2012] "Japanese" "Maritime"
Articles: 3 Articles for this author
Nikkei Fishermen on the BC Coast
Publisher's Promo (2007)
From the publisher's promotional materials: "The first Japanese immigrant came to British Columbia in 1877 and was soon followed by others, many of whom took up commercial fishing. Over several generations, fishing the BC coast became a way of life for these families and their numbers swelled into the thousands. During WWII, their boats were confiscated and they were forcibly removed from the coast, but after the war many returned and took up their old trade. Fishing was more than a job for these families; it was central to the Japanese-Canadian experience in British Columbia. With the dawn of the new millennium, a sea of aging faces and changing times led many Nikkei to the realization that the fishing industry as it was had come to an end on the BC coast. To make sure the sacrifices and hardships endured by the older fishermen are never forgotten, the Nikkei Fishermen Reunion Committee was formed. A book committee was struck several years later and the gargantuan task of collecting 3,524 names and 750 biographies and photographs was undertaken." -- Harbour Publishing
Winner Canada-Japan Literary Award
Press Release 2010
Masako Fukawa, principal writer and managing editor and Stanley Fukawa, translator and contributing writer, have won the Canada Council's 2010 Canada-Japan Literary Awards for their work on Spirit of the Nikkei Fleet: BC's Japanese Canadian Fishermen.
The Canada-Japan Literary Awards recognize literary excellence by Canadian writers who are writing on Japan, Japanese themes, or themes that promote mutual understanding between Japan and Canada. It also recognizes literary excellence by Canadian translators of such books from Japanese into English or French. This award comes with a $10,000 prize.
When Stanley and Masako were reached at their home in Burnaby they had this to say:
"This is such a great honour. Our thanks to the Canada-Japan Literary Awards Committee for selecting our book for this prestigious award. The book was made possible thanks to the continued support of the Nikkei Fishermen Committee and the generosity of the individuals who so willingly shared their stories and their photographs. Harbour Publishing did an incredible job and produced a beautiful book.
"We hope that the reader will gain understanding of our collective history and an appreciation for the progress Canada is making in becoming a more equal, more just and more accepting society. The royalties support the Japanese Canadian National Museum in their work to preserve Japanese Canadian history and provide educational programs."
The Spirit of the Nikkei Fleet was written with the collaboration of the Nikkei Fishermen Reunion Committee, who first made the call for fishermen and their families to share their stories, knowledge, skills and time in 2001. The committee includes: Shigeaki Kamachi, Paul Kariya, Takemi Miyazaki, Toshio Murao, Dan Nomura, Richard Nomura (chair), Terry Sakai, Ken Takahashi and George Murakami. The committee contributed their personal experiences, encouraged others to add their stories and served as a sounding board for the writing. In 2010 the book was nominated for the BC Booksellers' Choice BC Book Prize.
Spirit of the Nikkei Fleet is an intimate collection of stories of Japanese Canadians on the water, from the first Japanese immigrant's arrival in 1877 to the present day. The 130-year history of the Nikkei is full of drama, violence, epic struggles against injustice, failures and triumphs. Leaving Japan to escape a life of poverty, they arrived in Canada with dreams for a better future. Collectively, they brought old skills and made many innovations. Fishing for a living is hard but Nikkei fishermen faced additional barriers. Opposition from other fishermen and government, and racist policies sought to exclude them from the fishery entirely.
Masako Fukawa has been the principal writer and managing editor of the Nikkei Fisherman titles since the formation of the Nikkei Fishermen Book Committee in 2003. She is a former school administrator and teacher specializing in the story of Japanese Canadians. Fukawa lives in Burnaby, BC.
Stanley Fukawa is the translator, interpreter and contributing writer for Spirit of the Nikkei Fleet. He is also on the editorial committee of Nikkei Images, a journal of the Japanese Canadian National Museum. He lives in Burnaby, BC
The companion book Nikkei Fishermen on the BC Coast: Their Biographies and Photographs was published by Harbour in 2007 and earned an Honourable Mention for books on BC History for that year.
Nominated for Spirit of the Nikkei Fleet: BC’s Japanese Canadian Fishermen
BC Book Prizes (2010)
Spirit of the Nikkei Fleet is an intimate collection of stories of Japanese Canadians on the water, from the first Japanese immigrant's arrival in 1877 to the present day. The 130-year history of the Nikkei is full of drama, violence, epic struggles against injustice, failures and triumphs. Opposition from other fishermen and government, and racist policies sought to exclude them from the fishery entirely. Here are the real lives of Nikkei fishermen and their families told in their words. Even in the face of inequity, prejudice and inhumanity, the spirit of the Nikkei fishermen has left a legacy. Masako Fukawa has been the principal writer and managing editor of the Nikkei Fisherman titles since the formation of the Nikkei Fishermen Book Committee in 2003. She is a former school administrator and teacher specializing in the story of Japanese Canadians. Stanley Fukawa is the translator, interpreter and contributing writer for Spirit of the Nikkei Fleet. He is on the editorial committee of Nikkei Images, a journal of the Japanese Canadian National Museum. Masako and Stanley live in Burnaby.
BC Book Prizes catalogue
