Current Initiatives

An historical and cultural review has been completed for the area around Powell Street, formerly known as "Japantown". Learn more

Detailed Historical overview

Several phases of growth and development have occurred over the years:

Nihonmachi: The Early Years

Powell Street - Growth, Prosperity and Loss

Powell Grounds - Asahi and the Labour Movement

Church and Cultural Precinct

Map of Character Buildings in the Area

Powell Street: Evaluation of Historical & Cultural Significance presentation (2.78mb)

Oppenheimer/Japantown

Nihonmachi: The Early Years

The growth in immigration from Japan helped to fill labour needs for local industries. What began in 1883 as a single immigrant grew to 200 by the end of the 1880s and to several thousand by the turn of the century. The area’s cultural makeup became distinctly Japanese and to its residents it was known as Nihonmachi (Nihon= Japan, machi = town), “Japantown” or “Little Tokyo” with first generation immigrants known as Issei. Powell Street would evolve from a small commercial centre serving the local Japanese-Canadian population into an economic base serving those who worked primarily in the resource industries across the province.

300 Block Powell Street looking west from Dunlevy Avenue, c. 1890 Major Matthews Collection Str P74.2

The number of Japanese workers at the Hastings Mill surpassed that of the Chinese under a system of immigration sponsorship. Entrepreneurs served the needs of mill owners in the role of labour contractors, boarding house keepers, general store managers and money lenders -– they provided a steady flow of workers who were placed in boarding houses along Alexander, Powell, Cordova, Carrall and Main Streets. These entrepreneurs were based in the area according to a prefecture system associated with the south and west regions of Japan. These included Shiga, Hiroshima, Fukuoka and Kagoshima. Services were also provided including grocery stores, bathhouses and barber shops.

By 1914, the transformation of the 200, 300 and 400 blocks of Powell Street was largely complete. It was made up of retail and services on the ground with residential above -– hotel/rooming house and apartments. Breezeways, some still visible today, provided access to additional cabins and lane houses at the rear. Over time, prosperous tenants would eventually gain independence by taking ownership of their building. A similar landscape evolved in neighbouring Chinatown as well; however, a distinct difference was in the architectural design of the buildings. Chinatown’s elaborate facades decorated in traditional elements and upper story balconies contrast with the relatively plain style of most commercial buildings in the Powell Street area. Aside from the language displayed on the signage, the buildings along Powell Street looked much like any others found throughout the city.

Initially, only a few women accompanied their husbands to settle in the area to assist in the operations, including cooking, cleaning and serving the public behind store counters. By the 1890s children began arriving in the area, mostly consisting of teenage boys who came to help their fathers. This led to changes to both the physical and social make-up of the area, and the introduction of Nissei (second-generation) Japanese-Canadians.