The Chemainus Valley Historical Society is planning to examine the historical experience of Japanese Canadians living in the community.
In a letter to North Cowichan, society president Ron Waller said a special exhibit on the subject is being planned at the Chemainus Valley Museum from late July to early October, 2026.
He said the exhibit is intended to coincide with plans initiated by the Japanese Canadian Legacies Society and the Festival of Murals Society to install a heritage mural commemorating the Japanese community in Chemainus, which was once prosperous and plentiful, on municipally owned land on Croft Street, just below Water Wheel Park, in August, 2026.
"The purpose of the special exhibit would be to present the experience of the Japanese Canadians living in Chemainus in the context of local, national and international events,” Waller said.
“It is the story of Japanese Canadians specifically related to the historic evolution of the community. It is a story of immense importance, only a part of which is in public view. With Chemainus receiving recognition as a place of significance from Heritage Canada, it is a story that needs refreshing and greater exposure.”
According to the Canada’s Historic Places website, Chemainus, as well as Duncan and Paldi, had relatively large Japanese-Canadian communities prior to the Second World War where they worked mostly in the logging, fishing, and saw-milling industries.
According to CHP, Chemainus is important to the Japanese-Canadian community because of its Okada settlement on Chemainus Bay, which consisted of almost 40 Japanese-Canadian families.
The Japanese-Canadian Kasho family built and operated a large and successful fish processing plant there, and owned eight to 10 fishing boats and processed and salted herring and salmon for export to Asia.
Historical documents at the Chemainus Valley Museum state that the Japanese Canadians in Chemainus called the town Chimunesu.
“Like other Japanese Canadians on the B.C. coast, the residents and workers in Duncan, Paldi and Chemainus were incarcerated in internment camps in 1942 during the Second World War, with properties and businesses sold, buildings dismantled and cemeteries desecrated,” CHP’s website said.
“Due to these losses, most did not return to the Cowichan area. Today, these towns carry few physical traces of the early Japanese-Canadian communities that existed there.”
Waller told North Cowichan's council in his letter that as the society moves forward with the special exhibition, it will be reaching out to other museums and institutions for assistance and guidance.
“Although the experiences of Japanese Canadians have been well researched and documented, our challenge will be to draw out and present the material directly related to Chemainus,” he said.
