Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

JAPANESE LUNCH BOX

Date Range From

1930

Date Range To

1940

Materials

ALUMINUM

No. Pieces

2

Height

4.0

Length

17.2

Width

11.5

Description

RECTANGULAR ALUMINUM BOX IN TWO HALVES. TOP HAS RAISED FLOWERS AND BRANCHES ON EITHER SIDE OF DIAGONAL SLOT WHICH RUNS FROM TOP LEFT CORNER TO BOTTOM RIGHT. BOTTOM HALF IS PLAIN. BOX HAS A NUMBER OF SMALL DENTS AND IS GENERALLY MISSHAPEN SO THAT TOP AND BOTTOM DO NOT FIT EACH OTHER.

Subjects

FOOD SERVICE T&E

Historical Association

DOMESTIC

History

LUNCH BOX BELONGED TO DONOR AS A CHILD. DONOR RELATES THAT THE LUNCH BOX WAS BROUGHT FROM JAPAN BY HER MOTHER, LOIS. DONOR WAS THE DAUGHTER OF THE REV. G.G. & LOIS NAKAYAMA WHO WERE ORIGINALLY FROM VANCOUVER. THE NAKAYAMA FAMILY WAS RELOCATED TO SLOCAN CITY DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR. IN 1945 THE FAMILY MOVED TO COALDALE WHERE REV. NAKAYAMA FOUNDED THE CHURCH OF THE ASCENSION WHERE HE WAS MINISTER UNTIL 1970. THE DONOR WENT ON TO BECOME A LECTURER AND AUTHOR OF RENOWN IN CANADA AND HAS WRITTEN A NUMBER OF BOOKS INCLUDING "OBASAN" AND "THE RAIN ASCENDS". LUNCH BOX IS MENTIONED IN "OBASAN". FROM AUGUST 29 TO 31, 2011 COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN INTERVIEWED THE DONOR, JOY KOGAWA, ABOUT HER MEMORIES ASSOCIATED WITH SPECIFIC OBJECTS THAT SHE DONATED IN 1997. OF THIS ARTIFACT, KOGAWA SAID: “IT WAS QUITE A LONG WALK THROUGH THE WOODS AND ALONG THE HIGHWAY [TO GET TO SCHOOL AT BAY FARM]… IN THE TWO YEARS [AT SLOCAN] I WENT FROM GRADE TWO TO FOUR… THERE WERE ONLY JAPANESE [CHILDREN]; IT WAS SEGREGATED… MY BROTHER AND I TOOK LUNCHES IN THESE TO SCHOOL EVERY DAY IN SLOCAN… A TYPICAL LUNCH WOULD BE A LITTLE BIT OF RICE, A LITTLE BIT OF GREENS… MAYBE A BOILED EGG AND AN UMEBOSHI, THAT IS A RED PICKLED PLUM. VERY SALTY… VEGETABLE, SOME PROTEIN AND RICE. AND SOMETIMES, WE WOULD HAVE PEANUT BUTTER SANDWICHES. PEOPLE WOULD LOVE PEANUT BUTTER SANDWICHES, SO, I WOULD OFTEN TRADE MINE FOR THEIR RICE, BECAUSE THEY WANTED THAT SO BADLY… WHEN WE WERE IN SLOCAN, WE ACTUALLY ATE VERY HEALTHILY, BECAUSE WE ATE THE MUSHROOMS AND THE FIDDLEHEADS, WARABI… THAT WE WOULD PICK IN THE SPRING AND WE WOULD SNAP THEM OFF… [MY MOTHER] DRIED THEM FOR WINTER, AND WE ATE THEM ALL YEAR.” SEE RECORD P19970041001 FOR EXPANDED BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION AND PERMANENT FILE FOR FURTHER HISTORY.

Catalogue Number

P19970041252

Acquisition Date

1997-01

Collection

Museum

Less detail