Shin Asahi Presents Hall of Fame Medal to Relative of Asahi Player 100 Years after Photo was Taken

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by Masayoshi Kondo
translated by Yobun Shima 
edited by Emiko Ando

20150313_144702For nearly a century, Yozaemon Kondo remained unidentified in the first known Vancouver Asahi team photo taken in 1915. The photo was on display at the Hikone City Hall in 2011 on the occasion of the Japanese Canadian delegation’s visit to Hikone City in Shiga Prefecture. Many original Asahi players were from Hikone City.

The daughter of Yozaemon, Sadako Kondo (1929 – 2014), visited the City Hall during that time and immediately recognized her father in the photo. In 2014, the grandson of Yozaemon (son of Sadako), Masayoshi Kondo, happened to see The Vancouver Asahi film preview on TV which showed the photo. He searched the internet but could not find information about his grandfather and the Asahi team. By chance, he saw a newspaper article about another Asahi relative and through contacting him was able to connect with the Asahi network of relatives. Yobun Shima of the Asahi network helped him contact the BC Sports Hall of Fame who then created a new medal in Yozaemon Kondo’s name. The Shin Asahi team had the privilege of delivering this medal to Yozaemon’s family on their Japan Tour visit to Hikone City.

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Yozaemon Kondo (1898-1963) was born in Hikone City but immigrated to Vancouver with his family in 1911 after graduating from elementary school. In 1914-1916, he was a member of the Asahi team. 

In 1922 he married Hana Hayashi (1902 – 1990), a picture bride from a place near Hikone. The couple’s first child (Fumiko) passed away at age three by accident. Their second child, Sadako, was born in 1929.

Yozaemon first worked in a sawmill and then in the commercial fisheries on the BC coast. Salmon fishing was hard work but Yozaemon was promoted to captain of a few ships and was working with some fishermen.

In 1933, the couple with their second daughter Sadako went to visit Japan. The day before they were scheduled to return to Vancouver, Yozaemon fell ill with heart failure. They remained in Japan for him to recover, but after Sadako had an accident rupturing her eardrum they gave up going back to Canada and decided to stay in Japan forever.

The Kondos moved from Hikone to Osaka in 1935 so that Sadako could go to a school for the deaf. Yozaemon opened a Japanese sponge cake shop in Osaka. His business was successful and as he was a very gentle and astute person, he was later elected the president of the business association.

In 1943-1944, the family had to evacuate to Hikone in order to avoid the war bombings in Osaka. During the Allied occupation of Japan, Yozaemon worked as an interpreter of the GHQ (General Head Quarters) of the Allied Forces. When the post war occupation ended, he returned to Osaka to rebuild his business in manufacturing and selling bread and cakes. His business went well. In his later years, Yozaemon enjoyed watching cooking programs on TV and teaching his family recipes.

In 1950, Sadako got married and later had two sons.

Yozaemon’s sister, Ito Kondo, married Kanshiro Ohashi originally from Hikone City who had a farm in Alberta. They had five children who are all living in Canada.  


UNCLAIMED MEDAL UPDATE

The Canadian Nikkei Youth Baseball Club (Shin Asahi Team) is working with the BC Sports Hall of Fame to:
• locate family members of the unclaimed medal recipients
• arrange a medal presentation at the Vancouver Canadians Game on Monday, August 10, 2015 
• collect Asahi memorabilia for the BC Sports Hall of Fame Asahi exhibit

If you can assist with any of the above, please contact us at asahi.trip.2015@gmail.com.

We have been in contact with 14 families of the unclaimed medal recipients. The following is a list of unclaimed medal recipients, whose families we are still hoping to hear from:

K. Endo 
Fukunaga (Kinzaburo)
IGA
Barry Kasahara 
Motoji Kodama 
Yoshio Miyasaki 
Ken Noda
Dr. Seitaro Nomura 
Yosh Oka
Toshiro Omoto 
Yuji Uchiyama 
Harry Yoshioka