East Lillooet Memorial Garden Renewal Opening Ceremony

A DREAM OF TWO BROTHERS: THE EAST LILLOOET MEMORIAL GARDEN

by Laura Saimoto, E. Lillooet Garden Committee Co-chair

“I had a dream!”, Dr. Aki Horii proclaimed as his opening to his keynote speech at the East Lillooet Memorial Garden Renewal Opening Ceremony on Saturday, May 7, 2022. The image of Martin Luther King flashed through my mind. With heartfelt words of congratulations, dignitaries – the Honourable Rob Fleming, Minister of Transportation, Chief Michelle Edwards of Cayoose Creek Band, MLA Jackie Tegart, MP Brad Vis, Deputy Consul General Japan, Masayo Tada, the ED of Heritage BC, Kirsten Clausen and Lillooet Mayor, Peter Busse spoke of the importance of honouring the garden and history of East Lillooet, and expressed their gratitude for the Seniors’ Garden Committee, the District of Lillooet and all those who contributed to this amazing transformative and enduring legacy garden. It was a glorious day, with over 300 people there to honour the families and stories of East Lillooet.

As Phase II, the E. Lillooet Seniors’ Garden Committee in partnership with the District of Lillooet transformed Phase I (2018) into a beautiful ‘Lillooet style’, contemporary rock garden. It was a dream of two brothers: Dr. Aki Horii (90), a retired family doctor and Louis Horii, 85, a retired Richmond house builder/carpenter. Their family was interned in East Lillooet from 1942-49. “I did not know what it would or could look like, but I wanted our history to be remembered.” said Aki. When the two brothers visited Lillooet in 2015, the garden idea was born. Now in 2022, it is a beautiful tribute to our parents and our grandparents who got their families through hard times.

The garden overlooks the original E. Lillooet Self-supporting camp which is now a private farm. It is built on new land created by infill over the old highway (Ministry of Transportation pull-out). Our elders came up with the garden theme: 心の光 (Kokoro-no hikari) meaning, light in the soul. They hope the garden will bring ‘light to the soul’ to all who visit. Louis Horii (85) and Bruce Tasaka (85) were the garden designers and construction leaders. “It is not a traditional Japanese garden, it has Japanese elements but it’s adapted to local nature and the local materials of Lillooet”, Louis says. “The story of the garden is told through its elements and the principle of low cost maintenance. There are seven pine trees in the garden that represent the seven years of internment. The gravel represents the water of the Fraser River, and a mini-Japanese style bridge crosses the rock waterfall which are the feeders into the Fraser. Large granite rocks around the garden border are from Duffy Lake slide.”

Louis continues, “The entrance gateway (with Japanese style roof) and the arbor overlooking the Internment site are framed within each other. So the sightline is a frame within a frame from entrance to the view over the farm. There is symmetry to the design as the three focal points interact with each other. You look straight and see the view, to the left is the granite monument with all the names of the Internee families, and to the right is the History Sign. The plants are deer resistant and hopefully will survive extreme temperatures. They still need water, so we put in an irrigation system and connected power to the site. The entrance sign is yellow cedar from the Sunshine Coast. Because of good weed cloth, it will need minimal weeding and watering. When you sit on the bench looking east or west, the garden blends into

Old time chums: East Lillooet Internees: Bill Tanaka (99); Dr. Aki Horii (90); Kaye Kaminishi (100). Lydia Nagai Photography.

the natural landscape of Lillooet. It gives you peace when you walk inside.”

We are grateful to the District of Lillooet and to our funders (Northern Development Trust; Heritage BC; Pathways to Gold; NAJC and many community donors) for believing in our dream. And we are so thankful to our dedicated core volunteer build team who donated about 1300 hours of sweat equity under Louis and Bruce’s leadership: the Oike family – Darren (Lillooet’s fire chief), Tad, Hiko, Larry, Nobuye, Carson, Tate; Vern Kawaguchi; Don and Carol Howerton; Nan Tasaka; Karl and Eileen Willms. Our team consisted of internees and their descendants spanning four generations. It was a labour of love, light and expert cost management.

Lastly a big pat on the back to our wise committee elders: Dr. Aki Horii, Louis Horii, Bruce and Nan Tasaka; Sam Yamamoto, Kaori Yano, Nobby Ishikawa, Yosh Kariatsumari, Linda Kawamoto-Reid, and to our counterpart Lillooet team, Mayor Peter and wife Vera, and CAO Jeremy Denegar – to keep things going to the finish line. Thank you to all who gave support, too numerous to mention. We ask you to spread the word to your families and friends to visit the garden. To quote the movie Field of Dreams, ‘If you build it, they will come’. Visit Lillooet, experience Japanese Canadian history and feel the power of community resilience. Arigatou.

Horii family descendants. Lydia Nagai Photography.

From left: Bruce Tasaka, Minister Rob Fleming, Louis Horii. Lydia Nagai Photography.

The Horii family circa 1943-44 in front of their shack in East Lillooet. Aki Horii second from right. Louis Horii standing in front of Aki in double-breasted suit. Tetsu Taiko

Ritsu Saimoto (89, in wheelchair, East Lillooet Internee) with daughters Laura (left) and Deb (right).