UENO Setsuyo
Born: 4 February 1916 – Died: 19 August 1943
Particulars:
Setsuyo / Saturo (née Oh) was born in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan on 4 February 1916. When she was 21 years old, she married Ueno Tsunejiro, a Japanese settler in Tonga and returned with him to Vava’u. She soon gave birth to their first child Shizuko, followed three years later by a son Tsuneo, in 1941. When Tsuneo was 4 months old, the Pacific War broke out. Setsuyo / Saturo and her children were separated from Tsunejiro and interned with other Japanese settler wives and children in Aotearoa / New Zealand, near Auckland. Not speaking English, she communicated with authorities through a Tongan interpreter. In 1943, the family were reunited to be flown to Australia. That flight crashed soon after take-off, killing Setsuyo / Saturo, her husband, and their 5-year-old daughter. Setsuyo / Saturo was 26 years old. Her almost 2-year-old Tsuneo was the only family member to survive, and he was sent on to internment in Australia by boat.
–Sophie Constable
More info:
Csilla Keszei and Ebonie Laufilitoga Maka Fifita
Artist/s Statement:
Saturo’s commemoration piece was drawn digitally and consists of Tongan ngatu, a manga-inspired stylisation of Saturo Ueno, and one of her internment documents. Saturo Ueno was married to Tsunejiro and had two children: a son Tsuneo, a few months old; and a daughter Shizuko, 3 years old at the time of their internment. The artworks for the Ueno family are united by a background of Tongan tapa cloth representing their identity as migrants who’d settled in Tonga, a Japanese asanoha pattern representing their Japanese heritage, and archival documents relating to their experiences as wartime civilian internees. As Saturo spoke to the New Zealand authorities through a Tongan interpreter, here she makes the statement in Tongan language, ‘I am Saturo Ueno’, combining her heritage and her lived experiences.
Artist Bio:
Csilla Keszei is in high school in Canberra, Australia and is doing Art Inspire.
Ebonie Laufilitoga Maka Fifita is a fele artist.