90-Year-Old Japanese Woman Returns to Her Keelung School
A 90-year-old Japanese woman has made a visit to her old elementary school in northern Taiwan. It's her first time back in Taiwan since her family left after World War II.
Transcript
00:00 Welcome!
00:02 A reunion eight decades in the making.
00:04 Nishime Miyoko was part of this Keelung Elementary School's first graduating class in the 1930s.
00:10 Taiwan was a Japanese colony at that time, and Nishima's family were prominent settlers,
00:15 with her grandfather arriving in 1905.
00:17 But these settlers were sent back to Japan after World War II and the end of Japanese rule.
00:22 Now, Nishime's in her 90s, and back in Taiwan for the first time since her family left.
00:28 She and her family are still remembered around these parts.
00:31 A statue of her grandfather on a fishing boat is a local landmark.
00:34 And her old school hasn't forgotten her either.
00:37 It's organized a homecoming, with current students giving her the VIP treatment.
00:42 The visit brings back many early memories.
00:45 And it's a big day for the kids, too.
00:56 It's my first time to be so close to Japanese people.
01:00 I'm very happy to see my sister back at her alma mater.
01:05 As the last generation to remember this period in Taiwan's history passes,
01:09 this visit, too, is itself a special moment in history, worth remembering.
01:13 Luffy Lee and John Ventriest for Taiwan Plus.
01:17 [BLANK_AUDIO]