Japanese left in Philippines after WW2 arrives in Japan after fines waived

[Lee]

Quote

 

An 82-year old Japanese woman who was left behind in the Philippines after World War Two has arrived in Japan. She is the first war-displaced descendant of Japanese migrants to travel to Japan after Manila waived fines that had been levied on such people for immigration violations.

Koyama Margarita Hiroko departed for Japan from Manila on Sunday. She was accompanied and assisted by staff of the Japanese Embassy and a support organization at the airport.

Koyama was separated from her Japanese father and left behind in the Philippines after the war. She was finally able to obtain Japanese citizenship in 2017.

But people like her were asked to pay fines by the Philippine government upon departure from the country because they were considered illegal residents. Koyama said that she was told to pay fines worth around 34,000 dollars.

Following negotiations with the Japanese Embassy officials, the Philippine government in July decided to waive fines on such people. They will effectively be freed from paying the fines if they can obtain a certificate issued by the Embassy, among other conditions.

Koyama says she plans to visit her father's grave in Japan. She says she never imagined she could actually visit Japan and does not know what she will say to her father, but she knows that she will cry.

Minister at the Japanese Embassy in Manila Hanada Takahiro, who was at the airport to see her depart, said the Japanese government will continue to do its best to make such travel to Japan as smooth as possible.

 

Japanese left in Philippines after WW2 arrives in Japan after fines waived | NHK WORLD-JAPAN News

Edited September 17, 2023 by Lee

[JJReyes]

Prior to WWII, there were many Japanese migrants who were farming in Mindanao.  There was mandatory repatriation after the conflict. 

 

[scott h]

I really dislike these types of tug at your heart strings, isnt the big bad world unjust, incomplete news articles. Wheres the back story.

How old was she when she was left? Who took care of the poor abandoned waif while she was growing up, did she ever marry and have a family here in the Philippines? Did she ever want to return to Japan in the first place? Or does she consider herself Filipina? Is she going to return to the only home she has ever known?

47 minutes ago, Lee said:

first war-displaced descendant of Japanese migrants to travel to Japan

This implies that there are others? How many? Do they also wish to return.

What absolute rubbish.

[BrettGC]

18 minutes ago, scott h said:

How old was she when she was left?

Assuming she was left behind in 1945 she was 4 at the time. 

[Dave Hounddriver]

3 minutes ago, BrettGC said:

Assuming she was left behind in 1945 she was 4 at the time. 

So long as we are assuming, I would assume her mother is a Filipina.  Now if we assume her parents were married, and she is a legitimate child born before 1973, then we must go be the pre-1973 laws which state "The father must be a Filipino citizen, as indicated in the PSA Birth Certificate.  If the father is not Filipino, the child must have formally elected Filipino citizenship upon reaching the age of majority."   With this in mind, it is entirely logical that the woman is a Japanese citizen who did not elect Filipino citizenship, thus NOT a dual citizen.  The fact that she did not formally elect to be a Philippine citizen, (and I would not blame her), means she was indeed denied her right to live in her country of citizenship.

[JJReyes]

15 hours ago, scott h said:

I really dislike these types of tug at your heart strings, isn't the big bad world unjust, incomplete news articles. Where's the back story.

The bleeding-heart story is how the Japanese embassy in Manila persuaded the cruel, arrogant, heartless Philippine Bureau of Immigration to waive $34,000 in fees, penalties and interests.  Was she really WWII Japanese national?  Similar to US laws regarding Amerasians (abandoned children born to American fathers), Japan has legislation allowing Filipino children whose father is Japanese to study, work and become permanent residents.  It is done quietly because any open acknowledgement of the problem is embarrassing to the Japanese.  There is some mystery to this story regarding how she qualified.  The big relief and tears of joy in my eyes is that she made it, in spite of the BI.

Edited September 18, 2023 by JJReyes