Japanese war orphans pay tribute to adoptive Chinese parents at Heilongjiang cemetery

[Bussard Ramjet]

Japanese war orphans pay tribute to adoptive Chinese parents at Heilongjiang cemetery

A group of 54 Japanese citizens who'd been taken in and raised by Chinese families at the end of WWII gathered at a cemetery in Fangheng county of Harbin, Heilongjiang province on Monday to honor their adoptive parents.

The former orphans, now well into their 70s, had been abandoned by their birth parents as Japanese troops hastily fled China at the end of the war in 1945. Many were only months old when they were left behind.

More than 4,000 Japanese children were left in China when the war ended, but most of them returned to Japan after the two countries mended diplomatic ties in 1972.

While some of their adoptive parents were not actually buried at the cemetery, members of the delegation said that they wanted to pay tribute to all the late Chinese parents who took in abandoned children.

The group arrived months ahead of the 70th anniversary of the end of the wars, which the Chinese government will heavily promote this year by releasing dozens of documentaries, TV dramas and animated shows.


Japanese war orphans pay tribute to adoptive Chinese parents at Heilongjiang cemetery: Shanghaiist

 

[Bussard Ramjet]

Let there be peace.

Let our humanity and love extinguish the greed and racism of few.

Let us love each other.

Let us finally unite.


@Nihonjin1051 @AndrewJin @Shotgunner51 @TaiShang @FairAndUnbiased

Japanese left behind in war express gratitude at memorial for Chinese parents


FANGZHENG, China--Shuji Sato bowed his head three times at a memorial here, continuing his pledge to never “abandon” the woman who sacrificed so much to save a child of an enemy nation.

The memorial, located in Fangzheng county in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, is named, “Official grave of adopted Chinese fathers and mothers.” They were the Chinese who had taken in and raised Japanese children who were left behind in the country during the chaos at the end of World War II.

Fifty-three people, including 24 war-displaced Japanese, their spouses and their children, expressed their gratitude at the memorial on July 13.

An estimated 2,800 Japanese children were stranded in China around the end of World War II. They are called “war orphans” although in many cases their parents remained alive in Japan long after the war.

“I was able to survive because I luckily had adopted parents,” Sato, 69, who lives in Tokyo’s Edogawa Ward, said. “If there was no war, I would not have become an ‘orphan.’ Wars must never take place.”

As Sato stood in front of the memorial with his wife, Hideko, 69, he recalled the smiling face of his cheerful adopted mother whose loud voice belied her diminutive size.

Sato’s biological father was a Japanese soldier stationed in China. Sato’s mother gave birth to him while trying to flee China around the time Japan surrendered in World War II.

When Sato was 5 months old, his mother entrusted him to a Chinese individual. The mother died soon after.

Sato was raised by a childless Chinese couple. They faced daily financial difficulties, but Sato was properly fed because the parents cut down on their own portions.

His neighbors taunted him by calling him a discriminatory word meaning “small Japan.” But he could not bring himself to ask his adopted parents if he really was Japanese.

After graduating from high school, Sato worked at a factory that manufactured scales. He married a colleague at the workplace, and they had three children.

When Sato began to look for his biological Japanese relatives, his adopted mother was initially disappointed. So he promised her, “Even if I am able to find my Japanese relatives, I will never abandon you.”

In 1985, Sato joined a tour to Japan for Japanese in a similar situation, and he was able to meet his biological father and confirm his identity.

In 1989, Sato returned to Japan with his wife and adopted mother, who was healthy at the time. His biological father asked Sato to live with him. Sato accepted the request, and he, Hideko, their children--and the adopted mother--moved in.

Sato and Hideko, who later gained Japanese nationality, worked in factories and water supply works.

In 2004, the adopted mother died. Her last words to Sato included, “Thank you for taking me (to Japan) with you.”

Her ashes were placed in the Kikokusha no Haka (Grave for returnees) in Akiruno, western Tokyo.

“I and my wife will also enter the same grave when we die,” Sato said.

The Tokyo-based nonprofit organization Chugoku Kikokusha, Nitchu Yuko no Kai (Group of returnees from China for Japan-China friendship) organized the July 13 services at the memorial in Harbin.

The previous day, the war-displaced Japanese met seven people in Harbin, including the adopted parents of Japanese children who did not join the tour. The tour participants passed on words of gratitude to the Chinese adopted parents.

Sumie Ikeda, 70, who led the tour, pointed out that beside the memorial for adopted Chinese fathers and mothers is the “Official grave of Japanese,” which honors the many Japanese women and children who were unable to return home and died in China after the war ended.

