Jack Shirai was born in Hakodate City, Hokkaido in 1900. It is said that he was abandoned by his parents shortly after birth and was sent to an orphanage when he was around five years old.
At the age of 11, he left the orphanage and was hired as a sailor on a cargo ship on the Kamchatka route. However, at the age of 17, he went to the Americas on a fishing boat and at the age of 29, he stayed in the United States and worked as a baker and chef in New York City. With his cooking skills, he changed jobs several times and later became a chef at a Japanese restaurant. Although he did not have any political views, he witnessed firsthand the harsh working conditions and meager wages of Japanese immigrants and refugees escaping Japanese fascism. He became angry and participated in the anti-hunger march in Washington and the protest at the San Francisco port, opposing the shipment of scrap iron to Japan and the production of weapons for aggression against China and East Asia. At the same time, he joined the Japanese immigrant labor union, "Japanese Immigrant Labor Union," and became involved in the labor movement. At that time, there were three Japanese groups in New York: the "Japanese Association," where businessmen and diplomats gathered, the nationalist group "Thick Country Group," which supported Japan's policy towards China, and the Japanese Immigrant Labor Union, which was composed of the working class.
On July 17, 1936, the Spanish Civil War broke out. Although the Japanese fascist government provided informal military support to the Franco army at that time, Shirai still went to France on December 26 with 96 American volunteers to join the International Brigades. They did not tell anyone where they were going, so they had no family or friends to see them off. On the night of January 6, 1937, they crossed the Pyrenees and arrived in Spain, passing through Barcelona to the town of Albacete for military training. He was assigned to the 17th Battalion of the 15th International Brigade, known as the "Abraham Lincoln Battalion." He was appointed as a chef, but Shirai was very dissatisfied with this assignment and protested, saying, "I won't do kitchen work. I have a good Soviet rifle. I came here to fight the fascists, and I want to stay on the front line! Who can fight fascists in the kitchen? Fuck the kitchen!" After being persuaded by his political commissar, he reluctantly accepted the position of chef in the kitchen, but he could participate in combat on the front line when there was fighting. He became a gun-wielding chef in the machine gun company.
Battle of Jarama Valley
In the following months, the Lincoln Battalion participated in the winter Battle of Jarama Valley, and Shirai formed deep friendships with his comrades, especially Mel Offsink and Max Krauthamer.
Jack Shirai shaking hands with the Vice Presidential candidate of the American Communist Party
Harry Fisher recalled some conversations among the three of them during their daily lives: "After the war, they would open a restaurant where anyone who had fought in the Spanish Civil War could eat for free. Shirai would excitedly describe the dishes they were about to introduce."
The last photo of Jack Shirai before his sacrifice
On July 11, 1937, during the Battle of Brunete in the defense of Madrid, according to his previous agreement with the political commissar, Shirai was allowed to leave the kitchen and go to the front line to fight. At that time, the Franco rebels who had been ambushed regained control and dominated the air. Near dusk, someone brought food, but it couldn't be delivered to the trenches across the 18-meter open space. Shirai confidently said, "I'll take it there!" The others told him to wait until nightfall, but he jumped out of the trench. There was a burst of gunfire, and the enemy's machine gun hit him in the neck. Shirai was killed on the spot. That night, his comrades buried him under an olive tree in Cenia. On his tombstone, it was written, "Jack Shirai, Japanese anti-fascist warrior, this monument is erected in memory of his courage, July 11, 1937."
On October 4, 1937, the magazine "Volunteer Soldiers Fighting for Freedom" of the 15th International Brigade of the International Brigades published a poem in his memory, "The Fall of Jack Shirai."
In 1966, Shirai's comrade in the United States, Kanki Toyosaburo, erected a monument for him in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Tokyo, with his name clearly engraved on the bronze plaque.