Japanese Who Was Well Liked In Tokomaru Bay, Makes Bequests

Wanganui Chronicle, 23 July 1949, Page 6

Japanese Who Was Well Liked In Tokomaru Bay, Makes Bequests

AUCKLAND, Yesterday (PA).—Residents of Tokomaru Bay, near Gisborne. were sorry when old Hoe Chino died there a year ago, aged over 70. Now they are interested to learn that he made public bequests totalling over £2OOO. He lived in the district for about 30 years and was looked upon as a Briton, though he was born in and remained a Japanese national until his death. When World War II came people protested when it was said he would have to be interned, and the authorities left him free. Residents stated in a telephone interview today how Chino was the kindest man in the Bay. He helped sports bodies quietly, was ever cheerful, sent Christmas cards to nearly everyone and gifts at odd times to many people, and always acted with deep sincerity. His funeral was one of the biggest Tokomaru Bay has ever seen. The man’s real name was Chino Koogin. He came to New Zealand when young and worked many years < as a hairdresser. He never married and cared for himself in a tiny home. “He was easily the best liked man in the Bay,” said a resident today. “When he made gifts—and he always seemed to be doing it—he tried to infer that it was not he who was doing it. He was thinking of other people all the time.”