In July, a delegation representing Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu visited Japan. The heke, led by Tā Mark Solomon and our Upoko Tā Tipene O’Regan, went to pay respects to Mr Masashi Yamada and to acknowledge his remarkable support for Ngāi Tahu – support which made progressing the Ngāi Tahu claims and settlement possible.
In the late 1980s, the then-bankers for Ngāi Tahu told the Ngāi Tahu Māori Board that they were unwilling to continue funding the Board (which is another whole story) and that we would have to close our tribe’s account with them. Like rats leaving a sinking ship the rest of the New Zealand banks took a similar position and we were facing having to shut down the struggle for Te Kerēme.
Graham Kitson (Wharetutu Newton whakapapa, Awarua), facilitated Tā Tipene’s contact with Mr Yamada and the two went to Tokyo. The outcome was that the Yamada Corporation funded Ngāi Tahu through that critical period and made our forward progress with Te Kerēme possible. Mr Yamada thus saved the day for our people.
Yamada-san recently turned 90. The little ope took two tokotoko carved by Fayne Robinson for Yamada-san and his assistant, Mr Narimoto. As well, they carried a netsuke symbolising both Māori and Japanese traditional forms, mounted on a stone ventifact from Tikore Island in Awarua. It was carved by Brian Flintoff for the Yamada home in Yokohama. These were presented in two moving ceremonies in Tokyo and Yokohama. The opportunity was taken to do a series of interviews for the Ngāi Tahu Archive. There will be a major article on the relationship and the visit in a future issue of Te Karaka.
Tā Tipene O’Regan and Mr Masashi Yamada.