Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2023 - Nga mate o te wa, haere mai, haere. Tatou e whakaurupa mai nei i a ratou ma ki te hinengaro tihewa mauri ora! And welcome back to The Hui. Back in 1983, there was no internet, no social media ` not even texting. So communicating with loved ones overseas mostly involved writing letters. For Tuhoe, Ngati Kahungunu uri Migoto Eria, handwritten letters preserved by her late mother for 40 years are precious clues in her search for her Japanese father. Reporter John Boynton and producer Ruwani Perera followed Migoto on her whakapapa journey. (MAN SINGS POP BALLAD IN JAPANESE) - Music puts you in a certain time period. I love Japanese '80s pop ` play it every day. (ELECTRIC GUITAR SOLO) - The reason why I went down that track was because I have a couple of my father's mix tapes. I've spent my whole life wondering where my papa is. (ELECTRIC GUITAR PLAYS FINALE) Ko te ingoa o toku mama ko Rangi Hirini Eria tona ingoa, ko toku papa ko Osamu Nakamoto no Hapani ia. I've never met anybody else (CHUCKLES) half-Japanese, half-Maori before ` just me. (POIGNANT PIANO MUSIC) - JOHN BOYNTON: 41-year-old Migoto Eria was just a child when her father, Osamu Nakamoto, disappeared from her life. - There's a father that has lost years on knowing who his daughter is. I lost Mum six years ago. After packing down her whare after her passing, there was a whole lot of letters from Nakamoto, ...and an address book from the time when she was in a relationship with him that I'd never seen. Mum was a very private person, particularly around her private affairs. I'd spend hours reading Nakamoto's letters, and there were lots of little clues, with emotion, feelings. READS: You perhaps are wondering what in the world I am doing. I haven't given up on sea life. Onboard at 23 of April 1985, now voyage from the northern ocean via the Panama Canal, and sometime I'll come by the coast of New Zealand. (BITTERSWEET STRING MUSIC) - Migoto's father was an engineer working onboard this vessel ` the Sunny Napier. Shipping records reveal it routinely transported logs between Napier and a Japanese port called Tomakomai in the late 1970s and early '80's. It was during one of these visits that Nakamoto met Migoto's mother Rangi Eria. - They had quite an extended relationship before I was born, and they were very much in love. - Theirs was a long-distance relationship ` wherever he was in the world, he still kept in touch. - Some of my earliest memories ` in the middle of the night, and Mum's woken me up to go and pick the phone up, and Nakamoto's on the other end. I was only, like, four. I remember hearing his voice. 'Hello, Papa.' And so I'd just stand there and listen. Nakamoto sending gifts to us was a real treat. It was like all of our Christmases that we never had, all in one. - Migoto was 6 when the taonga and phone calls stopped coming. - When I was 9 or 10, I remember saying to Mum, 'I think I want to send Nakamoto a letter, 'cos won't he want to know what I'm doing? You know, what am I up to?' And I put together a letter, and that was a letter that came back. And I remember when it came back and Mum saying, 'Oh, this doesn't surprise me. 'He's moved.' And that was the end of the conversation. - Migoto's mum never wanted to discuss her relationship with Nakamoto. - She'd just go completely quiet. And that, to me, you know, when I was growing up, like, 'Ooh. OK.' And she definitely did not share her feelings about him. - Migoto's only learning about her father through the letters she found after her mother's death. - READS: 'I understand your feelings. 'I cannot find words to express what is in my heart.' - In one of Nakamoto's last letters... - 'I guess I'll say sayonara to you for now.' 'Please remember me. Lots of love, Osamu Nakamoto.' And expressing his love for her. And a sense of... it's not finished yet. 'I want to know how you feel. I haven't heard back from you.' Did Mum actually write back? And I'm convinced she didn't. - I hadn't actually thought about the similarities between the mahi that I do and this journey, but I guess there are` there are lots. My mahi at Te Papa Tongarewa ` I'm the head of Matauranga Maori. The core of what our job is is to close the gap between our people and their taonga. - After a lifetime of helping to connect whanau with their long-lost taonga, it's time for Migoto to make her own connections. It's not going to be easy, with the few clues she has almost 40 years old. Migoto's search starts where it all began ` in the Hawke's Bay. - This is the starting point for me, for this journey. (BEEPS) It's important for me to have my waewae on the whenua before embarking on this kaupapa. This morning, we're going over to our old homestead, which is just