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Sleeping Tigers: The Asahi Baseball Story

This feature-length documentary tells the story of the Asahi baseball team. In pre-World War II Vancouver, the team was unbeatable, winning the Pacific Northwest Championship for five straight years. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, all persons of Japanese descent in Canada were sent to internment camps. The former Asahi members survived by playing ball. Their passion was contagious and soon other players joined in, among them RCMP officials and local townspeople. As a result, the games helped break down racial and cultural barriers. This remarkable story is told with a combination of archival footage, interviews and dramatic re-enactments.
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This feature-length documentary tells the story of the Asahi baseball team. In pre-World War II Vancouver, the team was unbeatable, winning the Pacific Northwest Championship for five straight years. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, all persons of Japanese descent in Canada were sent to internment camps. The former Asahi members survived by playing ball. Their passion was contagious and soon other players joined in, among them RCMP officials and local townspeople. As a result, the games helped break down racial and cultural barriers. This remarkable story is told with a combination of archival footage, interviews and dramatic re-enactments.

Sports and Leisure Cultural Diversity and Multiculturalism History - Canada - 1920-1945 All subjects
  • writer
    Jari Osborne
  • director
    Jari Osborne
  • producer
    Karen King-Chigbo
  • narrator
    Robert Ito
  • editor
    Ricardo Acosta
  • additional editing
    Steve Weslak
  • director of photography
    Michael Grippo
  • sound design
    Alan Geldart
  • original music
    Guy Zerafa
  • sound recordist
    Jim Ursulak
  • production supervisor
    Kemp Archibald
  • assistant production supervisor
    Mark Wilson
  • production administrative assistant
    Nadine Simunic
  • visual researcher
    Tanya Fleet
  • additional camera
    Kwoi Gin
  • Jib operator
    Peter Wiltshire
  • additional sound recordist
    Ian Challis
    Don Grundsten
    Jason Milligan
    Sanjay Mehta
    Sylvain Bellemare
  • unit administrator
    Ida Di Fruscia
  • assistant unit administrator
    Joanne Forrest
  • consultant
    Norah Wakula
  • re-recording mixer
    Steve Munro
    Timothy Mehlenbacher
  • narration recording
    Timothy Mehlenbacher
  • online editor
    Dan Johnston
  • colourist
    Debbie Gaysinsky
  • foley artist
    Sid Lieberman
  • Rostrum camera
    Renaldo De Souza
  • title design
    William Cameron
  • production manager
    Anita Lee
  • art director
    Robyn Badger
  • costume designer
    Maia Daniel
  • assistant costume designer
    Robert Daniel
  • costume graphics
    Robert Daniel
  • makeup artist
    Lisa Brown
  • production assistant
    Shameema Soni
    Richard LeBlanc
  • assistant sound editor
    Patricia Quintanilla
  • apprentice editor
    Brian Katugampola
  • additional archival research
    Tom Hawthorn
  • research assistant
    Howie Shia
  • storyboard illustrator
    Mark Ciale
  • title calligraphy
    Paul K. Omoto
  • stills photographer
    Stéphane Gagnon
    Vincenzo Pietropaolo
  • senior producer
    Silva Basmajian
  • executive producer
    Louise Lore
    Sylvia Sweeney
  • actor
    Bryce Davie
    Chris Morton
    Trevor Jey Shimizu
    Mike Takahashi
    Ted Wakabayashi
    Samuel Yamada
    Chardin Jarret-Amor
    Ben McPhee
    Aaron Pitts
    James Rutherford
    Troy Weston
    Sano Erik Liyoshi
Sleeping Tigers: The Asahi Baseball Story
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