Amano Family

Teiichi Amano [1892 – 1985]

Katsuyo Amano (nee Sakamoto) [1892 – 1972]

Teiichi Amano was born on March 5, 1894, in Hiroshima-ken, Japan, to Minosuke and Chiyo. He immigrated to Vancouver, BC in 1919. He married Katsuyo (nee Sakamoto) and had three children: Miyoko, Noboru, and Shigeru. He started a soy sauce and miso business on Dundas Street in Vancouver in the 1920s under the name of Amano Brothers. To bring more brewing knowledge to the Canadian market, he sent his eldest son, Noboru, to Japan in 1941 to learn how to make tamari and miso using the traditional Japanese brewing method. Upon his return, they started making tamari and miso in the basement of their store to serve the local community. 

From the Revelstoke Review, January 6, 1944.

In 1942, Teiichi and his family were forcibly relocated to Revelstoke. They lived on Downie Street, which was just outside of the city limits. On New Year’s Eve in 1943, Noboru passed away when his truck plunged into a lake returning from the road camp work between Revelstoke and Sicamous. His body was never recovered. 

By 1947, the family was operating T. Amano Company, manufacturing soy products. The business was located at 413 Second Street West. They remained in business there until 1951, when they sold the business to the Wakita family for a frozen meat locker business. The Amano family returned to the lower mainland where they established Amano Foods in Richmond, BC.

Katsuyo passed away on August 12, 1972, at the age of 73 in Vancouver.

Teiichi passed away on October 15, 1985, at the age of 91 in Vancouver.

Shigeru Amano [1931 – 2018]

Shigeru was born on November 26, 1931, in Vancouver, to Teiichi and Katsuyo (nee Sakamoto). In 1942, Shigeru was forced to relocate to Revelstoke with his family. He went to Revelstoke High School from 1947 to 1950. After graduating from high school, he went to UBC in Vancouver, became a self-employed architect, and eventually took over the Amano Foods business. He married Emi Furukawa and had three children: Kathryn, Wendy, and Graham. 

Shigeru passed away on June 25, 2018, at the age of 86.

The Amano family is still running the business in Richmond, BC under the management of Shigeru’s son, Graham, as of 2025.

Ad for T. Amano Company in Revelstoke, BC.

Yutaka Wakita gives Shigeru Amano a piggyback ride, ca. 1940. P-13246.

Masayo Wakita (left) with Miyoko Amano in front of tomato plant in Kamloops, ca. 1940. P-13250.

Graham and Linda Amano, 2023.