north of Lake Tutira. (GENTLE MUSIC) - Migoto doesn't know how often Nakamoto had shore leave in Napier, but the letters reveal her father had met her koro. - My grandparents were still living here at the time ` it was my mother introducing my father to my koro. Apparently, it was a very special encounter. They got on like a house on fire, like they knew each other for` you know, forever. Knowing that my father walked on this whenua and, I guess, wananga'd with my koroua as well is a really good feeling. In terms of piecing all the clues together, the port's a really integral place. That whole port reminds me of Nakamoto. - Migoto's pinning her hopes on an old friend of her mum's who might have information about her dad. - I feel quite emotional about meeting Yvonne Cosford today. (GENTLE PIANO MUSIC) - (LAUGHS) - You are very much like your mum. And last time I saw you, you were... just a baby. - Do you remember Mum talking about Nakamoto, my dad? - I remember her when she was pregnant with you, telling me he was off the Sunny Napier, and he was a Japanese guy. - Mixed-race couples, particularly Maori and Japanese ` do you think it was anything unusual in that time? - No, there was a lot of girls going out with Japanese boys, and Korean boys, and... English boys, and... But, yeah, it was fun times. I wish I could help you more, I really do` - LAUGHS: No, that's fine. - ...cos everybody needs to know their heritage. - Mm. - So, good luck with your search. - Thank you. Thank you. LAUGHS: Thank you so much. (POIGNANT MUSIC) - Migoto was only three the last time she actually saw her father. - One of the most vivid memories that I have is when he left, at the port, and waving to him on the ship, but the ship was pulling away, and Mum was upset and crying, and I didn't know why. - TEARFULLY: This is really special for me, standing here and seeing the space where they were, (CHUCKLES) many, many moons ago. The beginning and ending of their relationship was in that exact place. Mum never found love after that. - Next ` Migoto sets off for Japan in search of her father. - It's really important for me to go and just take a chance and go there and do it. Give a gift that unleashes theirs. Get a bonus tablet with this Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5. Or buy a JBL Clip 3 and get another one free. And get $200 off a Samsung Galaxy Watch6 44mm. Grab great deals instore or online. - Kia ora mai ano. Migoto Eria's journey to Japan is a bid to find her father, and also to reconnect with her Hapani identity. Before she left, she took her whanau to experience a slice of Japan, just out of Wellington. (TRANQUIL MUSIC) - Well, it's definitely a great feeling being with my whanau. I feel like we're in Japan, but we're not, we're in Aotearoa. - MAN: This is beautiful. - This is the right time to be doing this, being a bit older, being a mum, married now, and particularly after my mother's passing, you know, time's very short. - JOHN BOYNTON: Migoto Eria is about to embark on a journey she's dreamt about for most of her life ` travelling to Japan to try and find her father. - Oh, this is ataahua. Wow. - And she has the full support of her husband Tom and their 12-year-old son Tomoana. - How do you feel about it? - I feel excited. - Really? - Yep. - They've only shown their support, and they understand how big this is, and important. That's nice, darling. Tiro. Reflection. It would be wonderful for my father to know he has a Maori mokopuna and to tell him that. (TRANQUIL MUSIC ENDS) (JET ENGINE RUMBLES) - This is a really big opportunity for me, and it's worth taking the step. It's worth a chance. (GENTLE ELECTRONIC MUSIC) - This is Migoto's first visit to Japan.. - It's been a bit surreal. Surreal, and pretty amazing. Little bit nervous, I guess. It's just a dream to be here in person. I'm really happy that I'm here. So happy. I'm not too sure why it's taken me this long. I didn't feel like I had a connection. (WOMEN SING IN JAPANESE) It's all very overwhelming all at once. And there's a lot of new experiences that I'm soaking up like a sponge. - It's important to understand just how difficult the search for Migoto's father is. The information she has is almost 40 years old. Osamu Nakamoto is a common name here in Japan, and she's trying to find him in a country of 120 million people. There's no doubt the odds are stacked against her. His last letter to Migoto's mother, Rangi, was from the late 1980s. We don't know his date of birth, or if he's even still alive. But we do have that old address book of her mother's. - My name is Koichi Muro. - To help us track down Nakamoto, we get help from Japanese genealogist Koichi Muro. Koichi, from the addresses that we gave you, what information were you able to