Crate No. 4., ca. 1946

Crate built by Japanese evacuee Kohei Nishiyama while residing in Tashme, BC. In 1946, the Government forced the family to move east of the Rockies to Alberta. A Japanese man, returning to Tashme from Picture Butte, AB, warned Kohei of the scarcity of trees in Alberta and told him to bring wooden crates to use as kindling for fires. Thus, the family purchased wood from a sawmill in Tashme and built four wooden crates. The crates transported the family's possessions from Tashme to Welling, Alberta. Upon arrival in Welling, the family found there were trees and, consequently, the crates were not burned.

Donated by Mac Nishiyama