Mr. Kishizo Kimura was born on May 27, 1899 in the Village of Hikona, an incorporated part of the present city of Yanago, Tottori-ken as the third son of Tsunejiro Matsushita and his wife Taki.

On October 12, 1902, Mr. Kimura was legally adopted by Tamotsu Kimura and his wife Mumeno to be their heir. The elder Kimura owned a brewery in a hamlet called Kojotsu in the Village of Nakahama, part of the present city of Sakaiminato.

In 1911, Mr. Kimura accompanied his adopted mother to Kobe to board the Panama Maru of Osaka Shosen bound for Canada. Mr. Kimura’s adopted father, who had already immigrated to Canada, arranged to have them join him. They arrived in Victoria, British Columbia on June 29, 1911, and were reunited with the elder Kimura. After a few days of rest and sightseeing, the family departed for Vancouver, British Columbia.

At that time, Mr. Kimura had completed only five years of schooling at an elementary school in Nakahama. In order to continue his education after his arrival in Vancouver, Mr. Kimura took a job as a newspaper carrier for the Tairiku Nippo, and moved into its boarding house.

– from the Kishizo Kimura Fonds at the Nikkei National Museum