Written by Sam Frederick
Our collections team is continuing work on our 2025-2026 digitization project, Tomoni: Living with Ability, Atsu’s Story, with support from the Uyeda Family estate and the BC History Digitization Program. This project will make available materials from the Uyeda Family of Nakusp collection, which includes photographs, journals, books, and objects that showcase the lives of Yonezo and Yukiye Uyeda and their children, Masayuki, Teruko, Atsushi, and Michiyo.
Yonezo Uyeda immigrated to Canada from Japan in 1919 to assist his uncle, Masataro Uyeda, a First World War Canadian veteran, with his farm in Surrey. Yonezo had studied horticulture in Japan and, with a passion for flowers, he became involved in the Japanese and Canadian Chrysanthemum Society, also known as Kokonoe Kai.
The Kokonoe Kai was founded in 1930 and was aimed at developing successful ways to cultivate chrysanthemums indoors and outdoors, as well as to build fellowship between Japanese Canadians and the wider Canadian society. By 1940, 11 societies were dotted across Vancouver and the surrounding municipalities, many directly inspired by the Kokonoe Kai.
Society members shared their experience and tips with each other and submitted their stunning flowers to exhibitions. Yonezo’s son, Atsu, recalled that Yonezo often came home with first and second-place prizes from the exhibitions he entered. People would frequently visit their house to see Yonezo’s beautiful collection of more than one hundred boxes of chrysanthemums.
Uyeda Family of Nakusp Collection, Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre. 2025.1
This photograph in the Uyeda Family of Nakusp Collection is of Kokonoe Kai members with their prized flowers. Yonezo Uyeda is in the middle row on the far right. As Atsu points out in his book, I, Atsu, his youngest sister Michiyo, 3 or 4 years old at the time, can be seen at the top right of the photograph, peeking out from behind the railing. Yonezo had told her to hide while the photograph was being taken but she couldn’t resist keeping an eye on the activities.
We look forward to sharing more treasures from this collection as we continue our digitization project. If you have your own stories or memories of the Uyeda Family of Nakusp that you would like to share, please contact the Collections & Archives Team at [email protected].
Explore more treasures from the museum at nikkeimuseum.org.
