Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

OCHOKO

Date

1942

Materials

PORCELAIN

No. Pieces

1

Height

3.1

Diameter

6.1

Description

WHITE OCHOKO (SAKE CUP) WITH CRANE DESIGN INSIDE OF CUP. DESIGN FEATURES TWO CRANES SURROUNDED BY GREEN BUSHES, BLUE WATER, AND A GOLD LEAF, A RED CIRCLE IS ABOVE THE SCENE. RIM IS GOLD LINED. STAMPED IN RED ON BOTTOM OF OCHOKO “MADE IN JAPAN.” CHIPS ALONG RIM, GOLD ON RIM IS WORN, FOOT OF OCHOKO HAS A CHIP AND USE MARKS, DUST PRESENT THROUGHOUT OCHOKO. OVERALL GOOD – VERY GOOD CONDITION.

Subjects

FOOD SERVICE T&E

Historical Association

DOMESTIC

History

ON AUGUST 30, 2023, COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN, KEVIN MACLEAN INTERVIEWED KEN SHIGEMI ABOUT HIS DONATION OF VARIOUS PORCELAIN DISHES. THE SHIGEMI FAMILY [OTSUJIRO, SAYO TANOUYE, TAKAAKI, HISAE, GEORGE, AND MASAGI] WERE FORCEFULLY MOVED FROM THEIR STRAWBERRY FARM IN WHONNOCK, B.C. AND INTERNED NEAR TABER, ALBERTA IN 1942; THE SHIGEMI FAMILY WAS ONE OF MANY JAPANESE-CANADIAN FAMILIES INTERNED DURING WORLD WAR TWO. SHIGEMI EXPLAINED THE CIRCUMSTANCE SURROUNDING THE FINDING OF THE DISHES: “THESE ARE THE DISHES THAT WERE FOUND ON MY PARENT’S AND MY GRANDPARENT’S PROPERTY IN WHONNOCK, B.C. THE CURRENT OWNER OF THE PROPERTY [KEN SCHMOK] WAS DOING SOME DIGGING [ON PROPERTY] ON THE FOUNDATION OF A HOUSE THAT HE PLANS ON BUILDING, AND THE OPERATOR OF THE BACKHOE HIT SOMETHING. IT DIDN’T SOUND QUITE RIGHT, SO HE STOPPED, AND IT WAS JUST A GOOD THING, BECAUSE THEN… THEY CAME ACROSS THIS CROCK WITH A BUNCH OF THESE [PORCELAIN] DISHES INSIDE… [SCHMOK] KNEW THE HISTORY OF THE PROPERTY, BECAUSE YOU KNOW HOW THE PROPERTY WAS TAKEN AWAY [FROM THE INTERNED], AND PEOPLE PURCHASED IT… HE WANTED TO RETURN THESE DISHES TO THE RIGHTFUL OWNER. SO, WHAT [SCHMOK] DID WAS HE CONTACTED THE MAPLE RIDGE MUSEUM (MAPLE RIDGE, BC), AND THEN FROM THERE, THE MUSEUM SEARCHED OUT B.C. [FOR THE ORIGINAL OWNERS], AND THERE WAS NOBODY BY THE LAST NAME OF SHIGEMI IN BRITISH COLUMBIA, SO THEY TRIED ALBERTA NEXT. AND [VAL PATENAUDE] SAID SHE HIT THE JACKPOT, BECAUSE ALL THE [FAMILY] MEMBERS ARE LIVING IN SOUTHERN ALBERTA, IN THE TABER, VAUXHALL, LETHBRIDGE AREA… FROM THERE MY COUSIN CALLED ME AND SAID THAT HE SPOKE WITH SOMEBODY FROM THE MAPLE RIDGE MUSEUM, AND THAT THEY HAD FOUND ALL THESE DISHES ON THE PROPERTY, AND [PATENAUDE] WAS WONDERING IF MY DAD [TAKAAKI SHIGEMI] WOULD BE INTERESTED IN COMING BACK AND CLAIMING THE DISHES…” ON HOW THE DISHES CAME TO BE BURIED, SHIGEMI STATED: “[MY FATHER ‘TAK’] WASN’T ON THE PROPERTY AT THE TIME WHEN IT WAS BURIED. IT WAS MY GRANDFATHER AND MY UNCLE…” SHIGEMI COMMENTED: “…MY UNCLE KNEW THAT IT WAS BURIED ON THE PROPERTY, BUT HE NEVER DID GET THE OPPORTUNITY TO GO OUT THERE. HE PASSED AWAY MANY YEARS PRIOR TO ALL THIS HAPPENING [IN 2008].” SHIGEMI CONTINUED: “I’VE KNOWN THAT [THE FAMILY] DID BURY SOMETHING, BUT THEY DIDN’T REALLY SPECIFY, AND [MY FAMILY MEMBERS] NEVER DID HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO GO OUT THERE, UNTIL THE DISCOVERY OF THE BURIED DISHES.” ON WHY THESE DISHES WERE BURIED, SHIGEMI EXTRAPOLATED: “…[THE DISHES] WAS SOMETHING OF VALUE TO THEM, AND THEY KNEW THEY COULDN’T TAKE IT WITH THEM BECAUSE THEY WERE ONLY ALLOWED SO MUCH. I CAN’T REMEMBER WHAT THE WEIGHT WAS PER PERSON, SO THEY DECIDED MAYBE WE CAN JUST BURY IT ON THE PROPERTY, AND AFTER EVERYTHING CLEARS OVER, WHICH IT NEVER DID, THAT THEY’D BE ABLE TO GO BACK TO THE PROPERTY, AND