~“Nikkei” in Palau~ Interview Series: Vol.#15 Mrs. Kimiko Jose
2024/8/19
(Mrs. Kimiko's Mother)
Mrs. Kimiko Jose, born in 1944, now 80 years old is a Palauan who is full Japanese ancestry. Adopted by a Palauan family at a very young age, Mrs. Kimiko Jose doesn’t know about her biological father. She knows her biological mother Mrs. Siwa Harumi and knows that she died in 1978. Her brother named Mr. Fukujo, lived in Hokkaido.
Her adopted father is Mr. Jose Cruz and her adopted mother is Mrs. Soalmei of Peleliu. Mrs. Kimiko’s father, Mr. Jose Cruz is from Saipan, Mr. Cruz visited Palau and met Mrs. Kimiko’s mother Mrs. Soalmei, the pair got married and lived in Peleliu until he died and was buried in Peleliu. Mrs. Kimiko married Mr. Seiz Wong and had two sons and is blessed with several grandchildren.
Hoping to connect with her family, Ms. Kimiko went to Japan twice. She is unable to recall the year that she went to Japan but on her second visit, she was finally able to meet her brother. She tells us of her brother’s daughter “coincidentally seeing my newspaper advertisement.” The newspaper advertisement had details about Mrs. Kimiko and her biological mother that she was searching for.
Mrs. Kimiko had a challenging time in Elementary school because she was different and was called “chad ra Siabal” meaning a Japanese. When she told her mother she would say that she heard wrong. They were calling her “chad ra Saibal” meaning she’s from Saipan. Her parents who adopted her didn’t want people to know that she was a Japanese. She doesn’t speak Japanese and have no recollection about the WWII.
Mr. Arihara from Hokkaido NPO helped Mrs. Kimiko get a DNA test to verify if she was a pure Japanese or not. The same NPO published Mrs. Kimiko’s life story which was sold in Japan. After it was confirmed that she is Japanese she was invited to go to Japan. The first trip was with Mrs. Lilly Nakamura, the second time she went was with Ms. Sabina Andrew. During her first visit it was snowing so she could not visit her mother’s cemetery. The second time she brought two of her grandchildren who were high school students. They met with her brother in Hokkaido but not her sister because she was living in Tokyo.
She liked Japan but it was difficult to communicate because she doesn’t speak Japanese. Sometimes she feels that she was abandoned by her biological mother. Her biological mother wanted to make sure she’s safe and asked the woman from Peleliu who raised Kimiko to take care of her until she comes back to take her. Ms. Kimiko’s biological mother came back after the war to take her, but the Palauan mother didn’t want her to take Ms. Kimiko to Japan. Ms. Kimiko was still too small and does not remember anything. Kimiko’s brother Fukujo also told Kimiko that their mother wanted to go to Palau to find out if Kimiko was okay or not.
Ms. Kimiko worked at a local store in Peleliu owned by Mr. Ichiro Blesam. She saved up her money and was able to buy the business from Mr. Blesam, after that she was able to grow and expand her business a bit. Now that she is older, Mrs. Kimiko has passed on her role as the business owner to her son.
Ms. Kimiko likes her Japanese ancestry and loves the people of Japan. Ms. Kimiko hopes that Japan will pay more attention to the Japanese and Japanese descents in Palau. She wants Japan and Palau to maintain the good relationship that they have for the sake of the Japanese people who are now Palauan citizens like her and the nikkei’s “Palauan of Japanese descent” in Palau.
Her adopted father is Mr. Jose Cruz and her adopted mother is Mrs. Soalmei of Peleliu. Mrs. Kimiko’s father, Mr. Jose Cruz is from Saipan, Mr. Cruz visited Palau and met Mrs. Kimiko’s mother Mrs. Soalmei, the pair got married and lived in Peleliu until he died and was buried in Peleliu. Mrs. Kimiko married Mr. Seiz Wong and had two sons and is blessed with several grandchildren.
Hoping to connect with her family, Ms. Kimiko went to Japan twice. She is unable to recall the year that she went to Japan but on her second visit, she was finally able to meet her brother. She tells us of her brother’s daughter “coincidentally seeing my newspaper advertisement.” The newspaper advertisement had details about Mrs. Kimiko and her biological mother that she was searching for.
Mrs. Kimiko had a challenging time in Elementary school because she was different and was called “chad ra Siabal” meaning a Japanese. When she told her mother she would say that she heard wrong. They were calling her “chad ra Saibal” meaning she’s from Saipan. Her parents who adopted her didn’t want people to know that she was a Japanese. She doesn’t speak Japanese and have no recollection about the WWII.
Mr. Arihara from Hokkaido NPO helped Mrs. Kimiko get a DNA test to verify if she was a pure Japanese or not. The same NPO published Mrs. Kimiko’s life story which was sold in Japan. After it was confirmed that she is Japanese she was invited to go to Japan. The first trip was with Mrs. Lilly Nakamura, the second time she went was with Ms. Sabina Andrew. During her first visit it was snowing so she could not visit her mother’s cemetery. The second time she brought two of her grandchildren who were high school students. They met with her brother in Hokkaido but not her sister because she was living in Tokyo.
She liked Japan but it was difficult to communicate because she doesn’t speak Japanese. Sometimes she feels that she was abandoned by her biological mother. Her biological mother wanted to make sure she’s safe and asked the woman from Peleliu who raised Kimiko to take care of her until she comes back to take her. Ms. Kimiko’s biological mother came back after the war to take her, but the Palauan mother didn’t want her to take Ms. Kimiko to Japan. Ms. Kimiko was still too small and does not remember anything. Kimiko’s brother Fukujo also told Kimiko that their mother wanted to go to Palau to find out if Kimiko was okay or not.
Ms. Kimiko worked at a local store in Peleliu owned by Mr. Ichiro Blesam. She saved up her money and was able to buy the business from Mr. Blesam, after that she was able to grow and expand her business a bit. Now that she is older, Mrs. Kimiko has passed on her role as the business owner to her son.
Ms. Kimiko likes her Japanese ancestry and loves the people of Japan. Ms. Kimiko hopes that Japan will pay more attention to the Japanese and Japanese descents in Palau. She wants Japan and Palau to maintain the good relationship that they have for the sake of the Japanese people who are now Palauan citizens like her and the nikkei’s “Palauan of Japanese descent” in Palau.