Ken Yoshida
Ken Yoshida re-opened the City Café and bakery in March 1920. Meals were at the regular hours and prevailing prices, and board set at $55.1) The City Café on Main Street in Whitehorse was owned and operated by the Yoshidas - George, Ken, and Harry. They all had wives and children.2) The Yoshidas spent seventeen years in business in Whitehorse. Mack [Max] was a cook at the cafe.3)
Many of the shipyard workers and boat crew members spent the winters outside and returned north in the spring. Some of these boarded for the summer at the Yoshidas’. One of the characteristics of Whitehorse was the sound of the men's boots are they hiked enmasse from the shipyards to the restaurant for the noon hour meal. Many year-round residents also boarded at the same restaurant for $42.50 a month for three meals a day. They ordered off the menu and wild game was common fare.4)
The 1921 Canadian Census includes three Yoshidas born in Japan: Ken, Yoshi and Max. In that year, Ken was managing a café in Whitehorse, and Yoshi and Max were working as cooks in Whitehorse.5)
The Yoshidas were the original owners of the Whitehorse Inn. It cost $35,000 to build under an agreement with White Pass (WP&YR).6) It was built in 1928 and managed by a man named Clayton. Construction of the building was under the supervision of J. R. Gaudin, Port Engineer for the WP&YR.7)
The Yoshidas were hard working, greatly respected, and well-liked in the community, but Ken liked to gamble. After he lost a lot of money to TC Richards, the Yoshida families moved back to Japan.8) They left in May 1937.9) Ken was in the Japanese Navy and advanced to the rank of captain. He was supposed to have been on the bridge of the battleship among the officers when General MacArthur accepted the surrender of the Japanese fleet. Ken returned to Whitehorse for a visit many years later with his wife and grown son. When they called in on the Scotts, they looked well and prosperous. Ken owned several jewellery stores in Japan and was quite successful.10)