~“Nikkei” in Palau~ Interview Series: Vol.#11 Ms. Kikuko Mochimaru

     Ms. Kikuko Mochimaru, now 84 years old is a “Nikkei,” Palauan of Japanese descent borne to a Japanese father, Mr. Heinosuke Mochimaru from Hachijo-jima and a Palauan mother, Ms. Waisang Obechelong from Ngarchelong State. Ms. Mochimaru had training at the Trust Territory School of Nursing and worked as a nurse in Palau, Pohnpei and Yap for a total of 20 years until she retired in 1999. She is blessed with three children and several grandchildren.
 
     According to Ms. Mochimaru, her father Mr. Heinosuke Mochimaru was a merchant who came to Palau where he got married and started a family. The Mochimaru family relocated to Choll, Ngaraard where Mr. Mochimaru was a farmer and Mrs. Mochimaru was a housewife. When Ms. Kikuko Mochimaru was 5 years old, her father had to leave Palau with the rest of the Japanese people who were repatriated to Japan after the war.
 
     Ms. Kikuko does not speak Japanese because her father tried to communicate to his family mostly in Palauan. When she got older she communicated with her father by writing letters. Her cousin and her friends who spoke Japanese helped in translating the letters from her father and then helped her write back to him in Japanese.
 
     Although she does not understand Japanese, Ms.Kikuko does enjoy Japanese music, film, and food. She especially likes popular singers such as Frank Nagai and Misora Hibari and the film “Aizen Katsura,” one of classic Japanese films. Her favorite Japanese food is norimaki, sushi rolls. Ms. Mochimaru stayed connected to her Japanese roots by attending events held by the Sakurakai organization in Palau. She hopes to visit, Hachijo-jima one day. Her father’s birthplace.
 
     Now she has become older and mindful of her health and wellbeing and she wishes to live as peacefully as she can. She enjoys her life in Palau and says that maybe if she lived in Japan her life would have been　quite different. However, she likes the way her life is now and cannot imagine anything different.