TOKYO - Stories about the Vancouver Asahi, a Japanese-Canadian baseball team that became popular in Canada before being disbanded during World War II, are still being told today.
Comprised primarily of Japanese immigrants, the team was founded in 1914 and was known for its "smart baseball" that made full use of agility and fair play. However, it was dissolved in 1941, a year before the Canadian government forcibly interned more than 22,000 people of Japanese descent including members of the Asahi.
Their story was passed down after the war, and the team was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2003.
But the Nisei Baseball Team, formed after the war as the team's successor, is virtually unknown. Efforts continue to pass on to future generations the legacy of the Nisei, or second-generation team, which supported the community's recovery efforts and gave it courage and hope for the future.
"This history will be buried in the shadows of the past," said Elmer Mori, 93, a former Nisei outfielder who decided in 2016 to produce a booklet documenting the team's history. "We need to leave a record behind and preserve it ourselves."
The Vancouver Asahi is well known even in Japan and inspired a 2014 movie of the same name. But there are virtually no remaining records regarding the Nisei team. Mori began by interviewing former players and their families.
However, 70 years had passed since the war's end, and the search for surviving members proved difficult. Only a dozen or so could be contacted.
Mas Kitagawa, 88, who was also an outfielder, drove around the lower mainland collecting photographs and testimonies. In the absence of official documents, it took a great deal of time and effort to verify game results and other details.
After a year of work, a 25-page retrospective on the team's history and achievements was completed in 2017.
Since 2025, an exhibition covering the same history has been on display at the Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre in Burnaby, near Vancouver, where a particularly large panel has caught the eye of visitors.
History shows that those who were interned at camps after 1942 had their property confiscated. They were only permitted to return to Vancouver in 1949.
As many Japanese Canadians who had been scattered across the country began to reunite, there was a growing movement to carry on the traditions of the Asahi club, leading to the formation of the Nisei Baseball Team.
The Nisei team played from 1951 to 1960 in the Industrial Union League, which had six to eight teams.
Over the course of a decade, it had about 60 players and won three championships. The team reportedly became so popular that its home games were often filled to capacity.
During the war, Mori, one of a family of five, was sent to an internment camp, where he suffered subfreezing temperatures in the winter and sweltering heat in the summer.
The meager, nutrient-deficient meals were "terrible," he said. Under such harsh conditions, being able to watch baseball every Sunday was a source of comfort. He drew courage from a team that included former Asahi players and continued playing even inside the internment camp. "So I fell in love with baseball," Mori said.
Kitagawa joined the Nisei team when he turned 20 in 1958. He said that despite experiencing discrimination, baseball helped him move forward and feel part of society.
"If you were fairly good at it, it didn't matter if you were Japanese or (white). If you helped the team, you were part of the group. I think in that way sports really helped me," Kitagawa said.
There are only a few survivors who remember those days. Mori stressed the importance of passing the story on to younger generations.
"The history of this baseball team is significant in showing how the Japanese-Canadian community came together again and strengthened its ties to Canadian society," he said.
