Vancouver / Names / O / Otsuji

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Otsujis

In the city directories 1940 · three people at three addresses

The directories print three people named Otsuji 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 Otsujis 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

    657 East Cordova Street

    Strathcona, 1940

    • R Otsuji, retired 1940

    Next door in 1940: S Hatanaka at 655 and M Akazawa at 665. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    701 Hawks Avenue

    Strathcona, 1940

    • K Otsuji, proprietor of Royal Grocery 1940

    Next door in 1940: Mrs M Poloway at 703. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    53 West Hastings Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • Mrs Rito Otsuji, a manager at the Strathcona Hotel 1940

    Next door in 1940: Pierre Paris at 51 and Standard Electric & Radio Ltd at 55. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for two of the three: a manager and a proprietor.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Strathcona (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 R Otsuji at 657 East Cordova Street. The 1940 name section, where each person's work is printed, lists Rikimatsu Otsuji there as the householder, retired. In 1940 the directory lists K Otsuji at 701 Hawks 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 lists Kihie Otsuji there as the householder, proprietor of Royal Grocery.

The 1940 name section lists Mrs Rito Otsuji at 53 West Hastings Street, a manager at the Strathcona Hotel.

Today

657 East Cordova, 701 Hawks and 53 West Hastings still have their buildings from before 1946, 657 East Cordova on the Vancouver Heritage Register.

Every line as printed

All 5 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 Otsujis

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Otsuji 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.