“We were able to survive thanks to our adopted parents. We will never forget their kindness. We will never forget the sadness of our fellow citizens (who died), either,” Ikeda said. “We think that we want to serve as a bridge between the two countries even if we risk our lives.”

Japanese left behind in war express gratitude at memorial for Chinese parents - AJW by The Asahi Shimbun

 

[XiangLong]

Casualties of war, it's good that there are always people with their hearts in the right place, who are willing to continue to do good in those dark times.

That aside though, I find it very VERY rude of these journalists to just blatantly take pictures, like it's some spectacle, while these elderly people should be mourning their dead in peace.

 

[opruh]

Chinese people are truly wonderful.

 

[Kyle Sun]

at leasy they remembet chinese feed them

 

[Aepsilons]

Truly a very beautiful character of the Chinese people is that they can separate nationalism from moral erudition. A TRULY honorable character.

The Chinese parents that took in the defenseless Japanese children must be honored.

 

[kankan326]

Some Japanese girls married Chinese.
There is TV serial about a Japanese girl's story 《小姨多鹤》（aunt 多鹤）. Very touching.

 

[Aepsilons]

Some Japanese girl married Chinese.
There is TV serial about a Japanese girl's story 《小姨多鹤》（aunt 多鹤）. Very touching.

Very interesting. Did the kids end up embracing their Japanese identity or did they grow up as Chinese ?

 

[kankan326]

Very interesting. Did the kids end up embracing their Japanese identity or did they grow up as Chinese ?

She was the real mother of all the kids. But the kids didn't know that. They all called her aunt. Their believed mother lost fertility because of Japanese soldier. A little complicated.

Of course the kids grew up as Chinese. Her daughter even joined in PLA. At the end, all kids knew their aunt was actually their mother.

 

[Aepsilons]

She was the real mother of all the kids. But the kids didn't know that. They all called her aunt. Their believed mother lost fertility because of Japanese soldier. A little complicated.

Of course the kids grew up as Chinese. Her daughter even joined in PLA. At the end, all kids knew their aunt was actually their mother.

What a beautiful story, buddy. Hehe, its been a while since I last saw Chinese dramas, the last one that i was really impressed on was Break Up Club , lol, that was back in 2010. The other good one was the 'Da zhai men' series...

 

[FairAndUnbiased]

Very interesting. Did the kids end up embracing their Japanese identity or did they grow up as Chinese ?

Fang zheng county has alot of Chinese Japanese marriage. it is so much above average that there was a documentary on it. it's almost a Japanese autonomous county at this rate and Japanese will have to be classified as a recognized minority.

 

[yoshi.oda]

What a beautiful story, buddy. Hehe, its been a while since I last saw Chinese dramas, the last one that i was really impressed on was Break Up Club , lol, that was back in 2010. The other good one was the 'Da zhai men' series...

You are too much Chinese lover! Are you Chinese?

 

[AZADPAKISTAN2009]

I have a question do chinese and Japanese can each differentiate between each other ... like who is chinese and who is Japanese if you take the hair style away plain clothes

Just like Pakistanis and Iranians we look so much alike

 

[terranMarine]

You are too much Chinese lover! Are you Chinese?

Yes he's Chinese who can speak Japanese and is holding a Japanese passport so he can refer to himself as nihonjin but somewhere inside his heart he has not forgotten about his Chinese roots. Afterall all Japanese are descendants from the Greater China

 

[Aepsilons]

Fang zheng county has alot of Chinese Japanese marriage. it is so much above average that there was a documentary on it. it's almost a Japanese autonomous county at this rate and Japanese will have to be classified as a recognized minority.

Fang zheng county , that's near Harbin right ?

I was able to research a little about it, and you're right, there seems to be a quite substantial number of Japanese and Japanese-Chinese who live there.

I have a question do chinese and Japanese can each differentiate between each other ... like who is chinese and who is Japanese if you take the hair style away plain clothes

Just like Pakistanis and Iranians we look so much alike

It depends. I think the people from Japan from the islands of Shikoku, Kyushu and southern Honshu have more -- what we refer to as Yayoi features -- and can be easily mistaken for either a Northern Chinese and / or a Korean. There are some Japanese who have caucasian like features and can be mistaken for Eurasians --- and we're mostly located in the Northern parts of Japan.

The Japanese from the southern islands such as Okinawa, Chichijima and the Ogasawara Islands tend to be darker skinned and have Polynesian features. The reason for this is because the Japanese that colonized those islands in the 19th century had married into the indigenous polynesians that lived there.