People uprooted from Bowen Island (4)

Bowen Island (Nex̱wlélex̱wm), at the mouth of Howe Sound, became the site of a non-Indigenous settlement of loggers and farmers in the late 1800s. A brickyard also opened in the late 1800s, which supplied bricks to Vancouver. Steamship service began after 1900, which helped turn the island into a popular tourist and recreation destination.

Fred Malkin, who owned a grocery business in Vancouver with his brothers, purchased land on Bowen Island in the King Edward Bay area in 1910. Around 1924, the Yamada family moved to Bowen Island, likely through their connection to an employee of Fred Malkin, Mr. Nakamura. Kanichi Yamada built a wharf in King Edward Bay and served as caretaker of the Malkin property. The Yamadas lived on the land and also ran a small dairy business. The Malkin and Yamada families developed a close friendship. Kanichi and his wife, Masano, had ten children, all of whom attended the island’s elementary school.

Sakugoro Fukuyama appears in the 1931 census and was a gardener for the Union Steamship Company. The company employed many Japanese Canadians on Bowen Island as gardeners, farmers, and builders for its hotel and cottages. Konishi Bay is named after Mr. Konishi, the Cowan property caretaker and a favourite of the Cowan children.