The Vancouver Asahi Army was formed in 1914, and in the autumn of 1921, they achieved their long-held dream of an expedition to Japan.
The team arrived at Yokohama Port by ship and spent two months traveling around the country, playing against university and corporate baseball teams, as well as the former Wakayama Junior High School (now Wakayama Prefectural Toin High School), which had won the national championship in junior high school baseball at the time. Through this tour, the Asahi team is believed to have learned about "brainball" (strategic baseball) from Japanese baseball.
Inheriting this legacy, the Asahi Baseball Association started in 2014 and has been organizing tours of Japan for youth baseball teams every two years since 2015. In 2021, they had planned to visit the former Wakayama Junior High School (now Toin High School), where they played 100 years ago, to hold a commemorative ceremony. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was postponed to this year, and it still couldn't be done this year, so it has been pushed back to next year. As a first step, they decided to hold a celebratory event by connecting the Asahi team and Toin High School online.
The Japanese side will use Toin High School in Wakayama as the venue, and the Vancouver side will use SELC Vancouver as the venue, with speeches from guests and related parties planned under the theme of "Connecting Japan and Canada through Baseball."
We are pleased to welcome Mr. Hirofumi Shima, nephew of former Asahi team player Shoichi Shima, who proposed this centennial exchange, as our special guest. Mr. Shima, who is also the organizer of the Asahi Research email newsletter on the Japanese side, will be leading the discussion on the history and achievements of the Asahi team at that time.
Masaya Uchida, an alumnus of Toin High School's baseball team and a reporter for Sports Nippon, will also introduce the achievements of Wakayama Junior High School at the time. From the Vancouver side, John Wong, chairman of the Asahi team, and former chairman Emiko Ando will talk about the circumstances of the revival of the new Asahi team, and Vice Chairman Tomio Fukumura will talk about the three past tours to Japan.
On the day of the event, guests from the Vancouver side will include Takashi Hatori, Consul General of Japan in Vancouver, and Kei Uenishi, an original Asahi player who celebrated his 100th birthday on March 5th. From the Japanese side, greetings are scheduled from Shingo Sasai, Principal of Toin High School, Toshio Takai, Chairman of the International Cooperation Promotion Council and great-grandson of Gihei Kuno, Ted Y. Furumoto, author of "Vancouver Asahi" and original author of the manga "Vancouver Asahi: A Legend of Brain Baseball", and Norio Goto, author of "Vancouver Asahi Monogatari".
Date and Time: Saturday, March 26, 2022, 6:00 PM PST
March 27, 2022 (Sunday) 10:00 AM JST
The ceremony will be held in English and Japanese, and anyone can participate via Zoom. Please register using the link below.
https://forms.gle/ThWdGz1r3WE6oNJq7
Reference: Schedule for the day (times are Vancouver time PST)
Moderator: Sammy Takahashi (President, Japan-Canada Chamber of Commerce)
Interpreters: Misa Izushi (Kumano Kodo English Guide), Shirley Zhang (Wakayama City Hall CIR)
Masayuki Watanabe (Local Pride Executive Committee)
IT Support: Kei Fujino (Member of the Japan-Canada Chamber of Commerce)
External Relations: Miki Takabayashi (Board Member, Japan-Canada Chamber of Commerce)
6:00 pm: Opening remarks by the MC
6:02 pm: Remarks by Takashi Hatori, Consul General of Japan in Vancouver (participating remotely)
6:06 pm: Greetings from Shingo Sasai, Principal of Toin High School
6:10 pm: Greetings from John Wong, Chairman of the Asahi Baseball Association
6:14 pm: Speech by Hirofumi Shima
6:24 pm: Greetings from Norio Goto
6:27 pm: Greetings from Nobunao Iwahashi, Chairman of the Wakayama City International Sister City Friendship Association.
6:31 pm: Greetings from Toshihiko Okazawa, Director of the International Affairs Division, Wakayama Prefecture.
6:34 pm: Greetings from Norihiro Isobe, Head of the International Exchange Division, Wakayama City.
6:37 pm: Greetings from Toshio Takai, Chairman of the Japan Council for International Cooperation.
6:41 pm: Masaya Uchida, Sports Nippon reporter, speech
6:51 pm: Greetings from So Niijima, Chairman of the Alumni Association of the Wachu/Toin High School Baseball Club.
6:53 pm: Greetings from Yoshiaki Omatsu, former head of the Toin High School baseball club (*)
6:57 pm: Greetings from Kensuke Arimoto, captain of the Toin High School baseball team.
7:00 pm; Greetings from Ted Y. Furumoto
7:04 pm: Greetings from Grace Eiko Thompson
7:08 pm: Greetings from Emiko Ando, former president of the Asahi Baseball Association.
7:11 pm: Greetings and video introduction by Tomio Fukumura, Vice Chairman of the Asahi Baseball Association.
7:21 pm: Interview video with Kei Uenishi
7:25 pm: Closing remarks
(*Note) There have been changes to the greeting from Kentaro Yano, head coach of the Toin High School baseball team.
