R K

May is Asian Heritage Month in Canada. One of the very few Asian heritage sites on Salt Spring are the two charcoal kilns built by Isaburo Tasaka in the early 1900s in Mouat Park. Besides the two on our island, we have identified thirteen others in the Southern Gulf Islands. A new 68-page booklet published by the Japanese Garden Society gives the history of charcoal (the history of humanity!) and its local production, and some insights into the lives of early Japanese Canadian settlers on the Southern Gulf Islands. The launch of the booklet will from 1:30 pm on May 15th in the Library Program Room. Four of the booklet’s contributors will be giving a talk. Our story began with the restoration of one of the two Salt Spring kilns in 2015. While we were working on the restoration, we learned from local historical kiln expert Steve Nemtin that there were a number of similar kilns on Galiano, Mayne, Saturna, and possibly the other islands too. Steve has been fascinated by th…