For more than 70 years, the ashes of Pte. Sentaro Omoto sat largely forgotten inside an urn at a Vancouver Buddhist temple. There was no grave to visit. No headstone bearing his name. No place where his family could stand and pay their respects. This week, that all changed. The First World War soldier was buried at Mountain View Cemetery in Vancouver, laid to rest alongside his fellow veterans, bringing an emotional journey to an end. “It’s been a long journey,” said Omoto’s granddaughter Catherine Uchida. “Especially with all that he went through, so it’s kind of redemption for us, right? We’re honouring him.” For Uchida and her family, the burial marks the final chapter in a story that began with little more than a name and a limited understanding of how Omoto served his new country. CTV News first met the family in November 2025, when they travelled to B.C. for Remembrance Day. At the time, they were still trying to piece together the story of a relative they had never truly been able to know. Then local historian Debbie Jiang — who has put countless hours of research into her effort to ensure no soldier is left behind to time — uncovered a photograph of Omoto. Jiang began connecting the pieces of Omoto’s life, uncovering details and tracking down information that had remained scattered for decades. “My big goal is always to tell Canadian history that Canadians don’t know about, and I feel that Sentaro Omoto’s story is exactly that,” Jiang said. According to Jiang, Omoto was seriously wounded with shrapnel in the leg at the Battle of Hill 70 during the First World War. Despite being a veteran and a member of Legion No. 9, Omoto was interned and dispossessed, along with most Japanese Canadians, during the Second World War. Omoto’s story was not simply about a soldier. It was about a Japanese Canadian whose service risked being forgotten, and a family trying to reclaim a piece of its history. As the search continued, the story reached beyond the Omoto family. The Last Post Fund became involved, helping make a permanent memorial possible. In March, Ted Usher, president of the Last Post Fund’s B.C. chapter, told CTV News he brought forward a motion asking its 15 B.C. and one Yukon members to vote on whether Omoto should receive private donations to help cover the cost of his burial. “My motion was to support up to about $8,000 with regards to buying a plot for Mr. Omoto, and so the vote passed unanimously,” Usher said at the time. “We’re going to correct it and make it right for the family.” This week, Usher, members of the Omoto family and other veterans gathered at Mountain View Cemetery to honour the soldier 73 years after his death. “We don’t want to glorify war. That’s not what this is about,” Uchida explained. “These emotions come from just the pride and sacrifice that he took.” The search that began with a name has now led to a family, a community and a final goodbye. After more than seven decades in an urn, Pte. Sentaro Omoto is no longer forgotten. He has a place to rest and a story that will continue to be remembered.
