Heriete Setsuko Shimabukuro Takeda

Heriete Setsuko Shimabukuro Takeda, 61, a descendant of Okinawans, was born and lives in the city of São Paulo. She is married and is the mother of two children. Now retired, she uses her writing to rescue memories and reach horizons.

Updated October 2018

identity en ja es pt

Nikkei Chronicles #7 — Nikkei Roots: Digging into Our Cultural Heritage

Crossing the World

By Heriete Setsuko Shimabukuro Takeda
18 Oct 2018

“Origami is a means of communication and expression; it's a universal language that brings together different generations and peoples around the same activity.”

—Mari Kanegae

Toshi came to Brazil on a paper bird.

When her granddaughter, born in the oh-so-far-off city of Londrina [the second largest city in the Brazilian state of Paraná], went to Japan to meet her, she realized that she would have to renounce words to communicate with the little girl. She folded a tsuru. She most certainly couldn't have imagined that the bond then created would cross oceans and time itself.

More than two ...

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 ...

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 ...

Submit an article

Discover Nikkei

Japanese migrants and their descendants

Heriete Setsuko Shimabukuro Takeda

Nikkei Chronicles #7 — Nikkei Roots: Digging into Our Cultural Heritage

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

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

Series this author contributes to

Nikkei Chronicles #8 — Nikkei Heroes: Trailblazers, Role Models, and Inspirations

Miyoko Fujisaka, 95 years old – Our Heroine

Yoemon Shinmasu – My Grandfather's Life in Seattle

Part 1 – From Kamai to Seattle

Tessaku

Kazuo Yamaguchi

OHAYO Bom dia

Chapter 9: The World Has Really Changed

Nikkei Uncovered: a poetry column

Locale

Tessaku

Shizuko Yamauchi - Part 2

Tessaku

Shizuko Yamauchi - Part 1

The Chicago Shoyu Story—Shinsaku Nagano and the Japanese Entrepreneurs - Part 1

My Name is Neal

Journal Entry #3rd Century Saint: "I'm Glad It's Over..."

日米の絆をつなぐ米日カウンシル会長 ― アイリーン・ヒラノ・イノウエさん

Sashimi o ceviche

孤独な望郷 ～ フロリダ日系移民森上助次の手紙から

第26回 アメリカに帰化、米国籍となる

「あなたの親切を忘れない」：カー知事没後70周年、日系住民擁護し立ち上がった人々—その４

The Nikkei of Latin America and Latino Nikkei

ハワイの「GANNENMONO」と「日系レガシー」

Nikkei Heroes: Trailblazers, Role Models, and Inspirations

Get updates

Support this project

A project of the

Major support by

Nikkei Uncovered: a poetry column

Locale

Tessaku

Shizuko Yamauchi - Part 2

Tessaku

Shizuko Yamauchi - Part 1

The Chicago Shoyu Story—Shinsaku Nagano and the Japanese Entrepreneurs - Part 1

My Name is Neal

Journal Entry #3rd Century Saint: "I'm Glad It's Over..."

Book Review: The Rise & Fall of America's Concentration Camp Law

Uncle Hiro: Gaman, Enduring in Adversity

INTERVIEW: Emi Meyer, Singer-Songwriter - Part 2

INTERVIEW: Emi Meyer, Singer-Songwriter - Part 1

Dr. Masako Kusayanagi Goto Miura, a Medical Doctor's Camp Experience

My Name is Neal

Journal Entry #At Least Since 1968: "Name Dropping..."

Silk

Chapter Four—Kintaro and the Magic Koi

Eugene Rostow’s Japanese American articles: A Reconsideration - Part 2

My Name is Neal

Journal Entry #First Used on 4/25/1792: "Really? Dayumm..."

Clark & Division: Japanese Americans on Chicago’s Near North Side, 1940s-1960s - Part 1

LISTEN IN… 9 Questions The Honorable Norman Mineta - Part 2

Lessons from Coach Sab's Generation

Power of Our Stories

Yoshiki Nagahama of One Okinawa - Media connecting Okinawan people

Return to Crystal City - story & video

My Name is Neal

Journal Entry #Adopted in 1582: "Auld Lang Syne..."

Mystery ‘Graffiti’ Revealed

Ancestral Ghosts, Dearest Friends

Ten Things That Made Poston Concentration Camp Unique

Clark & Division: Japanese Americans on Chicago’s Near North Side, 1940s-1960s - Part 3

Eugene Rostow’s Japanese American articles: A Reconsideration - Part 1

Reading Night in the American Village

My Name is Neal

Journal Entry #Bending Unit 22: "My Heroes and Anti-Heroes..."

LISTEN IN… 9 Questions - The Honorable Norman Mineta - Part 1

Tessaku

Rose Tsunekawa - Part 2

My Name is Neal

Journal Entry #2020!!!: "May this Year be Less Stupid..."

Traditional Foods and Rituals to Start the New Year

Dentistry in Camp

孤独な望郷～フロリダ日系移民森上助次の手紙から

第26回アメリカに帰化、米国籍となる