News Navigator: What happened to 2nd-gen Japanese-Filipinos left behind after WWII?

The Mainichi Shimbun answers some common questions readers may have about second-generation Japanese-Filipinos who were separated from their Japanese fathers during World War II and its aftermath and were not able to gain recognition as Japanese nationals.

Question: Who are the so-called “remaining second-generation Nikkei-jin” in the Philippines?

Answer: They are people who have a Japanese parent but were left behind in the Philippines after World War II. Before the war, many Japanese people migrated to the Philippines and married Filipinos. However, when the war began, such Japanese fathers were either killed in action fighting for the Imperial Japanese Army or deported to Japan after the war, leaving their wives and children in the Philippines.

Q: What happened to family members who remained in the Philippines?

A: Since Japan and the Philippines were enemies during WWII, second-generation Japanese-Filipinos suffered discrimination and lived in hiding. From the 1980s, when anti-Japanese sentiment weakened in the Philippines, Japanese-Filipinos formed associations and began seeking Japanese nationality and the restoration of their family registers. However, some of them had their birth certificates and other personal documents destroyed by their families to conceal their blood relations with Japanese nationals. Those lacking documents to prove that they were of Japanese descent have been left without family registers.

Q: How is the restoration of their family registers proceeding?

A: First of all, personal identification is essential to prove they are second-generation Japanese-Filipinos, and steady work gathering bits of information, such as their parents’ hometowns and occupations, is continuing. In December 2023, Filipinos of Japanese descent met with people believed to be their relatives in Okinawa Prefecture. According to the Philippine Nikkei-jin Legal Support Center, a nonprofit group supporting such activities, 311 people have so far regained family register listings. On the other hand, there are approximately 400 people who are presumed to be without family registers.

Q: What kind of support is necessary in the future?

A: The second-generation Japanese-Filipinos are growing old, and many of them are passing away before they can restore their family registers. In addition, most of the costs covering searches for their relatives are covered by donations. There are calls for immediate action, such as the establishment of a budget by the Japanese government and special legislative measures for collective relief.

(Japanese original by Epo Ishiyama, Asia General Bureau)