Peter Onedera’s name is associated with all things CHamoru. He has served as an educator, director of the Kumision i Fino’ CHamoru or CHamoru Language Commission and written extensively.

In “A Borrowed Land” Onedera tackles the history of Japanese immigrants and their descendants – known variously as Nikkei, Issei, Sansei and Yonsei.

The subject of internment camps around the world is one that is still coming to light, and this book adds the perspective of local survivors of the experience.

And for those who have heard stories of their own family’s immigrant experience to a foreign land, there is much to relate to.

Onedera is an accomplished storyteller and takes the reader from his mother’s conversations with him as a child to the stories of others he spoke to for the book, and his own experiences.

Along the way, readers are given a picture of Guam and the cultural and practical experiences of life prior to World War II, to include the civic life of the island.

But the heart of the book are the chapters and the stories that Onedera tells that are not his, though those of his family too. Using pseudonyms and benefiting from the recall of earlier life experiences that older people have, Onedera taped their stories and recounts them skillfully here.

The stories need no embellishment and Onedera does not give them any.

In one description of the arrival of a young man from Japan who is recruited from Oyama City to work in the Copra plantation, the description of a first meal in Guam resonates today.

“On a long table that was made from roughhewn slabs of coconut trees, or so we were told, and benches made of the same, we were instructed to sit and help ourselves to the noonday meal. The meal consisted of cooked rice, fried fish, fresh daikon, fried eggplant, and local onions, along with a sauce that I took an immediate liking to. They told us the sauce was fina’denne’, consisting of hot chili peppers, vinegar, and sea salt, along with green onions.

“Instead of green tea, we were given pitchers of fresh local rainwater that came from a catchment alongside the roofing of this outdoor eating place.”

From there, the stories of integration into the life and languages of life in Guam is a tapestry of the times, with descriptions of the copra industry, and marriage by those young men who found an affinity with the island into local families, learning CHamoru, raising their families – often bilingually.

The stories of the invasion of Guam by Japanese military are familiar but nonetheless interesting to read due to the ingenuity of the families in surviving.

Post-war memories by the articulate and frequently featured Jiro show that period began with not unpleasant living in stockades in Guam, but lacked full freedom and recovery proceeded slowly for his family and the Nikkei generation.

“Early in the morning, often at the crack of dawn, many Nikkei, men and women, left the stockade and made their way downtown to seek work.

“Many, like Tun Luis Takimia, Tun Manet Kaneshiro, Tun Isidro Komatsu, Tun Bonifacio Suchida, and Tan Ana Watanabe went together to apply for jobs as bus drivers, cooks, janitors, ticket takers, trinket sellers, lawn maintenance crew, cashiers, truck drivers, gardeners, and even for bank teller positions.

Many would-be employers would glance at the application forms and see the Japanese surnames, then refuse to consider them for hiring. Many weren’t even given an interview of any sort.”

Discrimination continued and those of Japanese descent were often shunned or vilified. It is understandable that many migrated to the U.S. mainland when they could afford to do so.

While many people today in Guam know there is a Guam Nikkei Association, through its support of community events such as the Japan Festival and its annual Lantern Floating Ceremony, its community history is likely not so well known.

While the chapters do not all make easy reading, the book is absorbing. Guam is a community of many communities, and this book offers insight into one of them.

A Borrowed Land is available from the University of Guam Press for $15. Order it through uogpress.com.