MANILA, Philippines — More than 80 years after World War II separated her from her Japanese father, 90-year-old Adelaida Kakazu has received a Japanese passport, bringing her closer to a long-awaited journey to her father’s homeland in Okinawa.
Kakazu, a second-generation Japanese descendant born in the Philippines, received her passport at the Embassy of Japan in Manila on October 23, 2026, following the restoration of her Japanese nationality earlier this year.
Her story is a powerful reminder of the families divided by war—and of the people who spent decades trying to reclaim identities and connections lost in its aftermath.
A childhood changed by World War II
Kakazu was born in Sariaya, Quezon, on December 17, 1935, to Noboru Kakazu, an Okinawa-born Japanese man, and a Filipino mother.
She was only 10 years old when her father was separated from the family in the aftermath of the war. Her father was repatriated to Japan with his eldest son, Shoichi, while Adelaida and other family members remained in the Philippines.
According to reporting by The Japan Times and other Japanese news organizations, Noboru died in Japan in 1951. Over time, contact with his relatives in Okinawa was lost, leaving Adelaida with unanswered questions about her father’s family and final years.
Growing up as a child of Japanese descent during the postwar period also brought hardship. People associated with Japan faced hostility in the aftermath of the country’s wartime occupation, and some families concealed their Japanese ancestry to survive.
For Kakazu, the separation became a lifelong family loss.
How old family records helped restore her Japanese nationality
The breakthrough came after Kakazu’s grandchild learned about other Japanese descendants left behind in the Philippines after the war and contacted the Philippine Nikkei-jin Legal Support Center in 2025.
With the help of support organizations, investigators searched for documents that could establish her Japanese parentage. Records, including her parents’ marriage documentation, were eventually found in Japan’s National Archives.
Those records helped support her case before a Japanese family court, which approved the restoration of her Japanese nationality in March 2026.
Receiving her passport on October 23 marked another major step toward fulfilling her wish to visit Japan—not simply as a tourist, but as the daughter of a man whose homeland she had never visited.
Japanese media reports quoted her expressing happiness at finally receiving the passport and hope that other Japanese descendants in similar circumstances could also have their nationality recognized.
Her next goal: Visit Okinawa and pay respects to her father
Kakazu hopes to travel to Okinawa, her father’s birthplace, as early as December 2026, subject to arrangements with her children and grandchildren.
She wants to visit her father’s grave, meet relatives if they can be located, and learn more about the people who were with him during his final years.
But the search for family connections has not been easy.
A report published by The Japan Times on September 21 said that Kakazu and the Philippine Nikkei-jin Legal Support Center were seeking information about her father’s relatives. Investigators had traced his registered domicile to Itoman, Okinawa, and identified an older brother, but had not yet located living relatives.
Her hoped-for trip therefore carries two purposes: paying tribute to her father and potentially reconnecting with a branch of the family separated for generations.
A wider story of Japanese descendants left behind in the Philippines
Kakazu’s experience is part of a much larger postwar history.
Before and during World War II, Japanese nationals lived in the Philippines, where some formed families with Filipino partners. After Japan’s defeat, many Japanese nationals were repatriated, leaving Filipino spouses and children behind.
Some descendants struggled for decades to establish their Japanese nationality because records had been lost, destroyed, or were difficult to obtain. Others experienced discrimination and, in certain cases, prolonged statelessness.
The Philippine News Agency reported in August 2025 on Jose Takei, another Filipino-born descendant of a Japanese national who sought Japanese citizenship nearly 80 years after the war. His case illustrated the challenges older survivors face in proving their family histories and reconnecting with relatives in Japan.
The Japanese government has also publicly acknowledged the issue. In March 2025, Inquirer reported on Japan’s plans to help stateless people born to Japanese nationals and left in the Philippines after the war investigate their ancestry and pursue Japanese nationality.
The Embassy of Japan in the Philippines has continued working with local organizations to support eligible descendants. Philippine immigration guidelines introduced in July 2023 also created a process for qualifying Philippine Nikkei-jin to seek certification that can defer certain immigration fines and fees when departing from or returning to the Philippines.
These measures are important because restoring Japanese nationality and resolving Philippine immigration documentation are separate issues. A Japanese passport does not automatically eliminate every immigration requirement a person may face in the Philippines.
More than a passport
For Kakazu, the document represents much more than permission to cross an international border.
It recognizes a connection to her Japanese father that began in childhood but remained difficult to establish officially for decades. It also opens a path toward a journey she has waited much of her life to make.
Whether she finds relatives in Okinawa remains uncertain. Yet her passport marks a significant achievement after years of searching for documentary proof of her family history.
At 90, Kakazu is moving closer to the place her father once called home—and to the possibility of learning more about the family she lost when the war ended.
Her journey raises a poignant question: How many other families separated by World War II are still waiting for their histories to be recognized and their relatives to be found?
