Yuji and I are childhood friends. We've been together since we were little, and our houses were close to each other. We used to wander around on the way home from school, and we would often get scolded when we got home.

We went to the same elementary school, but when I got to junior high school, I started going to a private school. Thanks to the money my father sent home from Japan to work, our life became stable, and my sister and I went to private school, and my mother didn't have to work part-time anymore.

Even though we went to different schools, on weekends I would always play soccer with Yuji, play popular games, and watch anime.

But that was short-lived. One day, when he came home from school, Yuji found his father collapsed in his room. His mother was still at work, and his two older brothers were attending night school, so they came home late and no one was home.

Yuji immediately called for help from a nearby bakery, and his father was taken to the hospital, but it was too late. His father passed away at the young age of 51. It was a huge shock to Yuji, the youngest son.

I visited Yuji's house several times on the weekend, but he was always out. In the morning, I worked part-time at a greengrocer's, and in the afternoon, I helped customers put their purchases into shopping bags at the supermarket. I thought Yuji's life was tough.

After graduating from junior high school, I went on to a private high school. I thought that was the natural thing to do. My father would earn money in Japan and my family would be able to live a comfortable life.

Yuji also went to high school, but he had to go to night school to get a job. When I found out about it, I wanted to do something for him. I heard that night school has a reputation for being "easy." But Yuji worked hard and continued to study while working at the pharmacy.

In my third year of high school, I rarely saw Yuji because of my entrance exam studies. I didn't get into my first choice, the University of São Paulo, but I enrolled in the State University of Parana and left São Paulo.

After graduating from night school, Yuji went to a cram school with the money he had saved up by working, aiming to go to college. The following year, he entered a private university in Sao Paulo. While I was attending college, I was living a carefree life, living off my parents. Eventually, I met a local woman, we got married, and soon had a child. So I dropped out of college and started working.

Around the same time, Yuji lost his job and decided to take a leave of absence from university to go to Japan to work.

When I heard about this, I also wanted to go to Japan. Yuji supported me, sent me Japanese textbooks, and gave me a lot of information, but my family was strongly against it. "They will never let you go alone. Even if you take me, I won't understand the language, and I won't be able to take care of a child on my own. I have no intention of going with you."

In the end, I didn't go to Japan, but Yuji did really well in Japan. Great! I respect him!

During his first two years, he worked at a factory in Isesaki, Gunma Prefecture, and coached a local youth soccer team while continuing to study Japanese.

After Gunma, he worked in Okinawa for two years. Yuji loved the sea since he was a child, but after his father passed away, he no longer had the time for such leisure activities. Since he had come all the way to Japan, he wanted to live by the sea, so he decided to work at a hotel on the beautiful island of Ishigaki. All of the photos of Yuji posted on Facebook at that time looked brighter than the sun and sea of ​​Okinawa! I thought Yuji was amazing. He gained confidence and moved forward while experiencing various things in an unfamiliar place.

Now, Yuji is working and studying English in Sydney, Australia, and his dream is to go back to Brazil, build a house for his mother, work and study at university again.

I'm sure Yuji will make his dream come true. Yuji is great!

© 2019 Laura Honda-Hasegawa