Vancouver / Names / O / Okura

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Okuras

In the city directories 1940 · five people at four addresses

The directories print five people named Okura at four addresses in 1940 in three 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 Okuras 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

    1934 Columbia Street

    Mount Pleasant, 1940

    • K Okura, who ran a laundry 1940
    • Fumi Okura, a student 1940

    Next door in 1940: K Abe at 1928 and P W Stevens at 1996. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    230 Powell Street

    Strathcona, 1940

    • K Okura, a laundry 1940

    Next door in 1940: Clever Maid Mfg Co at 226 and Hinoday Cafe at 232. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    160 West 4th Avenue

    Mount Pleasant, 1940

    • K Okura, who worked for K Okura 1940

    Next door in 1940: J T Fulton at 156. The block, door by door

  4. 4

    1112 West Pender Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • Inosuke Okura, proprietor of the Pender Grocery and Dean Apartments 1940

    Next door in 1940: S W H Mackay at 1114. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for three of the five: an employee, a laundry and a proprietor.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Mount Pleasant (2), 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 K Okura at 1934 Columbia Street; 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 Kiichi Okura there as the householder, who ran a laundry, with Fumi Okura, a student. In 1940 the directory lists K Okura, a laundry, at 230 Powell Street.

K Okura, a laundry, is listed at 160 West 4th Avenue in 1940; the 1940 line is marked * too. The 1940 name section lists Kisaboro Okura there, who worked for K Okura. The 1940 name section lists Inosuke Okura at 1112 West Pender Street, proprietor of the Pender Grocery and Dean Apartments.

Today

1112 West Pender (1960) has a newer building, by the City's record; the City no longer lists 1934 Columbia, 230 Powell and 160 West 4th, so those buildings are 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 Okuras

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Okura 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.