Both my mother and father’s parents immigrated from Japan in the early 1900’s. I’ve focussed a lot of my time on my father’s family because we no longer have any relatives in Japan. This mystery of what happened to them peaked my curiosity.
My grandfather Matsunosuke Komori was a second son. We were told that we were a Buddhist family. What’s that mean? We think the Komori’s were pawnbrokers who generated revenue for the Kuhonji temple in Gobo, Wakayama. My uncles use the words: We were like a bank!
Our grandfather immigrated to Canada to improve his lot in life. He was a very successful fisherman with ten children. The oldest boys were key to the success of the family enterprise. They owned several fishing boats and property on Lulu Island in Eburne when the war broke out.
My father Fujihiro (Fuzzy) completed high school graduating from Vancouver Technical School as a short order cook along with many other skills that were put to good use in his adult life.
With the order to move from the west coast, the family were somehow able to travel to Taylor Lake, a self-supporting community near 100 Mile House, for the duration of the war. After the war, the Komori boys were very enterprising and were able to build a successful business in the Cariboo after the war.
