Bookshelf: Onedera's new book reveals the untold stories of pre-war Japanese immigrants on Guam

By Johanna Salinas

While most Guam wartime stories are told from the point of view of CHamoru survivors and American marines, Peter R. Onedera flips the narrative by revealing the hardships and pain experienced by Japanese immigrants during World War II.

Onedera’s newly released book, “A Borrowed Land,” is a collection of WWII memories told by some of Guam’s first Nikkei, who arrived on island before the war.

Onedera, who is mostly known for promoting CHamoru language and pioneering Chamoru literature, acknowledges his mixed ancestry.

“I have an intimate relationship with the Japanese culture as I am a third-generation descendant of a Japanese immigrant dating back to the 1900s of Guam’s history,” Onedera said.

“I have grown up with this knowledge and have long observed and believed in my heritage that I embrace wholeheartedly despite the odds of being of mixed parentage that has given me other delineation of ethnicities, such as CHamoru, Filipino and Chinese," he added.

Onedera is grateful for the lessons he’s learned from fellow Nikkei on Guam, especially the wartime survivors he interviewed for “A Borrowed Land," which is now available at the University of Guam Press.

Peter Onedera

“Because the values of the Japanese as practiced by my grandfather and handed down through his children, whose eldest daughter was my mother —they have been intertwined along with the CHamoru values that my grandfather adopted and adapted to while living on the island in the early years of his life, especially when he married my grandmother,” he said. “The values included respect, kindness, generosity and compassion."

Onedera said his grandfather had also passed on to his children and grandchildren other guiding principles, such as treating their home as a castle "replete with cleanliness being next to Godliness," living honestly, obeying the law, following the Ten Commandments and sharing nature's bounty.

"These were tangible values and things I grew up with as my elders experienced horror, ridicule, uncertainty, hunger, illness and man’s inhumanity to man. I think the Japanese values contributed greatly to my social and cultural well-being," he said.

Although Onedera has been recognized for pioneering CHamoru literature, he faced criticism from some young CHamorus who questioned his legacy during the 2024 Festival of the Pacific Arts and Culture celebration in July.

“I don’t respond anymore to questions about my legacy—if I have any—and my work as a CHamoru author,” Onedera said, adding that he focuses on “living life to the fullest” and looking for more stories to tell.

“A Borrowed Land,” launched by the UOG Press on Oct. 11, was the culmination of a series of 14 interviews spanning decades.

"For the first time ever, you will get a glimpse of what

 Guam was like through the eyes of this forgotten group that was never given a chance to share their stories,” says Onedera in the book’s preface.

Onedera offers an account that nuances the narratives of the Japanese occupation on Guam and highlights the humanity of a people who were caught between two opposing geopolitical forces, often against their will.

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