Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Japanese Settlement Found in Forests of British Columbia

smithsonianmag.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 48 posts

Re: Japanese Settlement Found in Forests of British Columbia

#21

Post by tom_mellior »

arethuza wrote: post #6
jacquesm wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've driven and hiked around the Canadian bush quite a bit. It is hard to explain how incredibly large the area is in terms that makes sense if you haven't been there. It isn't uncommon to spend days without seeing another person. It's so quiet the only sounds you hear are the wind (if there is wind), animals and your own heartbeat. It's also beautiful and brutal at the same time, a single mistake and you're done for…

I remember having a flight from LHR to Calgary and was lucky enough to be in a window seat and for it to be daylight and clear - only time I've seen Greenland! What I was prepared for was how big, flat and pretty much featureless that part of Canada is just his awesome patchwork of lakes, streams and the occasional esker. Only thing that has been similar was flying north from Kenya to Egypt and being similarly amazed…

> esker

TIL, thanks! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esker

Re: Japanese Settlement Found in Forests of British Columbia

#22

Post by pingyong »

jacquesm wrote: post #5
petercooper wrote: post #3

I'm a bit naive as to how large countries like Canada monitor their space, but is it possible there are unknown long-term (multi generational) "settlements" separate and unknown to the rest of the world still out in the middle of nowhere in Canada? Feels like a good subject for a novel :-)

I've driven and hiked around the Canadian bush quite a bit. It is hard to explain how incredibly large the area is in terms that makes sense if you haven't been there. It isn't uncommon to spend days without seeing another person. It's so quiet the only sounds you hear are the wind (if there is wind), animals and your own heartbeat. It's also beautiful and brutal at the same time, a single mistake and you're done for…

>It is hard to explain how incredibly large the area is in terms that makes sense if you haven't been there.

"30 times the area of Norway" usually gives a good first impression.

Re: Japanese Settlement Found in Forests of British Columbia

#23

Post by Luc »

navane wrote: post #13
Vizarddesky wrote: post #4

I live on this mountain. These are not settlements. These are logging camps or seasonal work camps. My grandfather worked up there and he was jealous of the Japanese for their beautiful shacks when the Norwegians were in canvas tents. Of course, he admitted that the Japanese just worked harder to make their own quarters. There were orchards, livestock, farms of potatoes, onions and legumes, but most of the activity w…

doug fir: a tall, slender conifer with soft foliage and, in mature trees, deeply fissured bark. It is widely planted as a timber tree. tidewater: an area that is affected by tides, especially eastern Virginia. flume: a human-made channel for water in the form of an open declined gravity chute whose walls are raised above the surrounding terrain, in contrast to a trench or ditch WRC shinglebolts: [Hand-sized chunks of…

Steam donkeys: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_donkey

Re: Japanese Settlement Found in Forests of British Columbia

#24

Post by breakbread »

arethuza wrote: post #6
jacquesm wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've driven and hiked around the Canadian bush quite a bit. It is hard to explain how incredibly large the area is in terms that makes sense if you haven't been there. It isn't uncommon to spend days without seeing another person. It's so quiet the only sounds you hear are the wind (if there is wind), animals and your own heartbeat. It's also beautiful and brutal at the same time, a single mistake and you're done for…

I remember having a flight from LHR to Calgary and was lucky enough to be in a window seat and for it to be daylight and clear - only time I've seen Greenland! What I was prepared for was how big, flat and pretty much featureless that part of Canada is just his awesome patchwork of lakes, streams and the occasional esker. Only thing that has been similar was flying north from Kenya to Egypt and being similarly amazed…

Oh man. I was flying ATL to LHR a couple years ago and went went over the southern tip of Greenland. My initial reaction was that of wonder and amazement, followed by a hint of unsettling terror at the vast emptiness of the landscape.

Re: Japanese Settlement Found in Forests of British Columbia

#25

Post by arethuza »

breakbread wrote: post #24
arethuza wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember having a flight from LHR to Calgary and was lucky enough to be in a window seat and for it to be daylight and clear - only time I've seen Greenland! What I was prepared for was how big, flat and pretty much featureless that part of Canada is just his awesome patchwork of lakes, streams and the occasional esker. Only thing that has been similar was flying north from Kenya to Egypt and being similarly amazed…

Oh man. I was flying ATL to LHR a couple years ago and went went over the southern tip of Greenland. My initial reaction was that of wonder and amazement, followed by a hint of unsettling terror at the vast emptiness of the landscape.

I was amazed at the transition from the coast, where it is mountains and some glaciers to further inland where there are nunataks to nothing but ice. Then the reverse at the other side.

