Kanso Yoshida

Yoshida was born in Japan, a second cousin of Princess Chichibu{{r|connections}} (who had herself been born in England){{r|silver}} who in turn became a sister-in-law of Hirohito.{{r|connections}} He came to England in 1912,{{r|eagle}} but why he left Japan is unknown. He was a ship's fireman and donkeyman by trade, and began calling himself Paddy Murphy when he realized that his Japanese name was causing him to be passed over for assignment to ships.{{r|connections}}

With a barmaid he fathered a daughter, who in turn had a son. The son did not know that Yoshida was his grandfather until later life, though he saw Yoshida frequently and understood that Yoshida "had a soft spot" for him.{{r|connections}}

Yoshida served in the British merchant navy{{r|belchem}} during both world wars. During World War{{nbsp}}I, he was on the ship Huntstrick when it was torpedoed off Gibraltar and sank. Badly wounded in the attack, he was left with a large scar on his face. During World War{{nbsp}}II, his ship was bombed twice but he was not injured.{{r|connections}}

Yoshida became a naturalized British citizen in 1940, and was therefore not interned by British authorities as an enemy alien when war broke out between Britain and Japan in 1941.{{r|connections}} According to a 1985 account, "there were no reports that he suffered insult or inconvenience" during the war because of his ancestry (the account adding, "of course, those were more tolerant times");{{r|listener}} but a reminiscence by his English grandson says that he was frequently insulted and treated roughly because of his Japanese origin.{{r|connections}}

{{reflist|30em|refs=

{{refn|name=listener|{{cite magazine|magazine=The Listener|title=Endpiece|last=Spiegl|first=Fritz|author-link=Fritz Spiegl|date=4 July 1985|page=43}} }}

{{refn|name=connections|{{cite book|title=Connections: Liverpool Global Gateway|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GKJ2u_GeeNIC&pg=PT101|publisher=Capsica Ltd.|isbn=978-1-904099-08-6|page=101}} }}

{{refn|name=echo|{{cite news|title=Hirohito's city cousin dies, 78|work=Liverpool Echo |date=July 19, 1973}} }}

{{refn|name=joy|{{cite book|last= Spiegl|first=Fritz|title=The Joy of Words: 'A Bedside Book for English Lovers'|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q4kmAAAAMAAJ|year=1986|publisher=Elm Tree Books|isbn=978-0-241-11877-1|pages=156–7}} }}

{{refn|name=belchem|{{cite book|last=Belchem|first=John|title=Irish, Catholic and Scouse: The History of the Liverpool-Irish, 1800–1939|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=piHrLnBMQrQC|year=2007|publisher=Liverpool University Press|isbn=978-1-84631-107-9}} }}

{{refn|name=eagle|{{cite news|work=Reading Eagle |date=August 29, 1973| title=...By Any Other Name|page=42|location=Reading, Pennsylvania }} }}

{{refn|name=silver|{{cite book|author=Princess Chichibu Setsuko|title=The Silver Drum: A Japanese Imperial Memoir|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-LdxAAAAMAAJ|year=1996|publisher=Global Oriental|isbn=978-1-86034-004-8|page=1}} }}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Yoshida, Kanso}}

Category:1895 births

Category:1973 deaths

Category:British Merchant Service personnel of World War I

Category:British Merchant Navy personnel of World War II

Category:Japanese emigrants to the United Kingdom

Category:Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom

Category:Sailors from Liverpool