A reunion 20 years in the making

Radford Japanese Teacher, Mrs Di Fitzpatrick, has been the missing link for a family of one of the College’s sister schools in Japan to reconnect with relatives living in Bega, NSW after more than 20 years.

While visiting Kure Kosen in the Hiroshima precinct of Japan in April 2023, Mrs Fitzpatrick was approached by a student, Kousuke Sawada, holding a piece of paper containing the address and name of his grandmother’s sister.

Kousuke told Mrs Fitzpatrick about his grandmother, Michiyo Sakuragi, and asked if she would help him find her sister.

“I was surprised and then really excited about the possibility that I might be able to help him and his family,” said Mrs Fitzpatrick. “I immediately started to Google his grandmother’s name on my phone. I was saddened to inform him that his grandmother’s sister, Chieko, had passed in 2013, and her partner, Fred Winson, had passed in 2017. But I said I would follow it up when I returned home.”

Back in Australia, Mrs Fitzpatrick contacted the editor of Bega District News (BDN), Ben Smyth, to see if he knew of any relations in the area.

“It was a little bit of work. I had to find the right person to talk to at the Bega News, but I was really excited to have the opportunity to help a family in Japan reconnect with their family in Australia. It was an honour really,” said Mrs Fitzpatrick.

Mr Smyth knew of a John Winson living in the Bega District but not if he was related to Kousuke.

John was walking the Murray Silo Art and Mural Trail with his wife Wendy when his phone rang. BDN journalist, James Parker, asked John if there was any Japanese blood in his family, and John said his mum did.

John explained that everyone had lost contact after his parents died. In fact, the last time the families saw each other was in 1999.

“We were both really excited [to hear the news],” said Mrs Fitzpatrick. “Kosuke communicated that he and his mother were really thankful to be reconnected to their family in Australia and to learn about them.”

The good news did not stop there, either.

Mrs Fitzpatrick soon learnt that John was one of four of Fred and Chieko’s children, making them all Kousuke’s second cousins.

“There was John, Gloria (who died young), Susan and Wendy. Out of the blue, I received a message from Ian, Susan’s husband, asking if I was the Dianne Fitzpatrick they were looking for. I said yes, and the following Sunday, Susan and I had a memorable conversation about this connection. There were tears shed and Susan talked about her mother and how she never taught them Japanese, believing they were already different enough and not wanting them to stand out any more. Susan told me about her younger sister, Wendy, who is also excited about the chance of reconnecting, and about her family. She has two boys, who are quite well known down the South Coast as the band, The Spindrift Saga."

The families are planning on reuniting via videocall soon and Mrs Fitzpatrick has plans to visit the family in Bega.

More details of this story can be found on the BDN.