Ken Nakagama’s parents, Ryutaro and Nobuko arrived in southern Alberta in 1942 as part of the Japanese Relocation.
“He had a retail store in Steveston, B.C. and he always wanted to get back to that,” Nakagama said. “His goal was to set up a Japanese food store in southern Alberta.”“He went with his truck, taking product all around southern Alberta out to Taber, Vulcan, Turin,” Nakagama said.The truck Ryutaro Nakagama made deliveries with when he started his southern Alberta business.“The license was not granted immediately. There was still actually a ban on Japanese persons in the city, ” Nakagama said.
“We became one of the first Japanese families — possibly the first independent Japanese family — to live in Lethbridge,” Nakagama said.