People uprooted from East Richmond (26)

East Richmond, refers to the area of Richmond that includes Lion Island (Sato) and Don Island (Oikawa). In the 1880s, Alexander Ewen built a large sockeye salmon cannery on Lion Island and purchased 640 acres of farmland in East Richmond. The fertile land was ideal for farming, and many Japanese Canadians worked in agriculture. Japanese Canadian settlements were established on Don and Lion Islands by 1902.

In 1906, a group of eighty-three Japanese voyagers, led by Jinzaburo Oikawa and Soemon Sato on the Suian Maru, settled on the Don and Lion Islands, known as Oikawa-jima and Sato-jima, respectively. Others settled on nearby Annacis Island. The peak population of these islands reached several hundred. The residents exported salmon roe and salted dog-salmon, sake, and rice. The Japanese Canadian community on Lion Island worked closely with the Steveston community; fishers would often build boats during the off-season.

Oikawa returned to Japan in 1917, but many remained on the islands until 1942. The islands are no longer inhabited.