November 20, 1937 to August 6, 2026
Stanley slipped away peacefully at Dania care home on August 6, 2026. He was 88 years old.
Born in Mission, BC, to Shoji and Toki Fukawa from Kanagawa-ken, Japan the family relocated to Vernon, BC, in 1942 where Stanley attended Coldstream Elementary School. When all restrictions on Canadians of Japanese ancestry were lifted in 1949, the family returned to the coast and started a berry farm in Mount Lehman. Stanley was the valedictorian of the 1956 Abbotsford Sr. High School.
Stanley studied Sociology and Asian languages at UBC, and the Japanese language and culture at Keio University in Tokyo where he was an exchange student. On his return to UBC, he met and married Masako Shinde in 1961. They have been soul mates for 65 years. They have two children, Ellen (Karl Kurz) and Kevin (Alison Osborne) and four grandchildren: Kaya (Ryan Corbett) and Tara Kurz, Duncan and Max Fukawa.
Stanley taught in colleges and universities in London, Tokyo, Ann Arbor, Toronto and Nanaimo. He retired from Malaspina University-College, now Vancouver Island University, in 1994. He was also a certified translator of Japanese to English for more than 25 years.
Stanley was passionate about giving back to the community. In Nanaimo, he served on the Boards of the Nanaimo Credit Union and the Tillicum Lelum Aboriginal Friendship Centre and he founded the Seven Potatoes Japanese Canadian Society. In Burnaby, he was President of the Japanese Canadian National Museum and was on the Board of the Nikkei Centre and the Auxiliary. He organized many commemorative events. He campaigned for the NDP as they were the only political party that supported Japanese Canadians in their struggle for the right to vote. He was an activist. As chair of the Nanaimo School District Race Relations Committee, he was instrumental in developing the Nanaimo School District anti-racism policy. He was a founding member of the Vancouver Island Japanese Canadian Society for Redress. He also served on the city of Burnaby Community Policing Committee.
His contributions are recognized with several awards including the End Racism Award by the BC Ministry for Multiculturalism and with an Honorary Alumnus from Keio University, Tokyo for promoting cultural understanding between Canada and Japan.
Stanley and Masako loved to travel and to learn about Japanese diaspora communities: Juneau, Alaska; Broome, Australia; Hoi An, Vietnam; Lima, Peru; and Siem Reap, Cambodia. He was a foodie who enjoyed trying the local cuisine and often brought back recipes to try at home. As a writer and editor of the Seven Potatoes Newsletter and as a member of the Editorial Committee of Nikkei Images, he wrote many articles on Japanese Canadian and other diaspora communities. He is a recipient of the Canada-Japan Literary Award for his contributions as a researcher and translator to Spirit of the Nikkei Fleet, BC’s Japanese Canadian Fishermen.
Friends, caregivers and family are invited to visit, reminisce and enjoy some lunch and live jazz music at his celebration of life on Friday, November 20, 2026 from 11 am to 2 pm at the Nikkei Centre, 6688 Southoaks Crescent, Burnaby, BC.
You are welcome to make a speech or to write down your memories to be read on your behalf.
In lieu of flowers or koden, please consider a charitable donation in Stanley’s memory to the Nikkei National Museum and Cultural Centre.