Vancouver / Names / O / Okamura

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Okamuras

In the city directories 1940 · five people at two addresses

The directories print five people named Okamura at two addresses in 1940 in two of the city's neighbourhoods. No first name or initials tie one address to the other: we can't tell if they're one family. The most under one roof: three Okamuras at 504 East Hastings in 1940.

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 Okamuras 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

    504 East Hastings Street

    Strathcona, 1940

    • Mrs M Okamura, widow of P L 1940
    • Mata Okamura, an assistant for E Miyake 1940
    • Miye Okamura, a saleswoman at Yamato Silks 1940

    Next door in 1940: West Coast Trading at 502 and R Hoshino at 508. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    1056 West Pender Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • H Okamura, a teacher at the Japanese School 1940
    • Mrs Kazue Okamura, proprietor of Sea View Confectionery 1940

    Next door in 1940: C S Halfnights at 1054 and A H Gwillim at 1058. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for four of the five: an assistant, a proprietor, a saleswoman and a teacher. One is a widow, listed under her own name.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Downtown and Strathcona. 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 Mrs M Okamura at 504 East Hastings Street. The 1940 name section, where each person's work is printed, lists Misao Okamura there as the householder, widow of P L, with Mata Okamura, an assistant for E Miyake, and Miye Okamura, a saleswoman at Yamato Silks. In 1940 the directory lists H Okamura at 1056 West Pender Street. The 1940 name section lists Hideo Okamura there as the householder, a teacher at the Japanese School, with Mrs Kazue Okamura, proprietor of Sea View Confectionery.

Today

504 East Hastings still has its building from before 1946, dated 1912 by the City's record; the City no longer lists 1056 West Pender, so that building is probably gone (inferred).

Every line as printed

All 7 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 Okamuras

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Okamura 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 O. Want a name removed? Tell us.