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“Peter Onedera shares his family story, but much more than that, our island’s story. This publication also reminds us that unattended wounds can fester, even 80 years later. And so, let the healing continue.”

- Dr. Anne Perez Hattori

A Borrowed Land tells the untold stories of Guam’s Nikkei — people of Japanese descent — before, during, and after World War II. As the descendant of an issei, or first-generation immigrant, Peter R. Onedera chronicles the Nikkei’s experiences in Guam from their arrival to their assimilation into the island’s life and culture, their hardship and resilience during the war, and the struggles they endured after. Onedera interweaves both historical and personal accounts to document how heritage and history shape personal and collective identity. The story also unveils the complexities of Onedera’s own healing, as he explores his CHamoru-Japanese heritage and reveals the discrimination he and other Nikkei experienced in post-war Guam.