Sign commemorating South Cariboo Japanese internment camps to be repaired by spring

Published 11:00 am Monday, January 12, 2026

Those walking by the 100 Mile House Community Hall over the past few months may have noticed that something is missing, specifically, a sign.

For the last nine years, the garden space behind the 100 Mile Cenotaph has been the home of a commemorative plaque that chronicles the history of Japanese Internment Camps in the South Cariboo. However, on Monday, Nov. 10, 2025, the sign was found blown down following a windstorm.

Todd Conway, the District of 100 Mile House’s director of community services, said work is underway to repair the sign and reinstall it by this spring.

“There was a windstorm and the posts, obviously, were getting rotted, so it got pushed over. We pulled the sign and over the winter months, we’ll be just redoing all the rotted timbers on it and hope to get it back out early spring,” Conway said.

The sign was originally installed on Aug. 11, 2016 by the now-defunct 100 Mile House Mural Society. It marked one of the last major projects that the society funded and was based on the memories of Joe Komori, whose family was evicted from their homes on the coast and moved to the Taylor Lake Internment Camp in 1941. The Komori family would go on to become a part of the South Cariboo community, founding Komori Lumber, which was also commemorated in the sign along with pictures of the internment camp.

Conway said that the funds to repair the sign will come from the District of 100 Mile House’s maintenance budget. When asked if the district has a specific date in mind to reinstall it, he said not yet, but indicated the sign will likely be restored to its rightful place once the ground thaws.

“It’s kind of weather-dependent, (likely) early spring. We’ll use it as a winter project to get it all fixed up and as soon as the thaw hits, we’ll get it in,” Conway concluded.