UENO Tsunejiro
Born: 1 November 1908 – Died: 2 August 1943
Particulars:
Tsunejiro, who was also known as Ueno / Yeno Tune Sulo, was born in Wakayama, Japan on 1 November 1908. Soon after finishing school, he was brought out to Tonga to be a clerk with Banno Bros in the mid 1920s. Tsunejiro was 16 years old when he arrived in Tonga, and didn’t return to Japan until 1937, when he stayed for two months and married Oh Setsuyo / Saturo. They arrived back in Vava’u in Feb 1938 and started a family there. When the Pacific War broke out, Tsunejiro was arrested in Vava’u, where, after spending half his life in Tonga, he had risen to manager. He was separated from his wife, his 3-year-old daughter Shizuko, and 4-month-old son Tsuneo, and interned on Matiu / Somes Island in Wellington Harbour, Aotearoa / New Zealand. He next saw his family 18 months later when the family were reunited to be flown to Australia. That flight crashed soon after take-off, killing Tsunejiro, his wife, and their 5-year-old daughter. Tsunejiro was 35 years old. His youngest child was the only family member to survive, and he was sent on to be interned in Australia by boat.
–Sophie Constable
More info:
Csilla Keszei
Artist/s Statement:
This digital collage commemoration includes Tongan ngatu, Japanese chiyogami paper, a photograph of Tsunejiro Ueno, and one of his internment documents. Tsunejiro Ueno was married to Saturo and was father to 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 ngatu cloth representing their identity as migrants to Tonga, a Japanese asanoha pattern representing their Japanese heritage, and archival documents relating to their experiences as wartime civilian internees. Ngatu is made from hiapo (mulberry tree), the same plant used to make Japanese washi paper.
Artist Bio:
Csilla Keszei is in high school in Canberra, Australia and is doing Art Inspire.