Naoko Shimamura, who lives in Kashiwa City, Chiba Prefecture, has been searching for her cousin, Terry Weber (Tetsu-san), for 30 years. Terry Weber is the son of her uncle, the late painter Yojiro Shimamura, and was adopted to the United States at the age of three. She has contacted orphanages and child consultation centers in Tokyo, the U.S. Embassy, and even the university that Terry's adoptive parents graduated from, but despite her efforts, she has been unable to find any clues. One day, when all else had been exhausted, she found out that Terry was living in Torrance. Last March, the two were finally able to meet. This encounter was also the beginning of another part of her family's story.
It all started with Terry searching for his biological mother. Terry's biological mother, Kimiko, left her husband Yojiro shortly after Terry was born. Since then, Terry had never looked into Kimiko's whereabouts. However, in August of last year, Terry managed to find Kimiko, and the two were reunited after 67 years. But where was Kimiko?
In the second episode, we will bring you the story of a mother and her child in Japan and the United States. [Interviews by Junko Yoshida and Gwen Muranaka]
Searching for his biological mother, Kimiko
After meeting his cousin Naoko, Terry makes a big decision: to find his biological mother, Kimiko.
Until then, he had never thought about finding out about his biological parents. One day, his adoptive father, Joe Weber, asked him if he wanted to find his biological mother. However, Terry declined, saying, "My fathers are my family." "I was scared that even if I did find my biological mother, she would ask me, 'Why did you call? Why did you come to see me?'"
Terry and his wife Sharon began searching for Kimiko, and in July of last year they attended a seminar called "How to Find Your Japanese Ancestors" held by the Japanese American National Museum (JANM). They also began using internet services such as Ancestry.com and Beenverfield, which allow people to trace their roots back through multiple generations of their ancestors.
However, even after searching various databases, we were unable to find any name that matched Kimiko's maiden name, "Tazawa Kimiko."
Just when he had given up on the idea of ever seeing his biological mother again, a helping hand was extended to him by Naoko. Naoko had been conducting research in Japan for 30 years in an attempt to find Terry, and had discovered that Kimiko was now known as "Roche Kimiko." Naoko informed Terry that Kimiko's name had been changed, and sent him any documents she had on hand about Kimiko.
Terry and Sharon immediately searched for the name "Roche Kimiko" that Naoko had given them, and finally found a matching person. The address was listed as Pacific Grove, Monterey County, California.
A series of strange coincidences
After Kimiko left Yojiro, she met and married an American man, Alvin Roesch. They later moved to the United States and had two children, a son, Alan, and a daughter, Alana. The address that matched the database was the house that Alan was currently building.
Terry has a sister named Melba, who lives in Pacific Grove, and surprisingly, she lived just a few blocks away from the house Alan was building. What's more, the address was right next to a golf course that Terry frequents. "It was a strange coincidence that it was so close to the places I frequented," Terry says.
Last August, Terry found out that Kimiko was actually living in Glendale. After finding out where she was, he mustered up the courage to write her a letter. In the letter, he attached his birth certificate proving that he was adopted, as well as a photo of Kimiko and Yojiro.
When Kimiko's eldest son Alan received the letter, he initially thought it was some kind of prank. "But we had the birth certificate, and the name, date, and story flow all matched. When I saw the photo, I immediately thought, 'This is my mother.'" The letter also said that he would love to meet her.
Three weeks later, in September of last year, Kimiko and Terry finally met.
Kimiko lived with Alan and his wife in Glendale. The biological mother and daughter lived in the same Los Angeles County without ever meeting each other. "I was just shocked when I found out that my biological mother was so close by. If I hadn't met Naoko, I probably would never have met my biological mother in my life," Terry said.
"Maybe we just missed each other." Alan and Terry frequented the same restaurants and golf goods stores. The "brothers" were surprised at the number of coincidences.
Another mother who supported exchanges between Japan and the United States
Here, I would like to mention Terry's adoptive mother. Terry had another adoptive parent, Kaneko. Joe Weber and his wife Esta adopted Terry and a Japanese daughter, Anna, from an orphanage in Nakano Ward. However, in 1961, Esta passed away. After that, Joe remarried to a Japanese woman, Kaneko Ariga.
Terry comes to visit Kaneko at Seaside, where she lives, about twice a year. Kaneko says that she sees Terry as more of a friend than a parent and child.
