“Their names liveth forever more.”
These were the words pronounced at a ceremony Friday to commemorate the addition of the names of two Japanese soldiers from Terra Nova who died in the First World War.
The names of Pte. Kazuo Harada and Pte. Hikotaro Koyanagi were added in June, and Friday’s ceremony, organized by the Legion Branch 291 and attended by dignitaries, was a rededication of the cenotaph.
Members of the Koyanagi family were also in attendance at the ceremony.
These are the first Japanese Canadian names added to the Richmond cenotaph, more than 100 years after the two soldiers died.
It was Richmond resident Debbie Jiang who did the research to identify these two soldiers’ hometown as Richmond, something she calls her “passion project.”
Jiang read through the files of the 55 Japanese Canadian soldiers who were killed in the First World War and she noticed that 16 described themselves as fishermen.
Jiang found “tangible hard evidence” that Harada and Koyanagi were from Richmond.
“More than a hundred years after these two men joined to fight, the names are finally added,” Jiang said.
Koyanagi and Harada, who were cousins, enlisted together for the Canadian Expeditionary Force in 1916.
They were both fishermen from Terra Nova.
They fought in the battles of Vimy Ridge, Hill 70 and Passchendaele.
On the third day of Canada’s 100-day offensive, Harada was hit and severely wounded in the Battle of Amiens.
Jiang explained how he had shrapnel all over his body. He died of sepsis five days later in hospital in England and was buried at the Netley Military Cemetery in Hampshire.
Koyanagi died in the Battle of Passchendaele but his body was never recovered. He’s commemorated at Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium.
Richmond Mayor Malcom Brodie, speaking at the ceremony, noted how this the first time Richmondites of Japanese descent are included on the Richmond cenotaph, which was originally erected in 1922.
“Their commitment and their contribution to improving the lives of their families in the community is reflected not only in their work in Terra Nova but also in their service to Canada,” Brodie said.
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