~“Nikkei” in Palau~ Interview Series: Vol.#24 Mr. Kennosuke Suzuky

Mr. Kennosuke Suzuky is a third generation of Japanese descendant. He is the son of Mr. Kembo Suzuky, a second-generation Japanese, and Ms. Sayoko Sakuma. His grandfather is from Hokkaido and worked for the Japanese phosphate mining company in Angaur before World War II. Mr. Suzuky heard that his grandfather went missing and that he passed away during the war.
 
As a child, Mr. Suzuky grew up in Angaur until he was 5 years old. He relocated with his family to Koror and graduated from Maristella Elementary school and Palau high school. After graduating from Palau High School, he moved and lived in Saipan for 10 years, and then he went to Guam and lived there for 14 years. During staying in overseas, he had many different jobs such as bartending and a small auto mechanic business. He also found his passion for motorbikes. In 2014, he moved back to Palau and founded a biker group known as the Thunder Chiefs Belau. Some of the group members live overseas, one of them even living in Japan. On weekends, the bikers tour around Babeldaob and stop by local stores for food and drinks as their way of supporting small businesses. They are also known to ride bikes around Babeldaob in Santa Claus costumes during Christmas time and distribute presents to kids in Babeldaob.
 
Following the footsteps of his father, Mr. Kembo Abel Suzuky, who was the first governor of Angaur State, Mr. Kennosuke Suzuky served as the governor of Angaur for 2 terms from 2018 to 2022. During his term as the governor, he initiated various tourism related projects such as the monkey sanctuary. However, Mr. Suzuky says that “The infrastructure such as hospital and water supply as well as safety issues must be addressed before bringing in a lot of visitors to Angaur. Once these issues are resolved, Angaur state can be better prepared for future tourists.”
 
Mr. Suzuky’s relatives from Japan have visited Palau while his father, Mr. Kembo Suzuky has visited his relatives in Japan, however, Mr. Suzuky has never been to Japan. He said, “If I do go to Japan, I would like to go on a motorcycle tour”.
 
Mr. Suzuky appreciates the tremendous amount of assistance and support that Japanese government has provided to Palau beyond 30 years. He hopes that moving forward, both countries can work together on policies to ease visa restrictions in allowing nationals of both countries to live and work freely either in Japan or in Palau.