Jonah Shibuya

Jonah Shibuya is a character in the Eden Pond Series.

Biography

Jonah is a close childhood friend of Eden and Harry Pond.

His grandparents immigrated from Japan to the Tillamook Boy in 1905 at the end of the Russo-Japanese War, bringing with them their two children, a son and a daughter. They bought a small farm on the Miami River east of Garibaldi. Because they were Japanese, they were not welcomed by the local dairy community or cheese making organizations, so they grew vegetables and alfalfa. Jonah's father married in 1915, and Jonah was born in 1917, making him a second-generation or Nisei Japanese-American.

Jonah's aunt returned to Japan to marry in 1920 and did not return to the United States. In later years, he had no memory of her, except from letters and a couple of photos.

After the death of his father in 1936, he took over the farm. At that time, his mother went to Japan to live with her daughter. At the outbreak of World War II, Jonah's mother was living in Hiroshima with her daughter's family.

Jonah learned of Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066 on February 20, 1942 while visiting Eden and Merton in Garibaldi. He wanted to return home at once when he heard the news to make sure the farm was secure. He feared locals would be emboldened by the order and might ransack his property. But before leaving, he offered to sell the farm to Merton for one dollar and the promise to look after his land and animals if he was taken away. Eden didn’t believe that would happen, but Merton took Jonah seriously and agreed to the deal, promising he would return the property “after this damnable war is behind us.”

Jonah returned the next day, and together he and Merton went to the county office in Tillamook to register the transfer of the deed. Then Jonah left and apparently disappeared.

After Jonah disappeared, Eden feared the worst. She’d seen the “Japanese Hunting Licenses” and heard talk about what locals would do if they came upon a “Jap,” but Merton seemed confident Jonah would be okay. Unbeknownst to her, Merton was helping Jonah hide out in the forest. Merton intentionally didn’t tell her what he and Jonah were up to in order to protect her, though when she found out she was furious that they wouldn’t trust her.

Mid-1942 and After

At the end of Tillamook Guerillas Jonah was taken into custody and eventually interned at the Tule Lake internment camp. He would later go on to serve as an interpreter with the Allied Translator and Interpreter Section (ATIS), finally returning to Garibaldi after the war. In 1946, Merton sold Jonah’s farm back to him for the original price of one dollar.

Vital Statistics

Date of Birth: 9 May 1917
Date of Death: —

Appearances

• Tillamook Guerillas (working title)