Kaneko and Joe later had three children together: Julia, Melba, and Sam, and Kaneko raised five children together, including Terry and Anna. Even after Kaneko and Joe had their own children, Terry continued to treat the other children with kindness as an older brother.
"I think it's more about nature than upbringing. I have five children, but none of them are like Terry. All my daughters look up to Terry very much," says Kaneko.
There's also this story: When the whole family was making Christmas cards, they were surprised at how well Terry drew on them. It seems that Terry's talent for drawing, inherited from his father Yojiro, who was a painter, was in him from an early age.
Kaneko also translated Naoko's letters, written in Japanese, into English and taught them to Terry, supporting interactions between Japan and the United States behind the scenes.
Mother and child finally reunited
After 67 years, Terry was finally reunited with his biological mother, Kimiko, in September of last year. In October, Terry and Kimiko's families gathered at Terry's home and spent some quality time together as a family.
"I never thought I'd meet him while I was still alive. I never told anyone about Terry, and I thought I'd just keep him in my heart and go about my life," Kimiko murmured.
"I had given up, thinking I'd never meet him before I died. So when I met him for the first time, I was really happy to see that he'd grown into a fine young man. Everyone was happy for me, saying, 'Your family has grown.'"
According to Kimiko, she met Yojiro at school. Kimiko was a student at Yokosuka Municipal Third Girls' High School (now Zushi High School), and Yojiro, who worked as an art teacher at the school, asked her to draw a picture for him, so she became his model. The two then began dating and eventually got married. Terry was born.
"I found out about Yojiro's death quite some time ago. I found out after I came to America. No one told me," says Kimiko.
"I was a child back then and didn't know anything about the world. I lost my father when the war ended, and I think it was a difficult time for my mother. Now, my husband Roche and other relatives have passed away, and I thought my family consisted of two children and two grandchildren. Then Terry showed up. My son (Alan) jumped for joy, saying, 'You've got a big brother!' I'm glad that I now have more grandchildren and they're all such nice people," says Kimiko.
Naoko, who came to the U.S. in October and was able to be present at the reunion between mother and daughter, said with tears in her eyes, "I'm so glad Terry got to meet Kimiko." "It was because of you that I was able to meet Terry. If you hadn't been there, we would never have met." Kimiko repeatedly expressed her gratitude to Naoko.
"Naoko introduced me to my biological mother. If Naoko hadn't picked up that book in the bookstore at that time. If she hadn't tried to look for me, I don't think my mother and I would ever be able to experience this moment together. I have nothing but gratitude to Naoko. It made me feel the bond between our family once again," says Terry.
"I'm glad I met you, Mom. I love you."
Thus the mother and daughter were reunited and continued to keep in touch afterwards. Terry, Kimiko and Kimiko's eldest daughter Alana would sometimes join them for lunch.
But their happy times did not last long. On February 25th of this year, Kimiko passed away. She was 87 years old.
Last Christmas, Kimiko gave her son Terry his first Christmas present. It was a calligraphy piece of Terry's Japanese name, "Tetsu." According to Alana, Kimiko wrote the characters for Terry, rewriting them 30 times. She put so much energy into them that she ran out of ink quickly, and Alana had to go buy more.
It was not easy for Kimiko, who was elderly and suffered from scoliosis, to write 30 times in a row. Enduring the pain of her whole body, Kimiko sent her son a heartfelt present. This calligraphy became the first and last Christmas present from mother to child.
In honour of his mother's wishes, Terry had prepared a present for Kimiko: a pastel painting based on a photograph of Kimiko when she was young.
Just like his father, Yojiro, Terry also drew Kimiko. However, Kimiko suddenly passed away, and Terry was never able to give her the present.
Following his mother's death, Terry reflected on his reunion with her:
"After 67 years, I was so happy to finally meet my mother and call her 'Mom'. Hearing her say 'I love you' was the most wonderful moment in my life. My mother had no choice but to leave me at an infant home to protect me from the risk of contracting tuberculosis. I understand the anguish my mother went through during the turmoil after the war. So many people supported me until I was able to be reunited with my mother. I want to thank all of them now. And, Mom, I'm glad I met you. I love you."
*This article is reprinted from the March 15, 2018 edition of the Rafu Shimpo .
Read the English version of this story here. >>
© 2018 Yoshida Junko / The Rafu Shimpo
