Wartime Memories

Category: Uncategorized

  • Yūta Yoshii

    H19, Yūta Yoshii ‘00, Sumio Tada, Grandfather, 1915, Gunma, Philippines On Sunday, November 15, 1998, I visited Sumio Tada, who is my grandfather. He is my mother’s father, so she used the surname Tada until she married and became Yoshii. My grandfather was born in Gunma prefecture on May 10, 1915, and he is now…

  • Reira (Layla) Ichima

    N01, Reira (Layla) Ichima ‘07, Mineko Shiina, Grandmother, 1936, Yasuo Shiina, Grandfather, 1934, Chiba, Gunma, Ibaraki My maternal grandmother, Mineko Shiina, is 69 years old. She was born on January 23, 1936. On October 25, 2005, I interviewed her at her house in Yōkōdai, Isogo-ku, Yokohama. Layla (L): How old were you when World War…

  • Elina Fachtmann

    J02GN, Elina Fachtmann ‘01, Juliana Yamaguchi, Grandmother, 1930, Yokohama: Naka-ku I interviewed my grandmother, Juliana Yamaguchi, who is currently 69 years old, at her house in November 1999. I would like to share with you her experiences during World War II. She talked to me in Japanese while I took notes. I would like to…

  • Chris Miyabe

    N05F, Chris Miyabe ‘07, Sadatsugu Miyabe, Grandfather, 1917, Philippines, Taiwan, Indonesia I interviewed my paternal grandfather about his involvement in World War II. His name is Sadatsugu Miyabe, and he was born on November 2, 1917, so he had just turned 88 years old when I interviewed him. This was on November 6, 2005, at a…

  • Nanae Nakagawa

    J04, Nanae Nakagawa ‘01, Kyōichi Nakagawa, Grandfather, 1918, Manchuria, Philippines, Taiwan I decided to interview my grandfather, because I know him very well. I talk with him nearly everyday, but this was our first time to talk about war. He was born in 1918 and is now 81 years old. My grandfather, Kyōichi Nakagawa, graduated…

  • Yuriya Miyako

    R02, Yuriya Miyako ‘16, Chiyo Miyako, Great-Grandmother, 1901, Manchuria, Wakayama I interviewed Chiyo Miyako at her elder-care home on November 9, 2014. She is 113 years old. She is my paternal great-grandmother, but I will refer to her as “Grandma,” since that is what I call her. [Before her death at the age of 117…

  • Shiori Okajima

    J05, Shiori Okajima ‘01, Grandfather, 1925, Shizuoka, Aichi World War II was the most disastrous event which took place in Japanese history. There is a very close person to me who survived the war, and that is my  grandfather. I interviewed him in 1999, and he described his life from the time when he joined…

  • Kenji Moir

    R03B, Kenji Moir ‘16, Tsuneko Okabe, Grandmother, 1937, Manchuria, Siberia I interviewed my maternal grandmother, Tsuneko Okabe, on October 8, 2014, over the telephone. She is 77 years old. Since I do not have any relatives who are alive and have memories of World War II, I decided to ask my grandmother as she is…

  • Katherine Burghart

    K02U, Katherine Burghart ‘02, Seiryō Hayashi, Grandfather, 1925,Toyama, Fukui I interviewed Seiryō Hayashi, my grandfather, who is 75 years old, on November 3, 2000 in Tōkyō. He described to me his experiences during World War II and the U.S. Occupation of Japan. I was born in 1925 and grew up in Yatsuo, Toyama Prefecture. My…

  • Takashi Kitao

    T01, Takashi Kitao ‘19, Kazuaki Takai, Grandfather, 1936, Aomori, Yokohama: Nishi-ku I interviewed my maternal grandfather, Kazuaki Takai, on October 17, 2017. He was born in 1936 and is 81 years old. Q: How old were you when the Pearl Harbor attack happened? A. Five years old. Q. Did you seek refuge during the bombing…