My Ten Years with Vancouver Asahi

In Major League Baseball in the United States these days, Shohei Ohtani is performing exceptionally well. Ichiro Suzuki will reportedly be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame next year. It is always a joy to see Japanese players succeed overseas. 

Now, while it is not professional baseball but amateur baseball, there was a legendary Nikkei baseball team called the Vancouver Asahi in Canada that achieved great success before World War II. In recognition of their accomplishments, they were inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2003 and the British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame in 2005. Interestingly, my uncle was one of the original players of the Vancouver Asahi. I first learned about this around ten years ago, and I remember being surprised and filled with deep emotion. Shortly after, I received the induction commemorative medal in Vancouver on behalf of my uncle.¹

Yobun Shima (second from the left) who received a medal of Hall of Fame, on behalf of his uncle Shoichi. 

How would you expect to feel if you were suddenly told that your ancestor was a former player of the Vancouver Asahi and that you would receive a Hall of Fame induction commemorative medal with their name on it?

As I wanted to share the same feelings with others, I embarked on a search for the families of the many players who had not yet received their medals and have been helping with handing out Hall of Fame commemorative medals to these families. This year marks the tenth year of this activity. Without exception, the families who learned that their ancestors were former Vancouver Asahi players were filled with surprise and joy, and each time I realized the significance of the Vancouver Asahi’s history.

In this article, I’ll tell you about the process of finding the family of one of the players, Yuji Uchiyama. (Please note that honorific titles are omitted)

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Seeking His Roots in Kashiwazaki City, Niigata Prefecture

Initially, I had little information about Yuji Uchiyama. All I knew was that he was from Kashiwazaki City, Niigata Prefecture.

Kashiwazaki Nippo, February 5, 2021

So, I started by searching pre-war Japanese Canadian directories and newspaper articles and found that Uchiyama had returned to Japan before the war. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find where he went after returning, so I decided to focus on his hometown, Kashiwazaki City in Niigata Prefecture. 

I contacted the local newspaper, the Kashiwazaki Nippo, and had a big article published on the front page about the search for Yuji Uchiyama’s family. That approach, unfortunately, didn’t bring me any useful information.

Hiroshima City –Uchiyama’s Wife Miyako’s Family Home

I then changed direction and explored the possibility that Uchiyama might have returned to his wife Miyako’s hometown, Hiroshima City.

I asked a former classmate who lived in Hiroshima to inquire if any records were left at the Sorasaya Inari Shrine in Hiroshima. Unfortunately, due to its proximity to the hypocenter of the atomic bomb, no clues were found.

Next, I turned my attention to Ayako, Uchiyama’s sister-in-law (his wife Miyako’s older sister). Ayako had also temporarily lived in Canada, and she remarried Bunji Hisaoka during that time. I found out that after the war, the couple returned to Japan together. I contacted the City Hall in Shobara, Bunji’s hometown in Hiroshima, and with the help of another friend, I searched the Shobara City phone directory for people with the surname Hisaoka and sent out letters. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get any new information in this approach, either.

I also inquired at the Hiroshima City Hall, but due to privacy protection regulations, they declined to disclose any information.

Exploring His Marital Relationships in Canada

Picture of Kotaro and Yone Okinobu, parents of Miyako Uchiyama, which was sent by Lara Okihiro

Since my investigation in Japan did not progress much, I reached out to several Nikkei people, including Lisa Ueda and Daien Ide from the Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre, to see if there were any clues on the Canadian side. As a result, I discovered that (his sister-in-law) Ayako’s son from her first marriage, Thomas Hideo Okinobu, lived in Hamilton, Canada, during the 1970s. This was my first clue regarding Uchiyama’s family, but I couldn’t obtain any further information.

The clue about Thomas was provided by Lara Okihiro, who is distantly related to Uchiyama’s wife, Miyako. She sent me photos of Miyako’s parents, Kotaro and Yone Okinobu, for reference.

Unexpected Outcome

Since I was struggling to get new information, I tried several other things too. Although it didn’t get picked up, I even applied to the popular TV show “Tantei! Knight Scoop” on Asahi Television Broadcasting Corporation (commonly called ABC) for support in searching for Yuji Uchiyama’s family.

One day, Professor Norifumi Kawahara from Ritsumeikan University advised me to inquire at the Kashiwazaki City Museum. Upon doing so, I was informed that there is a section dedicated to Yuji Uchiyama’s father, Eiho Uchiyama, on page 466 of Essa to Meishi (published in 1936), detailing their family composition. Eiho Uchiyama was a successful businessperson, and I found that he resided in Kamakura after retiring.
 

Yuji Uchiyama’s Father Eiho Uchiyama

I contacted the Kamakura City Hall right away and finally reached Kyoko, the wife of Yuji Uchiyama’s third son Yasuo (who passed away in 2017).

Kyoko had worked on an exhibition titled Gathering of Literati at Tohaku Sanbo which was held at the Kamakura Museum of Literature ten years ago. This exhibition highlighted her father-in-law Eiho Uchiyama’s interactions with many literati, including the Akiko Yosano and Tekkan couple, after his retirement at his own property Tohaku Sanbo (mountain villa) in Kamakura, where they engaged in waka poetry, haiku, calligraphy and painting. Eiho himself enjoyed writing poems and even compiled and published a book titled Tohaku Sanbo Sho.

I assume that because Kamakura City was aware of these historical backgrounds, they helped me connect to Yuji Uchiyama’s daughter-in-law, Kyoko.

Read Part 2 >>

Note:

1. 「バンクーバー朝日軍・嶋正一さんの名前がBC Sports Hall of Fameに登録される」 (Vancouver Asahi Member Shoichi Shima Inducted Into BC Sports Hall of Fame), The Bulletin (October 18, 2014)

* This article was originally published in the March 2024 issue of Fraser Monthly in Japanese and was edited and expanded for Discover Nikkei. 

© 2024 Yobun Shima