Objective: To make an appeal to the Japanese Government for the Recognition of the remaining 282 Second generation unrecognized Japanese descendants, on the occasion of the 70th Year Anniversary after the War.
July 20 – I arrived in Manila with Judge Antonina B. Escovilla and met with the other members of the delegation, former Federation Presidents, Mr. Carlos Teraoka and Mr. Ben Onari; Mr. Lemuel Yoshimura(GenSan Nisei); Mrs. Estelita Roales (Cotabato) with her chaperone, Ms. Melissa Roales; Mr. Stephen Buñi (Manila); Atty. Sim Zuniega; and Ms. Yuka Kanamaru.
In the afternoon, we paid a courtesy visit to Consul General Amano of the Embassy of Japan in the Philippines, where Consul Amano expressed his desire to support the cause of the Nikkeijins in the Philippines. Thereafter, we attended the Media Conference at the Shalom Center.
July 21 – The 10-member delegate left Manila at 8:55am and arrived in Japan at 1:55pm. We were met by TV news media at the airport together with Ms. Toshiko Takano and Mr. Norihiro Inomata. After our dinner, we had a briefing with Dr. Shun Ohno regarding our respective roles during the Forum at Waseda University.
July 22 – The delegates paid a courtesy visit to the Chairman of Nippon Foundation, Mr. Yohei Sasakawa and President, Mr. Takeju Ogata together with some of their staff. The show of support and genuine desire of Mr. Sasakawa to help the Nikkeijins was overwhelming. After the lunch, we were serenaded with a Piano performance at the lobby of Nippon Foundation. Afterwards, we had a Press Conference with the Japanese media. The focus of the discussion and the articles published on the next day, were more on Mr. Yoshimura, who is not yet recognized until this time.
The delegates during the Courtesy Meeting with Nippon Foundation President, Mr. Yohei Sasakawa
During the Press Conference held at the Nippon Foundation Building.
Meeting with members of the Japanese Diet and other government officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Labor and Welfare, and other government agencies.
During the meeting with Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe with the Parliament Members.
After the Press Conference, we proceeded to the House of the Diet for a meeting with the Parliamentarians in relation to our position paper. Immediately after the official statements of the politicians were heard, we transferred to the office of Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for the turning-over of the position paper containing 27,943 signatures. Prime Minister Abe showed his willingness to help the cause of the Filipino-Japanese descendants.
In the evening, the delegates had a dinner with PNLSC lawyers, staff, and supporters, headed by Atty. Hiroyuki Kawai and JPIC officials namely, former presidents, Mr. Akira Sekino, Mr. Hideo Ito and the NISVA officers Mr. Oka and Mr. Tanabe, among others.
July 23 – We paid a courtesy visit to the Philippine Ambassador to Japan, Mr. Manuel Lopez. Subsequently, we visited the Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery in Tokyo, the resting place of those who died outside of Japan during the WWII. It was an emotional visit since some of our forefathers may have been buried there. After that, we sat as the panelists during the forum at Waseda University, entitled “70 Years after the War-Invisible Japanese”. Each delegate was given the time to speak on his/her experiences either before, during, after the war, and on the future of the Filipino-Japanese descendants. We are thankful to PNLSC for the kind arrangements and accommodation all throughout the duration of the trip and to the Nippon Foundation for providing the funds used during the trip.
Pictures taken during the courtesy meeting with Philippine Ambassador to Japan Manual Lopez at the Philippine Embassyin Roppongi, Tokyo
