Yarrow Aiko Koontz
Gabriola Historical and Museum Society
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the fire that destroyed the Sunrise Sawmill, once located near the corner of Westgyle and North Roads. Though the sawmill is long gone, the lives of the Japanese Canadians who lived and worked there—and elsewhere in Silva Bay before their forced removal in 1942—are being remembered thanks to the work of local residents, historians, and descendants.
In 2012, Gabriola resident Phyllis Reeve published “The Japanese of Silva Bay” in The Shale, the journal of the Gabriola Historical and Museum Society. Her research included the story of Kanshiro Koyama, who operated a fish camp in Silva Bay prior to the Second World War. In 1942, as Japanese Canadians were forcibly uprooted from the BC Coast, Mr. Koyama chose repatriation to Japan rather than face internment. His property, later taken and sold by the government, eventually became Pages Resort and Marina—purchased in 1987 by Phyllis and her husband, Ted.
Phyllis’s research led her to Kanshiro’s son, Yosh Koyama, who lives in Los Angeles. In 2022, Yosh visited Gabriola for the first time with his wife and son. They were warmly welcomed by Phyllis and Gloria Hatfield, and a large gathering connected descendants of the Koyama and Page families.
Her article also told the story of the Sunrise Sawmill, operated by Yoshimatsu Shinde until it burned down in 1925. Mr. Shinde had leased land from Joe Silva, a Portuguese settler, and his Cowichan First Nations wife, Louise—highlighting the cultural diversity of Silva Bay during that time.
While researching, Phyllis connected with Masako (Mas) Fukawa, a respected Japanese Canadian historian and granddaughter of Yoshimatsu Shinde. Mas shared stories passed down from her uncle, recalling a childhood visit to Silva Bay in the 1980s in search of the mill. Her uncle pointed to the location on a map and recalled two English-named sisters who had left a strong impression on him 50 years earlier.
These sisters turned out to be part of the Law family, who had lived next to the mill. When I learned of this, I reached out to my neighbour, Ruby Chapman, descendant of the Law family. Ruby was thrilled by the connection and shared family memoirs written by her mother, Christian (Chris) Reid (née Law), detailing her childhood beside the Japanese sawmill workers.
Chris wrote of Japanese workers digging a well, operating the steam-powered mill, and playful ‘salmon berry fights.’ She described a kind Mrs. “Shindi” who cooked for the workers, and “Big Shindi” and “Little Shindi,” and the story of the young Japanese manager who offered Chris and her twin sister beautiful Japanese dolls—assuming they were the landowner’s children.
Ruby later shared another family letter written by the son of Nancy (Annie) Law Gardiner, Chris’s twin. Nancy remembered rows of homes where Japanese families lived, women in traditional dress, barrels of salted herring outside each door and offerings of rice crackers. She, too, remembered the two Shindes, and the challenge of passing the “noisy place” with a nervous horse.
These recollections were shared with Mas Fukawa, helping her piece together her grandfather’s life on Gabriola. For Mas, these memories offer a deeper understanding of her family’s past. For Ruby, they breathe life into her mother’s childhood stories.
What began as Phyllis Reeve’s personal curiosity has sparked a web of reconnections across generations. It brought the Koyama family back to Silva Bay and has now set the stage for Mas Fukawa and Ruby Chapman to meet—two women linked by a long-lost sawmill, a devastating fire, and childhood memories from nearly a century ago.
To honour Asian Heritage Month, the Gabriola Historical and Museum Society will host commemorative events at their Museum Season Opening on Saturday, May 17. For details, visit: gabriolamuseum.org
One of the only known photos of the Sunrise Sawmill in Silva Bay, where Westgyle Road and South Road intersect today. Submitted photo
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