Heriete Setsuko Shimabukuro Takeda

A native and resident of the city of São Paulo, she is a 60-year-old descendant of Okinawans. She is married and the mother of two children. She has a degree in Business Administration, having retired from public service in 2012. Currently in search of the meaning of her life.

Updated October 2017

identity en ja es pt

Nikkei Chronicles #5: Nikkei-go: The Language of Family, Community, and Culture

Gaijin

  • By Heriete Setsuko Shimabukuro Takeda
  • 6 Oct 2016

I couldn’t understand my friend Emília. I brought her along to spend the holidays at my grandmother's house in Santos, hoping she would put to use her knowledge of the Japanese language, since I had almost none. Or rather, none at all.

But after a few minutes of conversation, she calls me aside and confesses: I can’t understand what your grandmother says!

- What do you mean? You told me you could speak Japanese!

- I know, but I can’t understand anything that she says!”

Emília was right: my grandmother spoke uchinaguchi, the Okinawa dialect. Only ...

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food pt

Nikkei Chronicles #6: Itadakimasu 2!: Another Taste of Nikkei Culture

Sopa de couve

  • By Heriete Setsuko Shimabukuro Takeda
  • 9 Oct 2017

Quando Geró foi contratada para cozinhar para a minha família não fazia idéia da revolução que iria  causar nas nossas vidas. Mineira, cozinheira de “mão cheia” (como ela mesma se apresentou), chegou com planos de agradar a todos com suas receitas maravilhosas. Deparou-se com minha mãe, que era quase despudorada quando o assunto era determinar  cardápios.

A situação merece um breve histórico.

Éramos nove, então. Pai, mãe, seis filhas e um ajudante bem forte. Mais do que uma família, formávamos uma equipe de trabalho de um pequeno ...

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