Image galleries

Click on the image galleries below to scroll through full-size images.

House Tour

Take a look inside Historic Joy Kogawa House through this gallery of photos. Click on the photos to open full-size images.

We run tours of Historic Joy Kogawa House year-round! (Currently, the tours are recommended for groups of three or less.) Please consider becoming a member or donating to Historic Joy Kogawa House! Donations are vital for the upkeep and preservation of this unique facility of historic and cultural significance.

A commemorative plaque, courtesy of the Vancouver Heritage Foundation, was installed on June 26, 2012, when the house was nominated as one of 125 historic sites that matter to Vancouverites during the VHF’s Places That Matter project celebrating Vancouver’s 125th birthday.
Exterior of Historic Joy Kogawa House. Plans are under way to restore the house to its 1930s appearance, as well as to make it universally accessible.
Come in and hang your coat next to an original important document–Prime Minister Brian Mulroney’s formal apology for the internment of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War.
As you come through the doors of the sunroom, you enter the living room which has hosted many events, readings, performances, and important dialogues.
Historic Joy Kogawa House living room space.
In the living room, you can see and touch the desk at which Joy Kogawa wrote her novel Obasan.
Joy Kogawa's desk in the living room of Historic Joy Kogawa House.
The inscription reads, "I've had this desk for years and years – hope it serves you as well as it served me – many poems, a couple of novels – goodbye desk – Love, Joy Kogawa April 20/96"
Detail of a display at Historic Joy Kogawa House: the suitcases are a physical reminder of the forcible removal of Japanese Canadians from their homes.
View from the living room of Historic Joy Kogawa House toward the dining area and the bedrooms. The chest of drawers holds books for sale and collected memorabilia.
Historic Joy Kogawa House is full of mementos from the Save Joy Kogawa House Campaign and items related to Joy Kogawa and her writing, including this photo of Joy Kogawa with her writing group, The Memoiristas.
One of the bedrooms at Historic Joy Kogawa House.
One of the writing desks at Historic Joy Kogawa House where our writers-in-residence think and work. This one has a view of the Kogawa cherry tree.
A rocking chair in the writing room at Historic Joy Kogawa House.
Kogawa cherry tree is an inspiration and a place of pilgrimage for countless students and families on field trips to the house.
Thank you for visiting Historic Joy Kogawa House! Be sure to book a tour with us and to support us by donating and becoming a member.

Historical Images

Take a look at some of the historical images of the house and of Joy Kogawa. Click on the photos to open full-size images.

More photos on display at the house. Book a tour today to take full advantage of the in-depth knowledge and experience of our guides.

Cloth Book – Naomi’s Tree

A cloth book of Joy Kogawa’s work Naomi’s Tree was created by a Japanese craft group called Nuno Ehon and donated to Kogawa House. It took eight months and incredible skill to make. Click on the photos to open full-size images.

Nuno Ehon has been making Japanese children’s books for many years with amazing skill. They visit kindergartens, elementary schools and junior high schools to read the stories and show their work. In 2013, the group went to Tokyo to receive an award from the Japanese government for their accomplishments.

The Canada-Japan Friendship Association donated several of their works to the Vancouver Public Library years ago. At that time, Mrs. Tamako Copithorne helped them to make this donation. A few years later, Mrs. Copithorne presented Haruyo Handa and the leader of Nuno Ehon a copy of Joy Kogawa’s book Naomi’s Tree.

The group was very moved by the story, and in the spring of 2014, the group decided to create Naomi’s Tree with cloth. The project required a great deal of skill to keep the colours and illustrations as close as possible to the original book. The book was completed in February, 2015. It took a total of 8 months.

The completed work was donated to Historic Joy Kogawa House so that visitors could see, touch, and enjoy it.