In past editions of the Bulletin we reported on the role Radford College Japanese language teacher, Mrs Di Fitzpatrick played in reuniting a Japanese family with relatives in Australia. After many phone calls, these family members met in person earlier this year, and Mrs Fitzpatrick was there.

It all started when Mrs Fitzpatrick and a group of Japanese language students visited Radford’s sister school, Kure Kosen in Hiroshima, Japan. One of the students, Kousuke Sawada, came up to her and asked if she could help him find his grandmother’s sister, Chieko Winson, who lives in Australia. The only information he had as to her whereabouts was a sticker torn from a package and a return address in Bega, New South Wales.

A quick internet searched showed that both Chieko and her husband had passed away several years ago, but Mrs Fitzpatrick was adamant to help this student locate his Australian relatives.

Upon her return to Australia Mrs Fitzpatrick got in touch with the Bega District News where one of the journalists, James Parker managed to track down one of Chieko Winson’s children – her eldest son, John Winson. That set the wheels in motion and before long John and his sisters Susan and Wendy got in touch with the family they last heard from in 1999.

The initial meetings were over the phone, but in March, Kosuke Sawada, the person that instigated the search for his grandmother’s sister, got to meet his second cousins, John and Wendy in Bega.

The siblings spoke no Japanese and Kosuke spoke broken English, but they managed to communicate, with Mrs Fitzpatrick translating when needed.

Kosuke’s mother, Tomoko, who didn’t accompany her son on the trip, could speak on a video call to her cousins in Australia and although some of the conversation got lost in translation, the joy of finally being able to speak to each other after 25 years, was evident.

To read James Parker from Bega District News’ article about the reunion, please click here.