Aging Nikkei Jins race against time to regain citizenship
By Robina Asido
DAVAO CITY -- As aging Japanese descendants in the Philippines continue to race against time to regain their citizenship, Japan's Davao Consul General Ishikawa Yoshihisa visited two Nikkei Jins here on Friday.
Ishikawa was accompanied by Norihiro Inomata, Representative Director of Philippine Nikkei Jin Legal Support Center (PNLSC) and Helen Escovilla of the Legal Aide Section of the Philippine Nikkei Jin Kai (PNJK) Inc.
Ishikawa interviewed second generation Japanese descendants to be able to write a documentation which can help Nikkei Jins' application to recover their Japanese nationality called “Shuseki”.
The first they visited was Rosalina Kamba Fernandez, 93, in Barangay Mandug, Davao City.
Fernandez is the daughter of Kamba Rita, a Japanese who worked in an abaca plantation before the Second World War.
Kamba, who left Fernandez and his mother when she was less than six months old and had a family with another woman, became a soldier during the war and deported back to Japan after.
The last time Fernandez saw her father was when Kamba wanted to see her after the war when she was around 10 years old.
Although she wants to recover her Japanese citizenship, Fernandez doesn't want to see her father's grave saying that "it will add to the pain" she felt but she noted that seeing Japanese nationals makes her happy as she remembered her father.
"Because my father is Japanese, I wanted to be Japanese," she said.
Fernandez, who is very proud to be a daughter of a Japanese, also wants to meet her relatives in Japan "in God's will".
"Yes! Because they are handsome," she said when asked the reason why she is proud to have a Japanese father.
In an interview with the Daily Manila Shimbun, Ishikawa expressed his intention to write ''a convincing report'' for Fernandez.
"There is a photo, and although it is a late registration, the father's name is on the birth certificate. The name is also on the baptismal certificate. I want to write a convincing report," he said in Japanese.
"The issue of recovering Japanese citizenship is a matter of identity. She wants to have herself recognized as Japanese. She seemed nervous because there were many people here today, but I heard that she had a strong desire to become Japanese," he added.
On the same day, Ishikawa also visited Alicia Kodaira Romero with Japanese name Chieko, a Nikkei Jin from Panabo City, Davao del Norte. Her father was Tomeo Kodaira from Nagano, an abaca grower in Davao before the war.
Kodaira was separated from his Filipina wife Hanuaria Biliran and two kids Chieko (who was then a baby) and Hisao (her older brother with Filipino name Jacinto) when he was detained by authorities in Cebu when the war broke out.
Romero's father was freed and started to work for the Japanese Army following the invasion. However, due to the war Kodaira was not able to unite with his family as he had to return to Japan with the other countrymen.
Although she doesn't have memories of her father who died in Leyte during the war, Romero wanted to see her father when she was young.
Romero said she will be very happy if she will be given a chance to meet the relatives of her Japanese father.
As he heard the story of the Nikkei Jins, Ishikawa vowed to do his best to finish his report as soon as possible to help them recover their Japanese nationality as they continue to age and become more vulnerable.
During his visit, Ishikawa discovered a faded wedding photo of Romero's parents which can also be used as evidence to support her application for Japanese citizenship
"We would like to proceed with all the evidence we have to support (the fact of her parents' marriage) without correction," he said. Aside from photos, Romero was not able to recover any documents related to her father after everything was burned during the war.
"I don't know what the outcome will be, but the registration is a race against time. I want to do everything we can. I will finish my reports in around a week, he added.
Based on the recent survey of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan on "war-displaced Japanese descendants" conducted from June 2023 to March 2024, a total of 3,815 2nd generation Nikkei Jins were recorded.
Out of the number, 1,615 have acquired their Japanese citizenship while 1,799 died died without recovering their nationality. There are138 others who are still alive and are eligible to apply to Shuseki.
It also showed that there are 263 other Nikkei Jins whose status remains unknown as of March of this year. DMS
