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From Japan to Canada
current
Japan

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Eijiro Koyama was born in 1881 in Matsubara (Hikone-shi), Shiga-ken, Japan. He immigrated to Canada in 1899 at the age of 18, sailing on the ship Empress of Japan and arriving in Victoria, British Columbia.

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Eijiro Koyama
1916
Winfield, BC

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Eijiro Koyama worked in Canada as a commercial fisherman on B.C.'s coast and then for the Canadian Pacific Railway. In 1904, Eijiro heard of the new fruit tree nurseries at the Coldstream Ranch near Vernon and he moved to the Okanagan. Eijiro worked on the Coldstream Ranch for twelve years, becoming ranch foreman in 1907.

Eijiro Koyama became a Canadian citizen on September 15th, 1908.

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Nurserymen in the Coldstream Ranch orchards
Circa 1905
Coldstream BC, near Vernon

Credits:
Greater Vernon Museum and Archives, image #5579

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The Coldstream Ranch, owned by Lord and Lady Aberdeen, was the start of the fruit growing industry in the Okanagan. In its early years, the ranch employed about forty people, who, along with Eijiro Koyama, included Shigehisa Hikichi and his brother Genji, the Ohashi brothers, Denbei Kobayashi, Kizo Kobayashi, and later Eijiro's younger brother Tarokichi Koyama.

In 1907, Eijiro was promoted to ranch foreman. He frequently travelled to Vancouver to recruit additional workers, and by 1908 the Coldstream Ranch employed one hundred people. Many of these workers came from the same regions of Japan, leaving behind friends and families. Most of these young men intended to remain in Canada for only a few years and to return to Japan. However as the years passed, they began to see their future in Canada, building a new life.

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Eijiro Koyama and Fumi Fujioka on their wedding day, Japan
12 February 1912
Japan

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In 1912, Eijiro Koyama travelled back to Japan, where he was introduced to his bride Fumi Fujioka. Fumi was the eldest daughter of a well to do, educated family with a samurai background. Fumi and Eijiro married on February 12th, 1912, and Fumi left her comfortable life in Japan to face the future by Eijiro's side in Canada.

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Fumi Fujioka Koyama and family, Japan
1911-1912
Japan

Credits:
Sakuji and Sachiyo (Kobayashi) Koyama collection

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Fumi Fujioka had three younger sisters, Kiyo, Hana, and Katsu, and one younger brother, Hidehiko. The Fujioka family title was Shizoku, denoting warrior-official class.

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Fumi Koyama with baby Seichi
1915
Coldstream BC, near Vernon

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Eijiro and Fumi Koyama remained at the Coldstream Ranch until 1915. Their first child was born in 1914, daughter Kimie, followed by son Seichi in 1915. With a growing family Eijiro decided to move to Winfield, then known as Wood Lake, where he purchased twenty acres of land. His new neighbour, Mr. W.R. Powley, lent Eijiro a team of horses, 'Nip' and 'Tuck', to move his family from the Coldstream Ranch to Winfield. The move took two days over dirt roads.

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Eijiro Koyama

Credits:
Addie (Takenaka) Maehara
Harold Takenaka
Lake Country Museum, interview 2011

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Eijiro and Fumi worked hard to clear the land and to build their own home, enduring many hardships.