Yoshi Hashimoto

Drawing on the Past

A large vegetable garden at their home in Revelstoke helped Yoshi Hashimoto’s family survive the difficult years of WWII, though they thankfully avoided being interned. Despite the hardships, his parents made sure Yoshi and his siblings got an education. He took their enthusiasm for learning to heart, deciding to become a teacher after being inspired by the excellence of some of his own teachers. It was a high school principal who fostered his interest in art. Now retired and living in Abbotsford, Yoshi taught high school art as well as counseling for many years, and his sketchbooks are filled with delicate black-and-white drawings and watercolours of nature and scenic landscapes.

Yoshi started watching Knowledge several years ago and became a Partner soon after when he realized how much he enjoys the programming—along with the fact that it’s commercial-free. “I support Knowledge semi-annually and I’m very happy to do that because what I get out of it is worth so much more,” he says. “It provides opportunities to experience things that you would not have experienced otherwise – things that open your eyes and expand your brain.”

Lifelong learning is important to Yoshi and so is giving back, whether that’s by donating to something he values or imparting his knowledge and skills to help improve other people’s lives. “I feel that I didn’t get here all by myself. A lot of people helped me along the way. I think that’s my role in life, to turn around and pay all of that forward.”