I spend a lot of time in the mountains of Scotland so I couldn't help thinking "so that's the Highlands looked like 12,000 years ago" to it all.

Re: Japanese Settlement Found in Forests of British Columbia

#26

Post by dleslie »

tom_mellior wrote: post #20
Vizarddesky wrote: post #4

I live on this mountain. These are not settlements. These are logging camps or seasonal work camps. My grandfather worked up there and he was jealous of the Japanese for their beautiful shacks when the Norwegians were in canvas tents. Of course, he admitted that the Japanese just worked harder to make their own quarters. There were orchards, livestock, farms of potatoes, onions and legumes, but most of the activity w…

> There were orchards, livestock, farms of potatoes, onions and legumes And presumably there were non-loggers living there tending to these things. So by what definition is this not a settlement?

Generally, if the site was temporary or seasonal-use only. Such 20th century sites are relatively common here in BC.

Re: Japanese Settlement Found in Forests of British Columbia

#27

Post by jandrewrogers »

petercooper wrote: post #3

I'm a bit naive as to how large countries like Canada monitor their space, but is it possible there are unknown long-term (multi generational) "settlements" separate and unknown to the rest of the world still out in the middle of nowhere in Canada? Feels like a good subject for a novel :-)

It is possible in British Columbia, which is both vast and relatively easy to survive in. Entirely believable if you've been in that part of the world. It is also largely unexplored due to the remoteness and impenetrable terrain. My parents used to live in a village in the southernmost part of the Inside Passage[0] near the British Columbia coast. It was well-known among the locals of small groups of people (usually a few families) that would intentionally disappear into the uninhabited parts of the region to live off the grid. Not too frequent, something like once every decade or so. For most people, moving to a remote village with irregular postal service in the Inside Passage is sufficient to satisfy their desire to drop off the planet but a few take it a step further.

The location of a few such settlements were known to the locals, because they had been spotted by hunters or fisherman due to being in relatively close proximity to villages in the inside passage. Others groups disappeared much deeper into the fjords and into the mainland, usually after buying supplies in Ketchikan, and were never seen or heard from again. Anecdotal but interesting.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inside_Passage

Re: Japanese Settlement Found in Forests of British Columbia

#28

Post by gorbypark »

eloff wrote: post #17
jl6 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I speculate that it is possible, but unlikely. Settlements need to be near a resource of some sort. Forest, lake, ocean, large mammal population, mineral deposit, strategic vantage point... or similar. Something that can sustain livelihoods. I would expect the resources of the far north to have been fairly well documented. There may be large empty spaces that attract almost no attention, but I would guess they would…

The northern part of Canada before you get into the tundra is one massive contiguous forest 1/3 the size of the United States. It's filled with lakes, streams, rivers, and game - but almost no people. You could easily have small groups of people live there for decades without being discovered. It's so wild that there are places where the wolves have not learned to fear humans. See a map here (PDF): https://www.nrcan.…

That's a cool map, I don't think I've ever seen it laid out fully like that. Any idea why the boreal forests extend so far north in the NWT/Yukon/Alaska but not in Nunavut?

Re: Japanese Settlement Found in Forests of British Columbia

#29

Post by SketchySeaBeast »

eloff wrote: post #17
jl6 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I speculate that it is possible, but unlikely. Settlements need to be near a resource of some sort. Forest, lake, ocean, large mammal population, mineral deposit, strategic vantage point... or similar. Something that can sustain livelihoods. I would expect the resources of the far north to have been fairly well documented. There may be large empty spaces that attract almost no attention, but I would guess they would…

The northern part of Canada before you get into the tundra is one massive contiguous forest 1/3 the size of the United States. It's filled with lakes, streams, rivers, and game - but almost no people. You could easily have small groups of people live there for decades without being discovered. It's so wild that there are places where the wolves have not learned to fear humans. See a map here (PDF): https://www.nrcan.…

It's funny seeing that "forest" - apparently I grew up in it, but I grew up surrounded by farm land. There's even cities in it. I mean, yes, there's lots of land up there you could conceivably hide in, but it's kind of miserable, with bitterly cold winters. I don't know why anyone would want to.

Re: Japanese Settlement Found in Forests of British Columbia

#30

Post by api_or_ipa »

petercooper wrote: post #3

I'm a bit naive as to how large countries like Canada monitor their space, but is it possible there are unknown long-term (multi generational) "settlements" separate and unknown to the rest of the world still out in the middle of nowhere in Canada? Feels like a good subject for a novel :-)

Here's the thing: this settlement is remarkably near Vancouver. Like a 20 min drive from downtown, maybe 20km total distance. This isn't some remote part of the province, this is literally in Vancouver's backyard.
Post reply on HN