Children of Japanese in prewar, wartime Philippines to visit Japan+

Tag : Dried Mangoes
MANILA, July 14 (AP) - (Kyodo)—Sixteen ageing sons anddaughters of Japanese men who lived, worked or fought in thePhilippines before and during World War II will leave for Tokyo onTuesday to appeal to the government to grant them Japanesecitizenship, a Japanese nonprofit organization said Monday.
Philippine Nikkei-jin Legal Support Center Inc. said the six menand 10 women, who range in age from 64 to 83, hope to drum upsupport from Japanese legislators and Japanese officials to helpthem gain their citizenship.
Kyoko Ishii of the nonprofit center helping the children fatheredby Japanese men voiced hope the Tokyo family court will eventuallygrant them Japanese citizenship.
The visit will last for a week, she said.
"It has always been my dream to be recognized as a Japanesecitizen," said Haruo Naka, 75. "I hope that my dream will cometrue."
Naka was born in the Philippines in 1933. His Japanese father diedin the Philippines when Naka was 8 years old. He also has an elderbrother and two elder sisters.
In 1945, he and an elder sister were among those people who werehauled off by ship and evacuated to Japan.
The siblings lived in Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan until the 1960s,but after 15 or 16 years of living in Japan, his sister prodded himto return to the Philippines.
His sister eventually died in Japan.
"Tomorrow is the first time that I will revisit Japan, and I'm veryexcited to make that trip," said misty-eyed Naka, who speaksJapanese.
He hopes to find his father's relatives in Wakayama Prefecture.
Unlike Naka, Gloria Hokazono-Cequinia is lucky.
The center has already found her father's kin in KagoshimaPrefecture, said Yuka Inoue, also of the Nikkei-jin center.
Asked how she feels about the trip, she said, "I'm so excited but alittle bit nervous that I will be seeing my cousins and otherJapanese relatives."
Cequinia, whose Japanese father died when she was 1, is bringingwith her some candied dried mangoes for her relatives and somefamily pictures of her husband, her four children and somerelatives in the Philippines.
"I have been practicing some Japanese words like 'ohayo gozaimasu,''arigato,' 'konnichi-wa.' These words will come in handy when Ifinally meet them," she said.
The center has facilitated a couple of similar visits in the past,sending at least 23 children who are also looking for theirfathers' relatives in Japan.
The center has documented more than 80 cases, but more than a dozenhave already died and at least seven people have already gainedJapanese citizenship, according to the center.
Conchita Timbol, 82, said, "I appeal to the Japanese people toaccept us. Please give us a chance." Click here to buy text ads on Breitbart