Japanese Settlement Found in Forests of British Columbia

doug fir: a tall, slender conifer with soft foliage and, in mature trees, deeply fissured bark. It is widely planted as a timber tree.

tidewater: an area that is affected by tides, especially eastern Virginia.

flume: a human-made channel for water in the form of an open declined gravity chute whose walls are raised above the surrounding terrain, in contrast to a trench or ditch

WRC shinglebolts: [Hand-sized chunks of wood] relatively small cubes of Western Redcedar which are later processed into redcedar roof shingles.

Is it not possible some maintained a year round presence there, especially given apparently Japanese were not well seen in other parts of Canada?

The article noted the following:

> But it is the third site, which seems to have transitioned from a logging camp to a thriving village, that fascinates [the archaeology professor] the most.

Must be a real privilege for your grandfather to share that bit of vivid history with you. My grandfather would have been a young adult during WW2, and the small island that both he and I grew up on has a deep history with the Japanese which had a direct impact on its indigenous population; he supposedly spoke fluent Japanese as a consequence, along with Korean (by birth), the indigenous language (married a local), and eventually English (after American occupation). Unfortunately, he was unable to speak coherently by the time I was in my late teens and old enough to be interested, so the only history lessons I've gotten of the time were second hand, passed down from the stories he told my father.

> There were orchards, livestock, farms of potatoes, onions and legumes

And presumably there were non-loggers living there tending to these things. So by what definition is this not a settlement?

That is a good context to have. When I saw the title, I thought they discovered signs of Japanese settlement, similar to the Vikings settlements on the opposite side of the continent.

I've driven and hiked around the Canadian bush quite a bit. It is hard to explain how incredibly large the area is in terms that makes sense if you haven't been there. It isn't uncommon to spend days without seeing another person. It's so quiet the only sounds you hear are the wind (if there is wind), animals and your own heartbeat.

It's also beautiful and brutal at the same time, a single mistake and you're done for so make sure that you know everything there is to know about first aid and keep your gear in very good order. If you bring a vehicle also bring plenty of fuel and tools (and it helps if you know how to use them).

In the words of an 18th century map maker, the North of Canada (Quebec, Ontario) is 'immense forests', in the West you have the Canadian portion of the Rocky Mountains and then there are the territories. You can spend a lifetime there and never see the same thing twice.

I live in the Yukon, and have done plenty of 10 day canoe trips while out moose hunting. Not only do you not see a single person, you don't see evidence of humans. No roads, no power lines, no fire rings.

Absolutely nothing, and we're relatively close to civilization (i.e. we put in off a road and take out off a road.)

Start hiking and you could easily go thousands of kms without evidence of people. (except the hiking would be almost impossible)

I speculate that it is possible, but unlikely. Settlements need to be near a resource of some sort. Forest, lake, ocean, large mammal population, mineral deposit, strategic vantage point... or similar. Something that can sustain livelihoods. I would expect the resources of the far north to have been fairly well documented. There may be large empty spaces that attract almost no attention, but I would guess they would never attract a settlement either.

Reminds me of this (true) story: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/for-40-years-this-rus...

It would depend on what "unknown" means. "Unknown" in the sense that they are not on official maps and that Ottawa is unaware? Probably. "Unknown" in the sense that their local neighboring communities are unaware? Unlikely.

It is possible in British Columbia, which is both vast and relatively easy to survive in. Entirely believable if you've been in that part of the world. It is also largely unexplored due to the remoteness and impenetrable terrain. My parents used to live in a village in the southernmost part of the Inside Passage[0] near the British Columbia coast. It was well-known among the locals of small groups of people (usually a few families) that would intentionally disappear into the uninhabited parts of the region to live off the grid. Not too frequent, something like once every decade or so. For most people, moving to a remote village with irregular postal service in the Inside Passage is sufficient to satisfy their desire to drop off the planet but a few take it a step further.

The location of a few such settlements were known to the locals, because they had been spotted by hunters or fisherman due to being in relatively close proximity to villages in the inside passage. Others groups disappeared much deeper into the fjords and into the mainland, usually after buying supplies in Ketchikan, and were never seen or heard from again. Anecdotal but interesting.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inside_Passage

Here's the thing: this settlement is remarkably near Vancouver. Like a 20 min drive from downtown, maybe 20km total distance. This isn't some remote part of the province, this is literally in Vancouver's backyard.

Practically no humans ever live completely isolated. If you do, you are either dirt poor and an inch away from being wiped out by some misfortune or another, or you are burning through the resources you brought along before you were isolated.

A lot of Canada is functionally empty, but it's all well surveyed by the government as well as the companies extracting natural resources.

It's extremely unlikely that there'd be any unknown settlement of any permanence or size.

There was a movie "Last of the Dogmen" based on this premise. Can't remember if it was any good. Starred Tom Berenger.

It became much more common knowledge after the Canadian government issued an official apology [1]. I recall seeing a documentary about it[2].

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internment_of_Japanese_Canadia...

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8TQTuMqM9g