Shoji Family
Wedding portrait of Roy Eitaro and Matsue, June 20, 1929. P-14154.
Roy Eitaro Shoji [1907 – 1980]
Matsue Shoji (nee Toriya) [1908 – 1977]
Roy and Matsue were married on June 20, 1929, in Japan. Roy and Matsue possibly came to Canada soon after they got married in 1929. They had six children: Edward Kichiro, Yoshito, Victor Masahiro, Katsuhiko, Elmer, and Shelagh. Roy was the founder of the Vancouver Paper Box Company in 1929. Before coming to Canada, he was the president of a box factory in Tokyo.
The family lived in Vancouver until they were forcibly uprooted to Minto, a self-supporting internment camp in 1942. They lived there from 1942 to 1944, then moved to Revelstoke on November 10, 1944. Roy requested permission to move here so that his family would have better access to schools and a hospital.
Snow White Laundry, 1964. Dickey Collection, P-9139.
Roy opened Snow White Laundry Ltd. in 1946 at 600 Second Street West, on the corner of Garden Avenue and Second Street West. At the time, he had a partner, Al McAskill, who was able to obtain the business license. The laundry was moved in 1947 to Orton Avenue and Victoria Road, and was expanded several times, becoming a thriving business.
Roy and Matsue hired a friend who was a master carpenter to build a Japanese aesthetic room in their home above the laundry. They wanted to maintain their Japanese heritage and culture and wanted their family to appreciate the beauty and simplicity of a traditional Japanese home. The carpenter, Masuo Hashimoto, gathered natural materials from the forest, and assembled every piece of the room by hand, without using a single nail. Rice paper for the screen doors, tatami mats, bedding and adornments were imported from Japan to complete the room.
When Akihito, the Crown Prince of Japan, visited Revelstoke in 1953, Roy Shoji was one of the attendees at the Revelstoke CPR station. Roy was an alderman in Revelstoke from 1965 to 1968. Roy and Matsue were members of Revelstoke Rotary Club, Canadian Club, A.O.T.S. of the United Church, and the Camera Club. They left Revelstoke for Vancouver in the early 1970s.
Matsue Shoji passed away on April 6, 1977, in Vancouver, at the age of 68. Roy Shoji passed away on December 16, 1980, in Vancouver, at the age of 73.
Yoshito Shoji [1936 – 2020]
Terry Shoji (nee Mukuda) [1939 – 2015]
Yoshi Shoji was born on August 17, 1936, in Vancouver to Roy and Matsue (nee Totiya). He lived in Vancouver with his family until the family was forced to relocate to Minto Mines in 1942. The family moved to Revelstoke in 1944. Yoshi started working in the laundry with his four brothers, while attending school. Yoshi left in 1953 to help his brother run a store in Vancouver. He graduated from Kitsilano High School and completed the Pitman's business course in 1956. After completing the Dry Cleaning and Management course in Silver Spring, Maryland, Yoshi was employed by Shannon Cleaners in Vancouver as a plant manager. He remained there until his return to Revelstoke in 1961 to manage the Snow White Laundry.
Yoshi married Terry Mukuda in 1961, and they had three children: Keven, Allen, and Jason. Yoshi served as an Alderman on Revelstoke City Council, and as chairman of the board for School District #19. He was also an active member of the Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club, and the Revelstoke Snowmobile Club.
Terry Shoji (nee Mukuda) passed away on December 29, 2015, in Revelstoke, at the age of 76. Yoshi Shoji passed away on April 23, 2020, in Revelstoke, at the age of 83. They are both buried in Mountain View Cemetery, Revelstoke.
Elmer Shoji, youngest son of Roy and Matsue, ran an insurance business in Revelstoke, and continues to live here as of 2025.
Family portrait of Mrs. Toriya, Matsue Shoji, Roy Shoji, Mtsu’s brother, Unknown, and Mr. Toriya, ca. 1925. P-14153.
Family portrait of the Shoji Family, ca. 1950. P-14156.
(L to R) Katsu, Victor, Eric Nishi, Shelagh, Ed, Elmer, Yoshi.
Japanese room in Roy Shoji’s home at Victoria and Orton. P-14142.
Roy Shoji and unidentified man in front of Snow White Laundry van, 1963. P-14147.