Recently, I have been driven to give more thought to our family's genealogy. I have a pretty good picture of my Father's side of the family, and have had the great privilege to meet many of them. They are almost always hospitable to the point of me feeling guilty about taking them up on it, and tend to be chill and down to earth. Also, there are many, many, many of them. This is probably also true of my Mother's side of the family too, after all, she is the first of six children. Dad is the youngest of seven. Fertility is not a problem in our family.
Anyways, I took a solo trip down to Kagoshima about two months ago, because I'd never been there. In the old days, the Shimazu clan ruled Kagoshima, holding sway through out the whole of Higo (Kyushu) and parts of Honshu. Anyhow, supposedly, after the Satsuma rebellion, the Shimazu clan fell from power and many of them fled to other parts of Japan. Other than the general history of the clan, I have no idea about my ancestors from southern Kyushu.
Walking around Kagoshima, I really felt at home as if I belonged here. The atmosphere was lively, yet kick-back. Seeing the remains of the castle, reading the words of the former lords, looking at statues of heroes I had never heard of; all of this made a big impression on me. It would be nice to meet relatives from around here, and to find out more about the past.
As I walked the ancient grounds of Kagoshima City, I wondered if the people I passed were related to me in some way: Did they have blood in common with me? Were they the descendents of the vassals or masters of my ancestors? Did that guy selling fish have a Great-great-great-great-great grandfather who sold fish to my Great-great-great-great-great grandfather?
I hope I find the answers to some of my questions, and I invite anyone interested in helping to join in! If one of my unknown relatives or someone with whom I have some secret relationship with is reading this, lets get in touch and help each other!
Justin, Mika, Merin- lets get this organized and find out about the unknown part of our family.
Comments (3)
I'm still waiting for that phonecall that will change my life -- namely, that I have been designated sole heir to the Yoshida Sauce Empire, and would I mind taking installment checks in four easy-payments of just $25,000,000 over the next ten years?
Keep me posted, and I'll do the same...
Posted by: Mika | September 13, 2003 8:54 AM
Posted on: September 13, 2003 08:54
I am a nisei Higo in Northern California. My father is an isei, post WWII immigrant who hails from Kagoshima. Perhaps we are related? I would love to share information as I have had little to no contact with our very extensive extended family for both geographic and language reasons. I'm of little help at the moment as I am at the beginning of my search, but I am willing to follow up on any leads you may have. Let me know.
Posted by: Susan Higo | March 24, 2006 7:15 AM
Posted on: March 24, 2006 07:15
Dear Susan,
Thanks for your generous offer, but I think that you were mislead by the title of my blog. Higo Blog was named after the old name for Kumamoto, where I spent my first 2 years in Japan. My surname is actually Yoshida, though it is the other side of my family, the Shimatsu (a corrupted form of Shimazu) that came from southern Kyushu.
If I remember correctly, Higo was the name of a prominent lord in feudal Kyushu. Perhaps you're related to that guy... Anyhow, if I can be of assistance to you, let me know and I'll do what I can. Thanks for commenting.
Posted by: Adam | March 24, 2006 12:12 PM
Posted on: March 24, 2006 12:12