DIG IT UP, AND RESUME LIFE LIKE IT USED TO BE…” SHIGEMI NOTED HOW MANY DISHES WERE FOUND AND WHAT THE FAMILY DID ONCE THE DISHES WERE FOUND: “ROUGHLY, I WOULD SAY FORTY PIECES OR MORE. WHAT WE DID WAS WE DECIDED THAT WE’D SPLIT ALL THESE DISHES AMONGST THE FAMILY (ELEVEN TO TWELVE FAMILY MEMBERS), AND SO EACH FAMILY MEMBER ENDED UP WITH A COUPLE OF PIECES OF THE DISHES.” “…I DIDN’T WANT TO BE GREEDY, AND TAKE CERTAIN ONES THAT I’D LIKE TO HAVE, BUT I TOOK THE SELECTION OF WHAT WAS THERE – SPECIAL PIECES… ON HOW SHIGEMI FELT WHEN LOOKING AT THE SELECTED PIECES, SHIGEMI COMMENTED: “…I’VE NEVER THOUGHT MUCH OF IT, BUT IT’S SOMETHING THAT BELONGED TO MY GRANDPARENTS WHICH, THEY’RE NOT AROUND ANYMORE, SO IT’S A PIECE OF THEM, AS WELL AS MY FATHER. IT’S A PART OF HIM, TOO…” SHIGEMI EXPLAINED THE REASONING BEHIND DONATING SOME OF THE FOUND DISHES: “…I DECIDED IT WOULD BE NICE JUST TO HAVE [THESE DISHES] DONATED AND HAVE THE PUBLIC VENUE FOR VIEWING…I CAN’T REMEMBER HOW MANY PIECES, BUT WE DONATED SOME OF THE PIECES TO THE MAPLE RIDGE MUSEUM, TOO… THEN IT’S AVAILABLE FOR EVERYBODY ELSE [TO VIEW].” SHIGEMI COMMENTED ON VISITING THE PROPERTY: “…AT FIRST, [TAK] WAS FOR IT, AND CLOSER TO THE DATE, HE DECIDED MAYBE HE WOULDN’T GO, BUT [FAMILY MEMBERS] TALKED HIM INTO GOING, AND I THINK HE WAS GLAD THAT HE DID. IT BROUGHT BACK A LOT OF MEMORIES FOR HIM. AND SO, [THE FAMILY] LEFT ON AUGUST 22ND, 2008, TO GO TO THE [MAPLE RIDGE MUSEUM]… WHEN WE DID, UPON ARRIVAL, VAL GREETED MY PARENTS, AND MYSELF AND MY COUSIN AND MY YOUNGEST BROTHER, WHO WAS WITH US… THEY WANTED INFO ABOUT MY DAD, AND WHERE HE WAS BORN, AND WHERE THEY LIVED, AND THEY ACTUALLY ASKED ABOUT HIS FAMILY TOO – SPOUSES. FROM THERE, WHILE THEY WERE DOING ALL THAT, THEY SLOWLY BROUGHT OUT THESE DISHES, PIECE-BY-PIECE, TO SHOW MY DAD. AND, YEAH, HE RECOGNIZED AN AWFUL LOT OF THEM, RIGHT OFF THE BAT! FROM THERE, WE DROVE OUT TO THE PROPERTY [LOACTED IN LOT 1, NORTHWEST QUARTER OF SECTION 5, TOWNSHIP 15, MAP 5872 MUNICIPALITY OF MAPLE RIDGE], AND HE REMEMBERED A LOT OF IT…” SHIGEMI REFLECTED: “WELL, THERE WAS TREPIDATION TO GO BACK, BUT I DON’T KNOW WHAT [TAK’S] REASON WAS. BUT HE DID GO, AND HE WAS HAPPY THAT HE WENT. YOU CAN TELL BY THE LOOK ON HIS FACE. HE LOOKED AT SEVERAL BUILDINGS, [AND] AREAS. YOU COULD SEE THAT IT WAS ALL COMING BACK TO HIM. I THINK HE REALLY ENJOYED BEING BACK THERE.” ON IF OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS WOULD GO BACK TO THE PROPERTY, SHIGEMI COMMENTED: “THEY MIGHT. I KNOW MY ELDEST DAUGHTER, WHEN SHE HAD SOME BUSINESS IN B.C., RENTED A VEHICLE, AND DROVE OUT TO THE [MAPLE RIDGE MUSEUM], AND TALKED TO THE [MUSEUM STAFF], AND FROM THERE SHE GOT DIRECTIONS AS TO WHERE THE OLD PROPERTY WAS, SHE MANAGED TO DRIVE OUT THERE, AND SHE SPOKE WITH KEN SCHMOOK, THE PROPERTY OWNER. HE WAS GRACIOUS ENOUGH TO SHOW HER AROUND – TOOK THE TIME. BUT MYSELF, AND MY LATE PARENTS, AND MY ELDEST DAUGHTER ARE THE ONLY ONES THAT HAVE SEEN THE PROPERTY SINCE.” FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, INCLUDING AN ARTICLE FROM CANADA.COM, EXCERPTS FROM LDJCA HISTORY BOOK COMMITTEE, “NISHIKI: NIKKEI TAPESTRY A HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA JAPANESE CANADIANS,” ARCHIVAL RESEARCH, EMAIL CORROSPONDANCE, OR TO SEE THE FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE SEE THE DONATION’S PERMANENT FILE.

Catalogue Number

P20230013003

Acquisition Date

2023-08

Collection

Museum

Less detail