In Philippines, stateless descendants of soldiers long for Japanese citizenship

A survey has found that there are 3,810 Nikkeijin in the Philippines, of whom 1,069 are still alive and considered stateless

Japan started conducting citizenship interviews in 2015 after Nikkeijin organisations made an appeal to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2015

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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Photo: AP

Published: 6:00am, 19 Sep 2019Updated: 8:23am, 22 Sep 2019

Two days of interviews with elderly, war-displaced Japanese descendants in the Philippines wrapped up on Wednesday, with the so-called Nikkeijin hoping to acquire Japanese citizenship.

Representatives from the Japanese Embassy and from a national federation of Filipino-Japanese descendants met seven Nikkeijin to ascertain links with their Japanese fathers who were separated from them immediately before or during World War II.

While many such formal interviews with the backing of Japan’s Foreign Ministry have been held since 2016, it was the first time for them to be conducted in the western island-province of Palawan, where 47 individuals have so far been recorded to be children of Japanese fathers and Filipino mothers who were born before or during the wartime.

Twenty-two of the 47 are still alive, according to Norihiro Inomata of the Philippine Nikkei-Jin Legal Support Center, which is spearheading efforts to help the descendants acquire Japanese citizenship, in cooperation with the Nippon Foundation.

My remaining time here on earth is very short. So if I have to rest in peace, I need to see where my father came from.

Julio Oshita, 89

The group’s latest survey has found that there are 3,810 Nikkeijin across the country, of whom 1,069 are still alive and considered stateless.