To the Sugar Beet Fields Once More
“Nobody ever said anything about what happened when they were moved to the sugar beets.”
“I wanted to see for myself where my family had lived.”
“What were their stories?”
These were some of the comments made by those participating on a bus tour of the sugar beet growing areas of Southern Alberta.
by David B. Iwaasa
On Saturday, August 23, 2025, a group of 57 individuals with links to the Japanese Canadian community and 5 staff and facilitators were welcomed at the Calgary Nikkei Cultural Centre in order to get to know each other before starting on their tour. Then, they travelled to Lethbridge, Raymond, Cardston, Waterton Lakes, Taber, Picture Butte and Barnwell before returning to Calgary. The largest portion of the group, 36, came from various places in BC. Other participants included 12 from within Alberta, four from Manitoba, three from Ontario, one from the US and one from Japan. The eldest in the group was 88, while the two youngest were 14 years old. Why would they come from so many different places, to spend six nights and seven days travelling through the farmlands around Lethbridge and Taber?
Nearly everyone had some connection to individuals who, decades earlier, had come to work in the Alberta sugar beet fields. They came either as part of the small Japanese Canadian community who helped pioneer the industry in Alberta prior to the Second World War, or as part of the much larger group of Japanese Canadians who, after the War in the Pacific started in December 1941, were uprooted, dispossessed of their assets, then forcibly transported to sugar beet farms scattered throughout the irrigated farming areas in Southern Alberta. Dawn Sugimoto who has roots in both the pre-war Japanese community in Raymond and with those who were moved from BC in 1942, said that the visit to the Temple Hill Cemetery near Raymond was especially poignant. The ashes of more than 100 people of Japanese descent were sent to the Raymond Buddhist Temple for safekeeping as BC temples were closed when the people of Japanese descent were uprooted from the BC coast. “How much hate did the living face when even the ashes of the dead weren’t safe in BC at that time?”
While the wartime forced relocation and internment caused much pain and trauma, there was an opportunity on this tour for wellness and healing. Two healing facilitators (Patti Ayukawa and Tami Hirasawa) participated in the tour and led sessions where the participants could tell and hear the stories of sacrifice but also of recovery. Nathan Kiyoshi Armstrong, aged 23, in his comments on why he wanted to come on this tour stated: “I would like to know what I can learn from the stories and wisdom of the people and descendants of those who lived during that time. I want to see what things I can things,way from their experiences and what things I might be able to apply to my own life.” Tami Hirosawa, one of the healing facilitators on the trip, noted that her father was born in Surrey, BC on a 20-acre strawberry farm. He was forcibly uprooted to Welling then Taber. Tami’s mother Joyce Yukiko Fujimagari was born in Burnaby, BC and was moved to Iron Springs in 1943, Picture Butte in 1944, Barnwell in 1945 and to Taber in 1946. She said: “I am on this tour with my husband (Dave Mayer), daughter (Naomi Mayer) and brother (Derick Hirasawa). I am interested in hearing lots of stories about life on the sugar beet fields.”
Stories, both painful and joyful were shared as the tour participants met with several local Japanese Canadians such as Glenn Iwaasa of the Raymond Judo Club; Alberta provincial court judge Timothy Hironaka; Raymond residents Judy Takaguchi and Calvin Kado; minister of the Lethbridge Buddhist Temple Reverend Roland Ikuta; Lethbridge researcher and Japanese minyo dancer Pat Sassa; and Taber resident Pat Shimbashi. Professional archivists from the Galt Museum & Archives in Lethbridge; staff and board members such as Faye Geddes from the Raymond Museum; staff of the Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden in Lethbridge; and academics such as Dr. Carly Adams of the University of Lethbridge also shared their insights on the stories and experiences of the Japanese Canadians in Southern Alberta. Jennifer Crowson, executive director of the Alberta Sugar Beet Growers’ Association and Bryan Avison, Manager Agriculture, Lantic Sugar and Deb Brewin and Mark Miyanaga of the Potato Growers of Alberta were very helpful and generous in meeting with the tour members and facilitating various activities within the tour.
Ted Kinoshita, a third generation Japanese Canadian, who lives in Edmonton, concluded with the following: “Our family left southern Alberta 65 years ago and it was like we closed the door and never looked back. Our history in southern Alberta, internment, and life in the Langley area was never spoken of or rarely… the visit to Taber was special as it was our last home before we moved to Edmonton. The sugar beet fields and sugar factory are embedded into our history.”
Sharing the stories can help us to heal. Remembering the stories may help us to learn from them so that we avoid making the same mistakes again. Hate and bigotry caused much pain. But a willingness to accept diversity and to show compassion and understanding resulted in a Japanese Canadian community remaining and growing, allowing it to contribute to Southern Alberta’s rich culture and prosperity.
The group photo of the tour members was taken on the farm of Dan Lievaart, owner of Cranford Acres, in the midst of a still maturing sugar beet field. Dan is standing in the middle of the group and the oldest member of our group, Eddy Hayashi, aged 88, is holding a sugar beet.
We wish to thank the Japanese Canadian Legacies Society for the Intergenerational Wellness Grant which assisted us in making this remarkable tour possible.