Yuriko Usui
| Yuriko Usui | |
|---|---|
 yuririzal.jpg.jpg yuririzal.jpg | |
| Native name | Yuriko Charlton (Rizal) |
| Born | Yuriko Usui 1889/01/18 Chiba Prefecture, Japan |
| 🏡 Residence | Chiba Prefecture, Japan |
| 🏳️ Nationality | Japanese |
| Other names | Yuri |
| 🏫 Education | Bachelor of Arts |
| 🎓 Alma mater | Chiba University |
| 💼 Occupation | |
| Height | 157.48 |
Early Life[edit]
Yuriko Usui is a simple girl with a big dream that she conquered later in life.
She is the daughter of Seiko Usui and José Rizal. She was born in the year 1889, in a broken family with a single mom doing all the work for a living, along with their relatives who are into a business.
Her mom met her father in by chance. She was impressed with her father's wit and charm and eventually their admiration for each other developed into a romantic bond. Rizal was 27 and O-Sei-San (Seiko Usui) was 23 when they met.
O-Sei-San conversed in English and French with Rizal, thus, it removed the language barrier. From thereon, the two meet everyday and they visited all interesting places in the city. She helped Rizal understand the Japanese language and also related to him the culture of the Japanese.
His biological father, Rizal is widely considered one of the greatest heroes of the Philippines and has been recommended to be so honored by an officially empaneled National Heroes Committee. However, no law, executive order or proclamation has been enacted or issued officially proclaiming any Filipino historical figure as a national hero. He wrote the novels Noli Me Tángere (1887) and El filibusterismo (1891), which together are taken as a national epic, in addition to numerous poems and essays.
Her father's short visit in Japan proved to be one of the happiest days in his life for he was not only fascinated with the sceneries in Japan but he also fell in love with O-Sei-San, her mother. Their love came to an end when he had to leave. His heart was filled with grief as he bid sayonara to Seiko Usui. Rizal left Japan for San Francisco on board the English ship Belgic in April 1888. A day before he left Japan, Rizal wrote in his diary his regret for leaving, and his longing for the love of O-Sei-San, who was also secretly pregnant at the time.
She waited for Rizal to come back, but in vain he never went back, so she became resigned to her fate cherishing the memories she had with him to the grave. One year after Rizal's execution, she married Alfred Charlton (13 August 1859 Liverpool - 2 November 1915) who was an English teacher in the First High School, then the Yamaguchi High School in Imaguchi, and later taught chemistry in the prestigious Gakushuin High School.
Her mom never told anyone about her friendship that turned into romance with Rizal, until the 1950s when Filipino researchers tracked down her stepsister Yoshi who said Seiko collected Philippine stamps and cherished those which had Rizal’s picture. Her stamp collection and any images left by Rizal were destroyed during the bombing of Tokyo in 1944. After their home in Shinjuku was destroyed, Seiko and Yuriko moved to Hagi, west of Yamaguchi where they stayed until the end of the World War 2.
Career[edit]
Her career is still unknown, since the records of her achievements were destroyed by the bombings. It is still unclear if she pursued her degree after the war, but she was active in politics other than arts.
Personal Life[edit]
Yuriko Charlton (Rizal) married the son of a senator named Yoshiharu Takiguchi, and together they had a son named Yoshisuke Takiguchi, who was a Japanese diplomat assigned in Geneva and Venezuela.
References[edit]
Ocampo, Ambeth “Osei-san”. Philippine Daily Inquirer. June 23, 2009.
Tezuka, Tatsumaro. Footmarks of Rizal in Japan. Reprinted in The Cable Tow. July, 1961.
Zaide, Gregorio F. (2003) Jose Rizal: Life, Works and Writings of a Genius, Writer, Scientist and National Hero. Manila: National Bookstore.
"Uncovering Controversial Facts about José Rizal" (mariaronabeltran.com)
"The life and works of Jose Rizal". Retrieved September 3, 2013.
Umali, Justin (2019). "How the World Mourned Jose Rizal". Esquiremag.ph. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
