Tag Archives: built by master boat-maker Isamu Matsumoto

Interior B.C. historical society restoring 90-year-old Japanese-Canadian boat

The Merriwake fishing boat first hit the water 90 years ago near Prince Rupert, B.C. The gillnetter built by master boat-maker Isamu Matsumoto belonged to a Japanese-Canadian fisherman. However, it was confiscated from him in 1942 when he and 22,000 other Japanese-Canadians were forced into internment camps during the Second World War. Today, the Slocan Valley Historical Society is trying to raise between $20,000 and $30,000 to restore the boat to display it on a permanent dry dock near the village of Slocan in the West Kootenay region. >click to read<17:10