Yobun Shima
Yobun Shima was born and raised in post-war Kyoto and later worked for an international shipping company in Tokyo. His grandparents and three sons began moving to Canada around 1907. His father was born in Vancouver in 1914. By the 1930s, with the exception of one son who chose to remain in Canada, the family gradually returned to Japan.
When Yobun retired from his work, he started to research the Vancouver Asahi baseball team after discovering that his uncle Shoichi was one of the first original players of the team. The team was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2003 and BC Sports Hall of Fame in 2005. Yobun continues to track down unclaimed medalists of the team in cooperation with the BC Sports Hall of Fame, families of Asahi players, and other interested parties.
Updated August 2024
Stories from This Author
Yuji Uchiyama — Part 2
Sept. 2, 2024 • Yobun Shima
Read Part 1 Yuji Uchiyama’s Biography Yuji Uchiyama was born in 1895 as the eldest son to his father Eiho Uchiyama and mother Shizu. He enrolled in Keio Commerce and Industry School (now Keio High School) and learned Baseball there around 1913. It is believed that Uchiyama gained his baseball experience there. This school won a national championship in 1916 and last year, they won their second championship after 107 years. Yuji Uchiyama would have been delighted to hear the …
Yuji Uchiyama — Part 1
Sept. 1, 2024 • Yobun Shima
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 …
Motoji Kodama, one of the founders of the Vancouver Asahi
May 12, 2021 • Yobun Shima
As already explained in my preceding essays, many Vancouver Asahi players or their families didn’t receive their honorary medals despite being inducted into the BC Sports Hall of Fame because their contact information were unknown. Motoji Kodama was one of the founders of the Vancouver Asahi that was formed in 1914 as well as the Nikkei Canadian Baseball Team ”Nippon,” that was formed four year ahead of the legendary Vancouver Asahi Team. He is also one of the Asahi members …
Yozaemon Kondo, Vancouver Asahi’s first player
April 16, 2021 • Yobun Shima
The legendary Vancouver Asahi, strongest Nikkei baseball team before WWⅡ, was little known in Japan. However, their induction news in 2003 and 2005 became a hot topic in Japan. Yuya Ishii directed a film in Japanese, The Vancouver Asahi in 2014, on the centennial of its formation. The film premiered at the 2014 Vancouver International Film Festival and received the People's Choice award. In Feb. 2011, three years ahead of the release of the film, there was an exhibition on …
George Iga, a Seattle-based Vancouver Asahi Player
Feb. 17, 2021 • Yobun Shima
The legendary Vancouver Asahi Baseball Team was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2003 and the British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame in 2005. Honorary medals were prepared for each Asahi player, but many remained unclaimed. In 2014, I happened to find that my late uncle Shoichi Shima, who was one of the earliest Asahi players, never received an induction medal. Subsequently, I received the medal on my uncle’s behalf. Since then, I have been voluntarily tracking …
Family History of Kenichi Doi, Vancouver Asahi pitcher in 1926
Nov. 9, 2020 • Yobun Shima
Kenichi Doi was a pitcher for the Vancouver Asahi baseball team in 1926 who originally played with the Cumberland baseball team on Vancouver Island B.C. Canada. I am lucky that my friend Norm Ibuki introduced me to his close friend, George Doi, Kenichi Doi’s son, who shared his father’s history with me. George was just a child during the height of Kenichi’s baseball days, so he does not have any memories of the actual games, other than getting into the …
In search of the two earliest Asahi players, Kodama and Tabata - Part 2
Oct. 8, 2020 • Yobun Shima
Read Part 1 >> Kaichi Tabata’s family in Japan After the induction medal issue was settled, I received mail on November 27, 2019 from Keiichi Tabata in Japan. Dear Mr. Shima, Let me introduce myself. I am Keiichi Tabata, grandson of Kaichi Tabata who is the first baseball player of Vancouver Asahi. ….My grandfather Kaichi Tabata was born in Suzuka City, Mie, Japan in 1895, married with Nobu and had seven children (4 boys and 3 girls). My late father …
In search of the two earliest Asahi players, Kodama and Tabata - Part 1
Oct. 7, 2020 • Yobun Shima
The Legendary Vancouver Asahi baseball team was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2003 and in 2005, the Asahi team was inducted into the BC Sports Hall of Fame. Although the Asahi team and the players were inducted, there were 26 Asahi players whose induction medals from the BC Sports Hall of Fame remained unclaimed by their families. It was because more than 60 years had passed since the team was disbanded in 1941 after the war …
Yobun Shima Uncovers a Baseball Legacy
Oct. 25, 2018 • Yobun Shima
Yobun Shima was born and raised in Kyoto, Japan, and lived in Tokyo for most of his life, working for a shipping company until he retired about a decade ago. That is when he started tracing his family’s footsteps. Yobun’s grandfather moved from Japan to Vancouver in 1907. A few years later, his grandfather’s family, including a son named Shoichi Shima, joined him. In 1914, Yobun’s father, Fred, was born in Vancouver. Yobun discovered that his uncle Shoichi was one …
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