Reconnecting with my Japanese Heritage
By Ezra Ho
NAP Contributor
My name is Ezra Ho. I graduated college in 2022 and started a job recently with the Washington State government. I joined the Fukushima kenjinkai about a year and a half ago.
I first became interested in researching my Japanese ancestry around the time my mom passed away in 2021 while I was in college. I was struck deeply at the time by grief but also by the fact that so much knowledge about my family, traditions and history was lost at the same time. I realized how within only one or two generations so many things can be lost if people do not take the time to preserve them and pass them on to the younger generation.
Ezra at a family gravesite in Oahu in 2022 where several family members are buried. Ezra stands next to the headstone of his great great grandfather Kaju Hanzawa — the first family member to immigrate to Hawaii.
At the time, my only connection to the Japanese side of my family was my grandma on the island of Oahu in Hawaii and the anime I periodically watched with my friends. My grandma was sick at the time, and I knew she would not last much longer in this world. So, when I next visited her, I spent a great deal of time talking with her about the stories she told me of her childhood and of her grandfather who immigrated to Oahu from the city of Fukushima in Japan. I also learned he was a master carpenter and how they lived in a house that was built by his ancestor that is still standing to this day in Fukushima.
After my grandma passed away in 2022, I spoke to her sisters and my aunty who told me about the research they did into the history of the family in Fukushima. Later that same year, after attending my grandma’s funeral, I visited the gravesites of my ancestors buried at the Honolulu National Memorial Cemetery in Hawaii. I even managed to get in touch with acquaintances and distant cousins who still lived in the region. I became curious to learn more which was when I found out about the kenjinkai for children of immigrants from the Fukushima region.
Ezra Ho and his grandmother Ida Ho in 2022 shortly before her passing in Oahu, Hawaii. Photo credit: Ezra Ho.
I first learned about the kenjinkai from my aunty who lives in Oahu. She had heard about my interest in family history and told me about a trip my cousin had taken that was sponsored by the Fukushima kenjinkai in Hawaii. She had close friends who were heavily involved in the group that got me in touch with the Seattle one. The kenjinkai invited me to participate in things like mochi-making and learning about the different cultural groups present in the Seattle area. It also helped me grieve the loss of my grandmother whom I was rather close to throughout my life. These events and activities allowed me to not only reconnect with my ancestors who came before me but also to collect information that I share with my extended family and safeguard for future generations.
As an American of mixed race growing up in the U.S. and because of the geographical separation, I had limited experience in the traditions and history on the Asian side of my family. They lived far away. My only experience of the culture was through short visits every few years.
My dad was doing his best to pass on cultural artifacts from his childhood. My mom tried her best, but she had a very hard time understanding the cultural differences. Despite my limited experience, I always loved the sense of community and family whenever I visited Oahu to see my grandparents and cousins.
I have learned so much but there is always so much more to discover. I am planning a trip in the near future to see Fukushima and the rest of Japan firsthand. I have seen photographs of my great great great grandfather being buried and where he lived, which is still standing. I hope one day to walk the same places he did a hundred years ago. I am also taking time to learn from the other sides of my family – the Chinese side as well as those who immigrated from Europe. My hope is to inspire others, not only to learn about themselves, but also to share what they already know with their children. I believe others can share in the wonder of knowing about all the people who brought them into this world.