My family has been Canadian for a very long time but I will tell you the story about my great-grandfather, Tukotaru Kobayashi. He was born in 1900 and came over to Canada for the first time as a student with a group of other young Japanese males in 1918. He was studying Business at the University of Toronto. He was a member of the fencing team!

He continued living in Toronto until 1923, which was the year of the Tokyo earthquake. He changed his name to "Kobe" for common use. When he arrived back in Canada he married Edith Ida Maude Thomas in Toronto, 1924 or 1925. Edith was from Quebec.

Tokutaro received his Certificate of Canadian Citizenship in 1951. He lived in Toronto at 130 First Avenue, a 15 minute walk from RCI! 

Tokutaro and Edith had 2 sons one in 1926, and the other in 1928. And had a daughter in 1931, my grandmother!

Tokutaro passed away on June 27th, 1978 at the age of 1978 in Scarborough where his daughter's family lived. 

Tokutaro left Japan because he wanted to continue his Business Studies, which he had started in Kawasaki City. Another reason he wanted to leave was the political situation in Japan leading up to the second world war. His parents were worried about his safety if he stayed in Japan.

He wanted to live in Canada to focus on a career and he thought that he would have greater opportunities here. He felt Canada was a much safer environment for him and his future children.

My dad tells me stories of my great-grandfather sometimes. One of them is about when he used to take my dad to a little japanese shop called Sandown Market in Scarborough. They would buy fishcake, soy sauce, tofu, crackers, and other fun snacks. Apparently, my great-grandfather really enjoyed fishcake. One of my dad's favourite snacks was tofu dipped in soy sauce. They also ate a japanese dish called sukiyaki which was like a stew.