At the end of World War II, a number of Japanese citizens including many children were caught up in the chaos of the Japanese military's retreat from formerly occupied countries, and were left behind in different countries throughout Asia. This was the case in the Philippines too where there had been a number of Japanese businessmen and settlers. Now, years later these Japanese citizens are seeking official recognition from the Japanese government, and help in searching for their relatives.

The Nippon Foundation has been supporting the Philippine Nikkei-jin Legal Support Center (PNLSC) to gain recognition for Japanese children left behind in the Philippines who are now seeking Japanese citizenship and looking for their relatives in Japan.

One such successful case is Kiku Hokazono, 64, who recently was reunited with her relatives in Japan after years of searching for them. This was due to the support of the Nippon Foundation and PNLSC. Kiku’s father formerly worked for a Japanese agricultural development firm in Davao in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao, and married her mother, a Filipino citizen.

After an industrial accident he became a tailor and opened his own shop. Due to the fact he was disabled and lost a leg in the accident, he was not drafted into the Japanese army during World War II, but after the war he was forcibly repatriated to Japan.

Although Kiku’s father attempted to return to the Philippines, he was unable to do so. Her mother sold the tailor shop and moved to another town eventually losing contact with her husband. Kiku sought the help of the PNLSC to find her father and his relatives, and after a long search her father's family was finally identified, and they were reunited in Tokyo.

The Nippon Foundation has helped 1300 people who were left behind in the wake of Japan’s defeat in WWII to find their relatives in Japan. The Foundation has also sought unsuccessfully so far to help an additional 160 persons of Japanese origin to find their relatives in Japan. Nevertheless, the Foundation and PNLSC continue to search for these relatives in order to reunite the families as in the case of Kiku, no matter how long it takes.