Lydia N. Yu Jose, 1944–2014

Lydia N. Yu Jose at the conferment of the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon, with the Ambassador of Japan to the Philippines Toshinao Urabe, 29 April 2012

Lydia N. Yu Jose was born at a time of great uncertainty, with the Philippines occupied by a foreign invader. Little did anyone know that Lydia would become a key figure in fomenting greater understanding between the Philippines and the country that occupied the archipelago, Japan.

Born on 27 March 1944 in Barrio Olympia in Makati, Lydia was christened Lydia Honora Nepomuceno Yu. Her Chinese father had fled from southern China during the Sino–Japanese War and settled in Makati, marrying Benigna Nepomuceno in 1943. The two managed a sari-sari store. The eldest of five siblings, Lydia helped tend the store and learned early on that she could not eat the sweets without permission.

She started formal education in public schools: Santa Ana Elementary School and Felipe G. Calderon High School, where she graduated with honors. She entered Far Eastern University (FEU) in June 1961 and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Education, cum laude, in March 1965. Her devotion to study netted her the Most Outstanding Student award of the Institute of Education. After graduation, she taught at the Malate Catholic High School where, from June 1965 to March 1967, she handled classes in History and English. Although teaching was fulfilling, she did not like the intervention of her students’ parents and after two years decided to leave.

While aiming for the History Department, serendipitously she found a job as graduate assistant in the Political Science Department of the Ateneo de Manila University in Loyola Heights beginning in June 1967. At the same time she began to take graduate courses in Political Science. In search of new horizons, Lydia also began sitting in Nihongo courses offered by the then newly opened Japanese Studies Program (JSP). She befriended one of the young teachers, Yoko Yoshikawa, who encouraged her to pursue language studies in Japan. She took Yoko’s advice. With a Mombusho (Ministry of Education) scholarship, Lydia entered the Graduate School of Public Administration of the International Christian University (ICU) in Tokyo in April 1969. A month later, however, tragedy struck: her father, who had been ill, passed away. Grief-stricken, Lydia hastily returned to Makati for the funeral.

Feeling unable to return to Japan after the funeral, Lydia returned to Ateneo as assistant instructor for one semester. Meanwhile, her professors at ICU encouraged Lydia to continue her language studies by offering to pay for her return ticket. So Lydia flew back to Tokyo. On her return to the Philippines, she completed her M.A. in Political Science at the Ateneo with Dr. Jose Abueva as her adviser. Lydia then rejoined the Ateneo’s Political Science Department as a full-time faculty member. As a junior faculty member, she taught basic courses, such as the mandated course on the Philippine Constitution. Lydia felt constrained in teaching the course as the country was under martial law. She thus took a different tack and pioneered in teaching the course in Filipino, with positive results. She also took it upon herself to translate John Stuart Mill’s Considerations on Representative Government into Filipino. Later she translated Edwin O. Reischauer’s The Japanese into Filipino.

As Lydia rose in rank, she became one of the department’s stalwarts. She taught political theory, research methods, and other upper-level courses. She was known as strict and demanding, with a heavy load of readings, graded recitation, and nonnegotiable deadlines. While she demanded much from her students, she also demanded the same of herself, always coming to class fully prepared. She spoke her views frankly, but also respected her students’ opinions. A dedicated mentor, she guided graduate students to finish their degrees.

Lydia always felt there was more she could do. Part time she taught Japanese language courses at the Japanese Embassy, then on Taft Avenue, from 1975 to 1984. She found time to study French. She enrolled in Chinese painting...