Class of 1980

 
"After graduating in 1980 I went to Japan for one and a half years on a Mombusho Scholarship to Okayama University where I studied the development of castle towns. My source materials were original 16th and 17th century official documents called Komonjo and hand-drawn maps called Ezu. I joined the university Kendo Club and studied Sado (The Way of Tea) under the tutelage of an Urasenke master Nakanishi Soen Sensei. Okayama Prefecture is of course famous for its Bizenyaki ceramics. In my spare time I was lucky enough to be allowed to dabble in ceramics at the kamamoto of renowned ceramicist Ishino Taizou.  I also took up collecting Japanese sake cups and now have a collection of over 200.

After I came back from Japan I worked for many years in the tourism industry, but for the past nine years I have been working as a house genealogist (house history researcher) here in Vancouver.

To date, I have  researched the history of over 800 houses here in Vancouver and about 40 in New Westminster. Last year I was presented with the Vancouver Historical Society’s 2009 Historical Award of Merit for my work in this field.

My website is www.homehistoryresearch.com. I also have a blog that focuses on local house history and heritage issues: www.househistorian.blogspot.com. As an offshoot of my house history research work, I am now offering neighbourhood history walking tours of Vancouver's East End, and from March 2010, I will be offering history walking tours of the West End, Downtown and the Commercial Drive/Grandview Woodland neighbourhood. I will be updating my website to have information on my tours but you can also find out about my upcoming tours, speaking engagements, or recent blogs by following me on Twitter. My address there is http://twitter.com/househistorybc."

James Johnstone currently serves as Chair of the Friends of the Vancouver City Archives Society, Chair of the Strathcona Residents Association and sits on the board of Vancouver Heritage Society.