Koichi Kaminishi, the last living member of a storied Japanese-Canadian baseball team active from 1914 until Canada's mass internment of Japanese during World War II, reflected on the team and his wartime experiences at a celebration of his 96th birthday this month near Vancouver.
The gathering, put on by a new incarnation of the Vancouver Asahi baseball team, brought together youth players of the "New Asahi" with the guest of honor at the Nikkei National Museum and Cultural Centre.
Kaminishi, a native of the western Canadian city who spent part of his childhood with relatives in Hiroshima, debuted as a third baseman for the Vancouver Asahi in 1939 at age 17.