Canadian Nisei baseball team digs up postwar roots
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Stories about the Vancouver Asahi, a Japanese-Canadian baseball team that became popular in Canada before being disbanded during Worl
The Vancouver Asahi, a prominent Japanese-Canadian baseball team founded in 1914, was disbanded during World War II in 1941 due to the government's forced internment of over 22,000 Japanese-Canadian residents. Despite the team's success, characterized by its agile and fair-play style, there are few remaining records of the Nisei Baseball Team, its successor formed after the war in 1951.
Elmer Mori, a former Nisei outfielder, embarked on a mission to document the team's history in 2016, recognizing the importance of preserving their legacy. The search for surviving members proved challenging, with only a dozen or so individuals able to be contacted. Mori dedicated a year to collecting photographs, testimonies, and verifying game results, finally completing a 25-page retrospective in 2017.
The Nisei team played in the Industrial Union League from 1951 to 1960, achieving three championships and garnering a significant following. Like Mori, Mas Kitagawa, an outfielder, joined the team at age 20 in 1958. Despite facing discrimination, playing baseball provided Kitagawa with a sense of belonging and comfort during the challenging internment camp experience.
Both Mori and Kitagawa emphasized the importance of passing their story to younger generations, highlighting how the team's history reflects the Japanese-Canadian community's resilience and integration into Canadian society.
Written by urgent.news from The Mainichi's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
