Fumiko Chun 1933 - 2012

Fumiko was born Fumiko Nakamura in Tokyo on 19 Feb 1933. Her parents ran a general store in the suburb of Asakusa. Both sides of the family had lived in Tokyo for many generations. Fumiko was therefore very much a city girl. She was the second of four children. She had an older sister, younger brother and younger sister. Fumiko did not very much like the name her parents gave her. Fumiko, literally meaning ‘two, three child’ meant second or third child. The implication was that she was nothing special, just the second of a number of other children. She was determined throughout her life to prove the meaning of her name wrong, that she was, indeed, something special, not just the second child of many.  Her and her siblings’ birth were also a bit unusual. They had two mothers – her father’s wife, Sada, and their real birth mother Fujima. Sada was unable to have children so Fumiko’s parents asked the couple’s maid – Fujima – be the surrogate mother in order that the couple could have children. Fujima agreed. So the children had their official mother – Sada - and their real mother Fujima. Fumiko didn’t know Fujima was her real mother until she was about 12 years old. All she knew until then was that ‘the maid’ was especially affectionate to the children.

Fumiko grew up in turbulent times. She was seven when the war with America began and when the Americans first bombed Tokyo in 1942 she was nine. Later in the war when the bombing became more frequent she and her siblings were evacuated to the countryside to stay with an uncle. She therefore missed the terrible destruction of the bombing raids on Tokyo, especially the raids in March 1945 that killed over 100,000 people. Instead she enjoyed the countryside at her uncle’s place. As well as doing the obligatory chores around the house she and her siblings had plenty of time to explore the surrounding forests and other natural features. Apparently she was a bit of a tomboy and liked to go a bit wild. When the war ended in August 1945 Fumiko was 12. She and her brother and sisters returned to Tokyo. Asakusa had been heavily damaged during the bombing raids but the Nakamura store had survived and like the rest of the Japanese people they just picked up and carried on as if nothing much had happened.

Fumiko returned to school and eventually graduated from high school in 1950. She then trained as a masseuse, learning traditional siatsu massage. She spent three years working as a masseur on her own, another three in a beauty parlour and then three years at the Pink Pearl parlour at the well-known Palace Hotel in central Tokyo. Because she had a professional occupation and had to look after her bedridden number one mother Sada, Fumiko remained unmarried until she was 33. This was somewhat unusual in Japan at the time when women were expected to be married by their mid twenties. This was no problem for Fumiko though. She enjoyed her single life and her work, going out with friends and even staying at home to look after her mother. Life was good. However an event occurred that was unexpected and was to change her life forever.

The unexpected event was the arrival of New Zealander Harry Chin at the Palace Hotel. Harry was a Chinese New Zealand businessman from Auckland who specialised in import-exports. While doing business in Tokyo in 1965 he met and became friendly with Fumiko at the Palace Hotel. One day he invited her to come with him to New Zealand for a visit.  She agreed. She stayed in New Zealand for about two months. During this time she visited Wellington where she met Harry’s friend Bill Chun at his place in Strathmore. Bill and Harry and their friends were playing mahjong. However Fumiko didn’t play mahjong and just sat quietly watching, getting a bit bored. Bill decided to call his younger brother Alan, saying to him ‘you like Japanese things don’t you Alan? There’s a Japanese lady here, would you like to come over and keep her company?’ Alan agreed.

Alan did like Japanese things. This had started when he visited Japan in the early 1960s with his friend Jack Ngan. During the trip they visited Thailand, Hong Kong and Japan. Alan stayed in Tokyo for a couple of weeks and was really taken with the place and the Japanese people. ‘So polite and friendly and courteous’ he said. He decided that if he was to marry he’d like to marry a Japanese woman. So when Bill invited Alan to entertain Fumiko that was a logical decision. And a happy one. Alan and Fumiko hit it off straight away. The fact that Fumiko couldn’t speak good English just made Fumiko all the more interesting to Alan. And Alan was obviously interesting to Fumiko as well. At the end of the evening they exchanged addresses. Was it a coincidence that a couple of months later Alan decided to take another trip to Tokyo? He said it was partly his love of Japan and partly because he had the new connection with Fumiko.  I think maybe it was more the latter.

He stayed in Tokyo for about a month. While there he saw Fumiko every day. He went to the market for her, carried her stuff, helped her at work and bought her food. Fumiko introduced him to her parents and he was soon helping them at their shop, sometimes even staying there overnight. He bought Sada – Fumiko’s number one Mum - so much tofu she eventually had to tell him to stop. Fumiko’s parents approved of Alan. That was good. Sadly while he was there Sada passed away. Alan was invited to the cremation. He was also invited to help pick out the fragments of bone with chopsticks to be put in the ceremonial urn. This was part of traditional Japanese funeral and to be asked in take part was a great honour. It proved that Alan was accepted by the family.

