NNaoyuki “Nick” Yoshida was born on August 5, 1926, in Steveston, British Columbia. His interview took place on September 20, 2010 (Part 1) and October 7, 2010 (Part 2), with Lisa Uyeda.
Part 1 of the interview covers Nick’s adolescent years in Steveston; his family’s post-Pearl Harbor struggles as they were forcibly relocated to Kaslo and Slocan City; and his adulthood as a student of University of Alberta and eventually a chemical engineer. Nick’s experiences in internment camps shed light on some of the unintended consequences of relocation. While relocation had brought unprecedent trauma and hardship for the adults in his family and several relatives, it also provided Nick with the opportunity to leave the closed community of Steveston. He was able to immerse himself in new environments and experiences beyond the Japanese social and cultural sphere, which ultimately led him to pursue a different career path. Nick also discusses the multidimensional social dynamics not only between Japanese and non-Japanese communities, but also within Japanese Canadian communities, both before and after the war.
In Part 2, Nick describes how his parents met and first came to Canada from Japan. Prior to World War II, his father worked as a fisherman and his mother and sisters in the canneries. The Yoshida family was interned at Kaslo, B.C during the war. He discusses life in Kaslo, including finishing high school and his love of baking pies and cakes. Nick discusses the sacrifices and hard work of his mother, which provided him with a relatively comfortable life during such difficult times. He expresses his regret that many of the older issei never lived to see the Redress Agreement. Nick Yoshida would go on to study at the University of Alberta and become a chemical engineer with a family of his own.