‘I need to make this right’: Japanese Canadian soldier’s family on quest to bury ashes in B.C.

On the eve of Remembrance Day, families around the world are gathering to pay respects to relatives who served in the Canadian military.

Remembrance Day ceremonies will take place across the province on Tuesday as British Columbians pay homage to Canadian veterans and those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

In Vancouver, the downtown streets have been lined with hundreds of banners honouring past soldiers with their images and the dates they served. The banners were organized by the Legion of BC and Yukon.

Along West Georgia Street, banners show the images of Pte. Masajiro Shishido and Pte. Sentaro Omoto, who both served in the First World War in the 10^th Battalion after arriving in Canada from Japan.

“It was part duty and in part a way to show other Canadians, at a time of a lot of racism and discrimination, that, ‘Hey, we’re part of this country also,” said Justin Ault, Shishido’s great- grandson.

Ault says when Shishido returned to Vancouver with a permanent, physical reminder of combat—a bullet lodged in his body. Shishido worked in the city as a barber before passing away in 1954.

The stories of Japanese Canadian soldiers have been documented by local historian Debbie Jiang. Over the years, she has been digging into archives and trying to reconnect families with relatives who served.

One of the groups she has studied is the 10^th Battalion and it’s several dozen members who fought overseas for Canada.

“When the soldiers reached France, of course, they were, split up into areas where they were needed,” said Jiang.

She went on to explain that there were concerns that the group would be a liability due to their lack of fluency in English but they quickly proved themselves to be effective soldiers.

Jiang says many of them served in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904.

“These were hardened veterans who knew what battle was,” said Jiang.

Through Jiang’s countless hours of research, her effort reached Omoto’s family in Los Angeles, Calif.

His granddaughter, Catherine Uchida told CTV News on Monday that she heard there was someone in B.C. trying to find images of Japanese soldiers with their uniforms. Unfortunately, she couldn’t help as there weren’t many images at all of her grandfather.

Fortunately, through Jiang’s tireless pursuit, she found an image of Omoto she was able to share with his descendants.

“I never met him but my mom was proud to be a Canadian and growing up she would talk about her dad fighting at Vimy Ridge and how he became a British subject,” said Uchida.

“It was something that stayed with us.”

On Monday, Uchida, her sister and cousin were in Vancouver to see their grandfather’s banner outside the old Hudson’s Bay building on West Georgia Street, ahead of attending a Remembrance Day ceremony on Tuesday.

The trio are also looking to bury their grandfather’s ashes that were recently discovered to at a Vancouver Buddhist Temple, where they have been since 1953.

“Yesterday we went to service. We met with the reverend and he’s been there for 23 years. He says no one has ever come to pay their respects to your grandfather,” said Uchida.

“I need to make this right. I’m on a quest.”

She explained that they are working to bury his ashes in Mountain View Cemetery’s Soldiers’ Plot. The family said 23 Japanese Canadian First World War veterans are buried there and they hope Omoto can join them.