find? - (SPEAKS JAPANESE) - We've hit a dead end ` her father no longer lives at this address. But Migoto wants to go to the house anyway, even though it's 4 hours away in the seaport city of Tomakomai. She wants to see where her father once lived. (PA ANNOUNCEMENT IN JAPANESE) - That thought of 'Well, my papa walked on this ground,' and seeing the sunset that he had seen so many times ` really special. Tomakomai is a sister city of Napier` is even more special cos I grew up in Napier. - Tomakomai Port is where her father worked. He was an engineer on ships like these in the 1980s. - Seeing the kaimahi on the ships, I thought about Nakamoto a lot ` thinking about how long they'd been on the water, how long they'd been waiting to come home. I did see shades of my papa, watching them. Nakamoto sailed the world. He wrote to Mum from all over the world, not just from Japan. There's an ahua to sea life, and what it does to human beings. Just means that you're not in one place, and I think that was my papa ` he wasn't in one place for a long time. Arriving here in Tomakomai, there's this one question ` where are you, Nakamoto? I'm here. Are you here? (POIGNANT MUSIC) (FACETIME CALL RINGS) (FACETIME CALL RINGS) - Hey, love. - Muuum! - (LAUGHS) Hi, my darling. I miss you. - Are you in Japan? - I'm in Japan. I'm in Tomakomai. Yeah, it's quite special for Mum, coming into Tomakomai, cos this is one of Nakamoto's kaingas, eh? It's a bit of a seaside town, real industrial. So, yeah, apopo, going to this address. - How do you feel about that, love? - Yeah, I don't know. A little bit` I think I'm a little bit nervous. - Yeah. - A little bit. - How far away is the whare from where you're staying? - It's not far at all ` I mean, I think Tomakomai's not very big. Kono jisho made onegaishimasu? Makiba Sou. (GENTLE MUSIC) - This is the trip her father would have taken from the port to his home each day. - I have this huge pull to be in a place where Nakamoto has been. That's really important to me ` you know, in connection to the whenua. (INDICATOR TICKS) - (MAN SPEAKS JAPANESE) (TENSE MUSIC) - Her father wrote many of the precious letters from her childhood from this whare. (POIGNANT MUSIC) - This is like a dream, knowing that this was my papa's house, and that he was here one time. I guess the sadness is really about, um... wondering where he is. I guess I hadn't realised how much just being here would impact me. It sort of feels like that moment before you go on to a marae, and you're standing at the waharoa and waiting to be welcomed in. In one way or another, this is like my karanga, too... um... (POIGNANT PIANO MUSIC) ...but that I can't hear a response. - Migoto is no closer to finding her father. Coming up... - I've spent my whole life being programmed to not raise my hopes. (POIGNANT MUSIC) - Migoto Eria's trip to Japan isn't turning out how she hoped. I've been thinking about that possibility of him not showing up ` not only through my whole life, but more intensely since being in Japan. - Her attempt to find her father seems to have come to a standstill. - (SPEAKS JAPANESE) - Our genealogist, Koichi Muro, had no luck finding Migoto's father with the address book, but he has found a telephone number in an old phone book. (PHONE RINGS) And remarkably, somebody answers. - (SPEAKS JAPANESE) - (MAN REPLIES IN JAPANESE) - It's a breakthrough we've been waiting for. - (SPEAKS JAPANESE) - (MAN REPLIES IN JAPANESE) (LIVELY CHATTER, LAUGHTER) - So, Migoto, the reason why we are here right now is our strongest lead has come through. We believe that we have found your papa, Osamu Nakamoto. - CHUCKLES: Oh my God. Really? - And... - LAUGHS: My God. Am I dreaming? Is this real? (LAUGHS) That's probably the most amazing thing I've ever heard in my life. - 'And he wants to meet Migoto.' What's going through your head right now? - (SNIFFLES) I'm thinking about all the things I really want to tell him. There's an instinctive wanting to know, um... (SNIFFLES) if he'll love me and, um... and be proud of me as his` as his daughter. Oh my God, I'm not going to sleep tonight. (TRAIN CLATTERS) (GENTLE MUSIC) - The next morning, Migoto travels to Amagasaki, outside the city of Osaka, where her father now lives. - Heading out today, there was a lot going through my head. I was feeling quite shaky. In the photos I've grown up with, he's been frozen in time, and that's the Nakamoto that I've only ever known and remembered. (EXPECTANT MUSIC) (FOOTSTEPS CRUNCH ON GRAVEL) - Nice to meet you. I'm glad to see you. - (LAUGHS) - You happy? - LAUGHS: I am now. (WARM MUSIC) Long time. - Yeah. - One of the biggest things that was going through my mind was, 'Is that actually him? Is this real?' Oh... (CRIES) - Come from... that letter. - When he had taken