Vancouver Shin Asahi

As I have explained here before, after the establishment of a maritime corridor between Yokohama and Vancouver, the two cities developed a bond, which led in 1965 to the conclusion of a sister-city agreement. The latest activity related to the tie between the two cities took place in March 2015 in the form of friendly baseball games between teams from both sides of the Pacific Ocean.

But first, a bit of history.

The Vancouver Asahi baseball team was formed in Vancouver’s Japantown in 1914. The Asahi won against Canadian teams by using strategy to overcome the difference in physical strength. The team was a source of hope and pride for the Japanese Canadian community. In 2003, the team was inducted to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.

The Vancouver Asahi tours Japan, 1921
(Photo courtesy of Ted Y. Furumoto, eldest son of one of the Vancouver Asahi’s original members and ace pitcher. Author of Vancouver Asahi Gun and Vancouver Asahi, he cooperated in the making of the film The Vancouver Asahi.)

Inspired by the legacy of The Vancouver Asahi (1914-1941), the Canadian Nikkei Youth Baseball Club (an NGO founded by Japanese Canadians in Vancouver in 2014) brought the team back to the community for the 100th anniversary of its formation as The Vancouver Shin Asahi（外部サイト）, a tribute team made up of Canadian youth 13 to 16 years of age.

On Sunday, 8 March 2015, were held two commemorative baseball games at Yokohama Municipal Minami High School. As I explained in this previous entry, Minami is a high school in Yokohama that has a sister-school agreement with a school in Vancouver. The special event started with an opening ceremony during which a pledge of fair play was declared by player Cody Takahashi, representing the Shin Asahis. The first game was played against the Minami Boys; the second was played against the Naka Honmoku Little Seniors. After two close games (3-5 and 5-8), the young players were given a chance to exchange through a joint training session.

On 9 March, the team visited the grave of Teddy Furumoto, father of Ted Y. Furumoto, in Yokohama, and on 10 March, Mayor Hayashi welcomed the team to Yokohama City Hall. Upon being asked by a player whether she liked baseball, she happily recounted her days playing catch with her father.

(Cette page en français)

Canadian Nikkei Youth Baseball Club Office Facebook Page（外部サイト）