Fujiwara Family
Shuzo (Frank) Fujiwara [1879 – 1948]
Izue Fujiwara (nee Inoue) [unknown – prior to 1942]
Shuzo Fujiwara was born on May 15, 1879, in Okayama, Japan, to Masukichi and Hatsu. He travelled to Nagasaki to study photographic techniques from a master of portrait photography, Uyeno Hikoma (1838-1904). The studio of Hikoma and Simooka Renjo was amongst the first to open in Japan and known to have trained a large number of new photographers. Shuzo arrived in Vancouver, BC, in May 1902, already prepared to engage in the business of studio photography. He and Izue were married possibly before 1915 and had four children: Hiroko, Toshiyuki, Yoshiyuki and Takako. He worked in the fishing industry to save the money to open his own studio. During that time, he travelled to Los Angeles and San Francisco to work in the Smith and Crown Photo studios. Back in Vancouver, he worked with Yataro Arikado before opening his own studio in 1909 at 245 Powell Street. Fujiwara Studio had several employees and a Caucasian woman technician.
As with Okamura from New Westminster, an early photographer, Fujiwara was also known for his exceptional studio photography technique and may have influenced the quality and style of the development of early Japanese Canadian studio photography. He was commissioned by community groups and associations both local and out of town. Some of his famous photographs are: Championship of International League: Asahi Baseball team 1919; Sports Day at Woodfibre, 1936; Tofino Public School Class, 1938; Jusuke Ishikawa's Logging Camp, 1915.
He participated in local social activities, including the Okayama kenjinkai (prefectural association) and the Yamato Shashin Kai (Yamato Photography Club). The Tairiku Nippo (Japanese newspaper) reported that the club held an exhibition on October 15, 1915 and invited Mr. Okamura of New Westminster, a prominent professional photographer, to act as juror. The club also held an exhibition in Tokyo in 1916. He was forced to relocate to New Denver, BC and Nakusp, BC. He passed away on October 18, 1948, at Nakusp.
(From Nikkei National Museum, Fujiwara Family collection, 2011.3)
Portrait of Fujiwara family, ca. 1950. P-14310.
L to R: Tomiko, Amy, Genie, Fred and Toshiyuki Fujiwara.
Toshiyuki Fujiwara on a Canadian Pacific Railway Bridge, possibly at Golden B.C., ca. 1970. P-14343.
Toshiyuki Fujiwara [1918 – 2006]
Tomiko Fujiwara (nee Morikawa) [1924 – 2021]
Toshiyuki Fujiwara was born on October 18, 1918, the twin brother of Yoshiyuki. His parents are Shuzo and Izue (nee Inoue) Fujiwara. He was a labourer employed by the Canadian Pacific Railway at the time of internment. He was uprooted to Windermere Valley, BC, in 1942. According to his staff record of the Canadian Pacific Railway, his first appearance on the Revelstoke Division was July 26, 1940. He was in Revelstoke as a railway worker before the war and worked at numerous divisions of the Canadian Pacific Railway until he retired in Revelstoke. He married Tomiko Morikawa on December 8, 1945, in New Denver. They had three children, Genie, Amy, and Fred, who all went to Revelstoke High School between 1962 to 1969.
The Fujiwara family lived on 808 3rd Street, West, until the time of Toshiyuki’s retirement in the late 1970s, when they moved to New Westminster, BC.
Toshiyuki passed away on October 24, 2006, at the age of 88 in New Westminster. Tomiko passed away on May 11, 2021, at the age of 97 in Surrey, BC.