Although the death was a sad occasion, with Sada gone Fumiko was now free to marry, so she told Alan she thought it would be a good idea if they got married. This was an unusually forward thing to do for a Japanese woman! But Fumiko was different to many Japanese women of the time – she was very strong, very independent, rather un-traditional, and when she set her mind on something that was that. Alan thought about the proposal for a short time and agreed. He rang brother Bill to tell him the news. Bill was a bit surprised by the choice but said it was good news. The reaction among some of his older siblings was a bit more mixed at first, to say the least. This can be attributed to the negative attitudes of Chinese towards Japanese following the war. Nonetheless Alana and Fumiko’s minds were made up and the marriage went ahead. Alan returned to New Zealand to make arrangements, and a few weeks later, he went back to Japan to get married. It was a civil ceremony in a registrar’s office. Fumiko’s brother and sister-in-law were the witnesses. Fumiko wore a beautiful Japanese kimono. Shortly after Fumiko and Alan returned to New Zealand for a second, New Zealand, wedding. This took place on 12 September 1966. It was the first recorded Chinese New Zealand-Japanese marriage in New Zealand. 

Alan tells a story of him and Fumiko going to the Hastings Blossom Festival soon after their New Zealand wedding. Fumiko wore a traditional kimono and Alan a nice European suit. Alan reckons more people were looking at them than at the flowers! Alan also says it must have been destiny he and Fumiko met and were married. So many things just seemed to happen for a reason. His going to Japan, Harry inviting Fumiko to come to New Zealand and taking her to Wellington. Bill phoning him to come over and meet her. It seemed it was all just meant to be. He is forever grateful to Harry and Bill for the part they played in getting him and Fumiko together. Meeting and marrying Fumiko was, he said, the best thing that ever happened to him.

 Fumiko’s new life in New Zealand couldn’t have been more different to her life in Tokyo. Wellington was quiet, slow, there were almost no Japanese here, and she was living with a Chinese New Zealand family. She and Alan moved into the Chun family home at Homewood Avenue, Karori, where Alan lived with his siblings Ray, Stan, Con and June. However her life was a bit quiet. There was not much for her to do. Alan worked in the family business Zenith in Manners Street. Fumiko sometimes worked there part time. She got a job as a siatsu masseur in Lambton Quay and later did massage privately at home. However a lot of the time she just stayed at home. All this was a huge adjustment. But despite the big cultural differences and her poor English she managed it well and never grumbled about the changes and challenges. Although she had been to NZ before and was used to foreigners through her work her adjustment to NZ was a real testament to her character. After about ten years of living at Homewood, however, she decided that she and Alan should buy their own home. Alan asked Bill how to do it and Bill helped arrange the finance through an insurance company. Again big brother had come to the rescue. Alan and Fumiko looked around for a place and finally settled on a house at 9 Randall Ray Johnsonville. They bought it and lived there ever since – 36 years in all.

Naturally Alan and Fumiko wanted children. Sadly they were not able to. Fumiko became pregnant on one occasion but miscarried. The couple were therefore not blessed with children of their own. Instead in 1983 they adopted Fumiko’s 16 year old niece Junko – the daughter of her younger brother. Two years later Fumiko also brought out her mother Fujimo to NZ to look after her in her old age. Her other siblings were not that happy with the decision but Fujima really enjoyed her time here.

 Although she sometimes saw herself as a ‘lady of leisure’ Fumiko was not idle. She helped at Zeniths, did her massage work and also helped Alan with his bean sprout business after Zenith closed down in 1986. She was also good with money. She bought two houses freehold in Wellington with her own money and rented them out, and later bought a third in Johnsonville. These were her decisions and Alan just went along for the ride. He had to! At home she didn’t do house work. She told Junko ‘life’s too short for cleaning’ so Alan took on that role. It was something he was happy to do. Socially she mixed mainly with family. However she did join a Japanese women’s club and met other Japanese people through the embassy. But she and Alan were also a world of their own. They were very, very devoted to each other and each others’ company was often enough.

Fumiko remained very Japanese at heart. She continued to eat Japanese food, especially sushi and miso soup which she made herself. She kept up with current affairs in Japan and loved watching Japanese TV, especially NHK, which was available through Sky. The TV would be on almost 24 hours a day. She read Japanese books and magazines and had a big library in her bedroom. She also loved cooking – Japanese food - with a Chinese twist to accommodate Alan. She also loved darning and knitting, making Alan umpteen jumpers. She also loved shopping for second hand clothes at opshops. Later she got into handicrafts and pottery and had a pottery wheel in the garage at Randall Way. Paint by numbers also featured for a while. One of her great pleasures was having a bath. She had a special Japanese-style bath brought out from Japan and had it installed in Randall Way. She loved it.  She and Alan also returned to Japan for a visit every two to three years to see family. They enjoyed the arrival of Junko’s three grandchildren Wolf, William and Aiko. It was a happy life and a very happy marriage.

In 2005 age began to catch up with Fumiko. She developed a problem with her back and became increasingly frail, having to be looked after by Alan. However this just seemed to make their bond even closer. She relied on him and he relied on her. In the last few years she was almost bedridden. But she continued to enjoy all her usual pleasures – TV, books and magazines, being pampered by Alan. And then on Saturday 13 October she passed on. Unexpectedly. Suddenly. But peacefully. After 79 years, and 46 years of happy marriage, she was gone . . .

Fumiko had a very good and happy life. She had lived her life her way, had made decisions that helped form who she was, and helped those closest to her. She created a life that was good for both her and others. She was happy and made others happy. She fulfilled her duty and enjoyed herself as well. And she had a wonderful marriage with Alan.  What more can one ask?

Written by Nigel Murphy and delivered at Fumiko Chun's funeral service 18th October 2012.