Powell Street and Asahi Baseball

What once was the area of the city where Japanese immigrants in Vancouver lived, today evidence of the Japanese community that once flourished along Powell Street is difficult to find. There is a small historical marker on the building at 314 Powell Street indicates that the building was once Fuji Chop Suey Restaurant, the most popular establishment in the neighborhood. The marker states that the restaurant served “Japanese-style Chinese cuisine” and was a fashionable venue for banquets and wedding.

Powell Grounds at Oppenheimer Park, Vancouver 

Just a few blocks down the street is Oppenheimer Park, which contains an old baseball backstop, which is the remnants of Powell Grounds where the Asahi Baseball team played. The team was very success in the in the city league and an inspiration for Japanese-Canadians who faced discrimination. The team was widely supported and played a brand of baseball (known as “small ball”) that is relies on skill and timing rather than simple brawn. (A 1931 picture of the team at Powell Grounds)

Ultimately, both Fuji Chop Suey Restaurant and the Asahi Baseball Team found their demise because of fear in the early 1940s. The team played its last season in 1941 and the restaurant closed in 1942 primarily because of the deportation of policy of the government of Canada. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941, those who were born in Japan or Canadian-born citizens of Japanese heritage living in Vancouver were obliged to move east:

“2. Japanese Canadians who want to remain in Canada should now re-establish themselves East of the Rockies as the best evidence of their intentions to co-operate with the Government policy of dispersal.” (T. B. Pickersgill, Commissioner of Japanese Placement)

In 2013 the only minor league team in MLB-affiliated baseball located in Canada was the Vancouver Canadians. Although baseball has a rich tradition in Canada, it is often under appreciated.