Heritage Site: Salt Spring Island
Memorial Story Project
Organization: The Japanese Garden Society of Salt Spring Island
Address: 101 Jackson Ave, Salt Spring Island, BC V8K 2V8
Visitor Information
Open year-round, outdoor site accessible at all times.
All are welcome to visit the Memorial Story Interpretive Structure at Heiwa Garden. Although only a single family returned to the island after the war — rebuilding from nothing — they laid the foundation for a renewed community presence, and a connection to place that has never been broken.
Those who visit are invited not only to learn this history, but to reflect on the resilience, determination, and spirit that went into building — and rebuilding — a life and a community here.
Project Opening
On Sunday, May 31, survivors, descendants, Salt Spring Island community members, project partners, and guests gathered to celebrate the unveiling of the Memorial Story Interpretive Structure at Heiwa Garden.
The commemoration began at ArtSpring with presentations and reflections on the history and enduring legacy of the Japanese Canadian community on Salt Spring Island. Guests then gathered at Heiwa Garden for the official unveiling and ribbon-cutting ceremony.
JC Legacies is grateful to everyone who contributed to this project, which chronicles the prewar Japanese Canadian community on Salt Spring Island — a community that helped shape the social and economic life of the island before the uprooting and dispossession of 1942. This structure ensures that their history is preserved for generations to come.
