Vietnamese Man Eager to Visit Father’s Grave in Japan after 66 Years of Separation; Faced Discrimination for Japanese Heritage

By Shunpei Takeuchi / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent

21:00 JST, March 21, 2025

PHU THO, Vietnam — Sixty-six years after their separation, a Vietnamese man learned last year that the grave of his father, a former Japanese soldier who had continued to live in Vietnam for a time after World War II, was found in Japan.

His father had joined Vietnamese forces in their fight for independence from France. The man was so dedicated to his dream of seeing his father again, he even went to a Japanese language school. Now, he desires to visit his father’s grave and bring some of the soil back to Vietnam.

“Dad, do you remember me?” Tran Ngoc Son, 75, said and then repeated the phrase in halting Japanese in Phu Tho, Phu Tho Province, about 80 kilometers west of the capital city of Hanoi, in December.

Son was born in the province in 1949 as the eldest son of his father, who had been a commissioned officer of the former Imperial Japanese Army. His father remained in Vietnam after WWII ended and joined Vietnamese troops in the war of independence against France. When he was injured in a battle, he was treated by Son’s mother, a vegetable seller at the time. The two got married in 1948 and had three children; two sons, including Son, and a daughter.

Japanese soldiers remaining in Vietnam began returning to Japan after the independence war ended in 1954. There were reports which claimed Japanese soldiers returning to Japan in 1959 would be allowed to bring their families, so Son’s family moved to Hanoi in 1958 to prepare to resettle in Japan. Their new home was located near the Long Bien Bridge over the river. “My father put me on his shoulders and took me to the bridge almost every day. We often ate pho near the bridge,” Son said.

However, just before moving to Japan, his mother grew reluctant about going. “My mother did not know Japan well and was nervous about going,” Son said. His father told Son to study hard and work hard. He promised his family he would come back in two years and returned to Japan alone. However, that was their final farewell.

Facing discrimination in Vietnam

The family returned to Phu Tho Province but suffered from discrimination as the “family of a Japanese fascist.” Even though Japanese soldiers fought together with Vietnamese in their war to gain independence from France, it was impossible to erase the history of Japan advancing into the region. Son volunteered for military service during the Vietnam War, but he was rejected as the son of a Japanese soldier. He was unable to become a member of the country’s communist party or find a decent job.

However, Son has never held a grudge against his father. Believing his father would return to Vietnam someday, he went to a Japanese language school in Hanoi for about eight years from 1996 so he would be able to talk with his father.

When he talked about his story at school, Miyuki Komatsu, 77, one of the Japanese teachers there, did research and found a considerable number of families of former Japanese soldiers that had remained in Vietnam after WWII were in a similar situation.

Several years later, Son received news about his father via a network of former remaining Japanese soldiers. His father had purportedly gotten married after returning to Japan and had a daughter. However, he did not tell his family in Japan about his family in Vietnam. Son was told his father could not see him. Son spent days repressing his desire to see his father.

Subhead: Wanting to ‘bring soil back’

Komatsu continued her research. Last year, she sent postcards to several temples in the Kanto region based on information from Son about his father’s address, asking if they had a grave of Son’s father. One of the temples sent her a reply, which said the father had died in 2008.

Komatsu confirmed the grave and informed Son via supporters. “I saw this coming,” Son said. However, he tearfully continued, “I wanted to see him again at any cost.”

After his father left, his family was poor and faced many difficulties. Discrimination still remains in Vietnam. After his 35-year-old daughter got pregnant, her engagement was canceled because her partner said he did not want to marry a woman with Japanese heritage. Even so, Son said, “I want to visit my father’s grave in Japan someday and bring some of the soil back to Vietnam. I want my father to set foot in Vietnam again.”

Families growing older

About 600 Japanese soldiers are said to have remained in Vietnam after WWII. However, the existence of these soldiers and their families did not attract attention until the late 1990s when Komatsu, who now lives in Japan, started fully investigating the situation. The network of families expanded due to her steady research, and the Japanese Embassy in Vietnam has been holding gatherings for them on a regular basis since 2016. The families met with the now retired Imperial couple in 2017 and with Crown Prince Akishino and Crown Princess Kiko in 2023 during their respective visits to Vietnam. In 2017, a project to invite these families to Japan was implemented.

However, Son and other family members of former Japanese soldiers are getting older. Fifteen children of soldiers participated in a gathering held in November. Only five grandchildren participated in the gathering, making it unclear whether gatherings would continue in the future. “We would like to respect the families’ desires to visit graves of relatives in Japan and interact with other families,” an Embassy official said.