Vancouver / Names / K / Kawai

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Kawais

In the city directories 1940 · three people at three addresses

The directories print three people named Kawai at three addresses in 1940 in two of the city's neighbourhoods. No first name or initials tie one address to another: we can't tell if they're one family.

Reserve this family's book, freeThe name in every directory we hold from 1901 to 1945, at every address, each line with its page, to read here or save as a PDF. About $29 when orders open.

Where the Kawais lived

Each pin is on its own block, numbered as the households below. Today's land, parks, main roads and local areas: City of Vancouver Open Data (Open Government Licence – Vancouver).
  1. 1

    18 East 6th Avenue

    Mount Pleasant, 1940

    • I Kawai, a tailor 1940

    Next door in 1940: J Campbell at 14 and G Clarke at 28. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    238 Main Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • K Kawai, a jeweller 1940

    Next door in 1940: Mrs K Takeuchi at 232 and C Yamada at 240. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    2410 Main Street

    Mount Pleasant, 1940

    • I Kawai, a tailor 1940

    Next door in 1940: Triangle Barber Shop at 2406 and Kway Cafe at 2412. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for one of the three: a tailor.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Mount Pleasant (2) and Downtown. Each neighbourhood's page shows its trades, its people and every street in it, the way the directory printed them.

The story, address by address

In 1940 the directory lists I Kawai at 18 East 6th Avenue; the 1940 line is marked *: some member of the family owns the property, to the best of our knowledge (the directory's own mark). The 1940 name section, where each person's work is printed, lists Isaburo Kawai there as the householder, a tailor. In 1940 the directory lists K Kawai, a jeweller, at 238 Main Street. I Kawai, a tailor, is listed at 2410 Main Street in 1940; the 1940 line is marked * too.

Today

The City no longer lists 18 East 6th, 238 Main and 2410 Main, so those buildings are probably gone (inferred).

Every line as printed

All 4 lines printed under the name through 1945, each with its page at the Vancouver Public Library.
1940

British Columbia and Yukon Directory, street section

The book of the Kawais

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Kawai name in each Vancouver directory we hold from 1901 to 1945: everyone printed under it at every address, their work from the name sections, who lived next door, and the page behind every line, to read here or save as a PDF to print or give.

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Another name, or a house

Sources

Henderson's and successor city directories for Vancouver, read by us line by line: the street sections for 1905, 1915, 1925, 1935, 1940 and 1945, and the name section for 1930 and 1940 where we've read it (Vancouver Public Library, BC City Directories). Names are shown through 1945, as printed. Close spellings are grouped, as on the house pages, since a family's name was often spelled differently from one year to the next; one name can still be several families, and we join lines only where the first names or initials agree. Many Chinese, Japanese and other residents weren't named by the canvassers, so they can't be listed by name: their houses' pages say where. More family names under K. Want a name removed? Tell us.