I have a new branch in my family tree!

When I was in elementary school, at the beginning of each school year the teacher would ask us all to tell about what we had done during the summer.  I never had much to say, we very seldom went anywhere or did anything exciting.  If I was asked the same question today, I would have a very unusual tale to tell.  Here it is.

As I mentioned in a earlier post, my Father was in the Army, stationed in Japan, and had told us he had left a daughter there.  I had often thought this was just another of his tall tales he would tell about his life before we knew him.  This summer I learned that my family tree really does extend to Japan.  I finally got to meet that Japanese daughter, my sister, Junko, this summer, 53 years later.

The story of the newly discovered branch of my family tree begins a couple of weeks before Easter 2011 when my brother called me on a week day.  He usually calls on Saturday morning, from the old people's bench at the Walmart, while his wife does their weekly shopping.  It is usually a casual conversation, how are you doing kind of thing, just a brief chat.  This time he had a story to tell me.  He had received a call from a Japanese TV producer, Kenshi Fukuhara, wanting information about our Dad, Willard Overing.  Kenshi was working on a program called "Family History" for NHK, the Japanese public broadcasting network.  Seems they had been contacted by a Japanese Movie Star, Tadanobu Asano, who was trying to find out information about his Grandfather, Willard Overing.  Tadanobu is the son of Junko, the Japanese daughter of my Dad, and my Sister.  Which makes him my Nephew.  Talk about a family tree!

Kenshi called me several times over the new few weeks to ask questions about my father and our life together.  He asked many questions about my Dad.  I answered them as best I could, as many of my memories are growing dim.  Kenshi asked if I would be willing to be interviewed for the TV show he was putting together for NHK, and I agreed.
I searched the Internet for information about them both.  There were no hits for Junko, but Tadanobu is all over the Internet.  I was amazed to see how many movies he has been involved with.  I searched and searched to find out as much as I could about him.  Kenshi had told me that he had acted in the recent American movie "Thor".  I found a poster of him as Hogun, one of the Warriors Three.  A friend of mine and I went to see the movie.  His was a small part, but quite interesting to see him on the screen and know of our relationship.

The day came when the NHK film crew would be arriving in town.  I met Kenshi at their hotel for a brief discussion about the interview, which was scheduled for the next day.  They would come to my house the next morning to film the interview.

The crew arrived the next morning and set up their equipment.  I did not know what to expect as I had never experienced anything like this in the past.  Two lovely young ladies interviewed me.  They would discuss the questions in Japanese, then ask me in english.  They often would rephrase their questions and re ask them, trying to jog my memories.  Much the same technique that police use when questioning criminals.  I would not survive a hard questioning, that is for sure.  They interviewed me for about 4 hours, then we broke for lunch.

My Granddaughter was quite interested in what was going on.

While we were taking a break for lunch, I stated questioning one of the young Japanese women about my sister and her son.  She said to please wait until we started filming again to answer my questions so they could capture my reactions on film.  After lunch they presented me with some lovely lacquer-ware gifts.  I was fascinated with the way they were wrapped.  Nothing like we would do it, on the bias instead of at right angles.  Guess that shows the difference in culture between us.

When we restarted the filming, she showed me pictures of Junko, when she was a small child.  They also had pictures of my Father and Ichiko, Junko's mother, on their wedding day.  When she showed me that picture, I was speechless.  I compared that picture of my Father with a picture of him from early in his Army service, it was definitely the same man.  There was no longer any doubt in my mind that Junko's father and mine were the same person.  I had a Sister and Nephew that I had never met.  My family tree suddenly was stretched across an ocean to a different, mysterious land.  In that one moment, my whole world changed.

Later, in July, I travelled to London, England.  There my brother and I met our Sister and Nephew for the first time.  It was quite emotional for all of us.  By coincidence, it was on my 65th birthday that we met.  What a birthday present, to travel to a distant land, to meet family I had never met before!  I will write more about the trip and meeting soon.