out the photo to show me, it was in his pocket up by his ngakau. You keep this... Long time. It was covered in a plastic sleeve for protection because he handles it all the time. I'd never seen the photo before. - That's Mum's writing. - Yes. - 'My mum had sent that photo to Nakamoto.' - Migoto has something to tell him about her mother. - Mama, um... died six years ago. - Mm. - Very sick, and I'm sorry to tell you that. - Sorry. - TEARFULLY: Mm. Telling Nakamoto that my mum had passed, that was` that was hard. I'm glad to know that you are` you are alive. I didn't know. - Mm. - Waited my whole life for now. - Nakamoto moved here 30 years ago when he quit ship life. - Temples. Understand? - Mm? - There is temple. - Mm-hm. - He is keen to show her around the city he lives in. - GASPS: Oh, beautiful. - Mm. 'This whole street just completely lined with really old tawhito whare.' How old? How old? He says, 'Oh, you know, over 500 years old,' and I'm like, 'What?!' (CHIMES JANGLE) 'Hanging out with Nakamoto for the rest of the day was pretty cool.' - So` - (INDISTINCT) Do you like spicy? - Uh-uh. (CHUCKLES) - Same. (Laughs) (GLASSES CLINK) - See you in the morning. - OK. - Take care and rest. (GENTLE MUSIC) (PA CHIMES, ANNOUNCEMENT IN JAPANESE) - Over the next few days... - Hi, Papa. - ...Migoto gains a better insight into her father's life. - He's quite vibrant, outgoing, healthy. He volunteers for a few places. - The 71-year-old is a well-known and respected man in his community. - Every morning he runs the traffic crossing for the tamariki in the local kura, so everybody knows him. It's a little bit like the uncle that drives the kohanga van ` he's that, and I quite like that, you know? - They're making up for lost time. - He was quite comfortable (CHUCKLES) swinging on a swing... with me. Is this what it would have been like? (BITTERSWEET MUSIC) (WOMAN SPEAKS JAPANESE) - When he was introducing me to one of the neighbours... - (SPEAKS JAPANESE) - Mm. - ...and he's so proud. 'This is my New Zealand daughter.' And they go, 'What?!' (SPEAKS JAPANESE) - To hear that for the first time... in Japan. Yeah, pretty cool. Mm. - Nakamoto invites her to his house. - So we went inside... He pulls out this big envelope and he said, 'I woke up early this morning and I prepared this for you.' They're from Mum. 'I recognised my mother's handwriting.' - Nakamoto has kept all the letters Migoto's mum sent him. - Before today, I had absolutely no idea whether she'd written back or not. (BOTH CHUCKLE) These are special for me, because I still miss my mama. - Mm. - 'I love you, and I always have.' That was the sign-off for most of the letters. - One more thing Nakamoto has kept ` the phone card he used to call Migoto. But the last time her father tried calling, the number had changed, and he couldn't get through. (GENTLE MUSIC) Migoto isn't sure how her parent's relationship ended. - '85. Is that right? 'He had another relationship after coming back to Japan.' - He has another daughter, named Ayumi. - It's not something that he would extend the conversation on. I've sort of just told myself to be a little bit patient. (WARM MUSIC) - Papa? - Yes? - Taonga. - Oh. - For you. Hei taonga ` to help you remember. Same. - Yeah. - Mm. So, wear all the time. - Hmm. It's been an amazing bond, and he's... thinking and feeling a lot. I don't see Japanese hugging at all, (CHUCKLES) but I'm so glad we did. CHUCKLES: And he was holding on tight too. Really sweet. - An embrace Migoto's been waiting for her entire adult life. - That little girl was holding on... The grief that that tamaiti's held on for so long is coming out. And it's allowed to. I'm allowed to cry on him. All these years of tears finally falling on my papa. This whole experience is absolutely life-changing. (BIRDS CAW) This has far surpassed (CHUCKLES) what I thought it might be. Really hard for me ` and harder that he's now starting to express a lot of emotion. - OK? - Take care. 'Even though he'll be here and I'll be in Aotearoa, we've got full hearts now.' (POIGNANT MUSIC) - And this time it's Migoto who's leaving. - We plan to return with our family, for him to meet his grandson. This isn't the end. This is a beginning. I now know you are here. I will come back. - E mihi ana ki a moko to` ki tona papa, ki te whanau, whanui tonu. Thanks also to Te Papa Tongarewa and Asia New Zealand Foundation for their support in helping making this story possible. Now, you'll find links to that story and others ` all our stories ` on Facebook and YouTube or at newshub.co.nz, and please join us next week for our last show for 2023. Until then ` kia mau ki te turanga o Taputapuatea! Haumi e, hui e, taiki e! Captions by Lena Erakovich. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2023