Remembering the ‘forgotten Japanese’ーNHK WORLD-JAPAN NEWS
they’re called the forgotten Japanese the children of men who immigrated to the Philippines from Japan and married local women before and during World War II japan’s foreign ministry has recognized more than 3800 people many of them stateless they have long hoped to be recognized as Japanese nationals not just establish their own identity but so they can search for surviving relatives in Japan and open up opportunities for their own descendants we follow one man and the fight for recognition in late April Japan’s prime minister visited Manila in the many years since the end of the war you have all experienced many hardships i find it regrettable and saddening that not everyone has been able to acquire Japanese nationality ishiba met with three people 94y old Carlos Teroka lives in the north of Luzon Island he had to travel 5 hours from his home to attend the meeting in this year marking 80 years since the end of the war we who have long been called the forgotten Japanese have only one wish we want to be recognized as Japanese and to set foot on the soil of Japan the homeland of our fathers teroka’s appeal reflects the decades of hardship endured by these children of Japanese who were left behind in the Philippines when my father was 35 he owned a car which he drove himself tedoka’s father immigrated to the Philippines from the west of Japan his mother was a Filipina at the time the Philippines was under US rule as many as 30,000 Japanese moved there in search of work and often married with local women however the outbreak of war changed their lives forever [Music] the Imperial Japanese Army invaded the Philippines because Tedoka’s father was from an enemy country the family suddenly became targets of hostility [Music] the anti-Japanese guerrillas in the Philippines hated second generation Japanese the most because they could speak Japanese and the local languages and also English so they were employed as interpreters for the Japanese military teroka’s father died of illness before the war started his two elder brothers worked as interpreters for Japan’s military police but they were suspected of being spies by the Japanese army and by the Philippine guerrillas they were both killed terraoka also saw his mother die in front of him in a US air raid i think the shrapnel must have pierced my mother’s heart i saw her collapse face down and died teroka was taken prisoner by the US military following the war there was rampant anti-Japanese sentiment in the Philippines and he suffered badly he tried to obtain Japanese nationality but he had no proof of his identity to make a living Tedoka eventually obtained Philippine nationality when he was in his 20s through his own efforts he was able to set a business in timber and agriculture however many of the left behind Japanese remain stateless and life is very difficult for them to improve their situation Teroka has visited Japan many times to ask the government for help please acknowledge that we are Japanese please acknowledge our fathers and our connection to them i earnestly request the Japanese government to take action so that not one of us is left behind inomihito is the head of an NO that’s been supporting the Japanese descendants for over 20 years inomata’s NPO has helped more than 300 people obtain Japanese nationality by finding documents proving their paternity and tracing their relatives in Japan but so long has passed now since the end of the war it’s hard to find new clues this year the issue has regained new momentum it is now 80 years since the end of the war i think it is perfectly reasonable for Japan to cover the costs for the Japanese descendants to travel and search for their relatives this is the first time the government has announced it will use public funds to help them visit Japan however since then no further proposals have been put forward the average age of the left behind Japanese in the Philippines is now 84 the NPO intends to continue lobbying the government to follow through on its announced policy [Music] wish me [Music] uh uh wishes i wish I could go to Japan as soon as possible cuz I’m not getting any younger anymore to meet my relatives there personally even if those left behind in the Philippines are granted Japanese nationality they would not be eligible for any compensation about 1,800 of these stateless people are already known to have died the war may have ended 80 years ago but it’s important to recognize there are still people who are living in its unresolved aftermath and time is running out
In the Philippines, many people whose fathers immigrated from Japan before the end of World War Two have been waiting to be granted Japanese nationality. We look at the quest for recognition. #philippines #japan #ww2 #family
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