Sergio Hernández Galindo
@sergiohernandezSergio Hernández Galindo is a graduate of Colegio de México, where he majored in Japanese studies. He has published numerous articles and books about Japanese emigration to Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America.
His most recent book, Los que vinieron de Nagano. Una migración japonesa a México (Those who came from Nagano: A Japanese migration to Mexico, 2015) tells the stories of emigrants from that prefecture before and after the war. In his well-known book, La guerra contra los japoneses en México. Kiso Tsuru y Masao Imuro, migrantes vigilados (The war against Japanese people in Mexico: Kiso Tsuro and Masao Imuro, migrants under surveillance), he explained the consequences of conflict between the United States and Japan for the Japanese community decades before the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.
He has taught classes and led conferences on this topic at universities in Italy, Chile, Peru, and Argentina as well as Japan, where he was part of the group of foreign specialists in the Kanagawa Prefecture and a fellow of the Japan Foundation, affiliated with Yokohama National University. He is currently a professor and researcher with the Historical Studies Unit of Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History.
Updated April 2016
Stories from This Author
Jesús Akachi: The life and contributions of a Nisei to Mexico
Oct. 4, 2016 • Sergio Hernández Galindo
Like every morning seven days a week, Jesús Akachi opens his stationery store “La Nueva Violeta” at 9:45 in the morning sharp. Throughout the day, between notebooks, pencils, pens and thousands of merchandise that make up the items of their business, Don Jesús and his wife will serve hundreds of clients who live in the Tacuba neighborhood, in Mexico City. The inhabitants of this place know them very well for their always friendly and attentive treatment; However, many believe that …
The celebrations of the first centenary of the independence of Mexico and the participation of Japan
Sept. 13, 2016 • Sergio Hernández Galindo
The month of September is important for the people of Mexico because it celebrates the anniversary of its Independence. In the year 1910, the celebrations were grand and special as the first centenary of the Independence of Mexico was celebrated with multiple activities. The government of General Porfirio Díaz prepared the celebration with great care and in advance and invested a large amount of effort and money in works to commemorate such an important anniversary. The most representative monument that …
Fernando Hiramuro and Yasuaki Yamashita: Japanese Mexican survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings – Part 2
Aug. 9, 2016 • Sergio Hernández Galindo
Read Part 1 >> Yasuaki Yamashita was born in 1939 in Nagasaki. Until the second atomic bomb exploded in the city where he was born on August 9, 1945, Yasuaki’s entire life had been one of war, since Japan had been immersed in its occupation of China since 1931, well before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. The long period of sacrifice imposed by these conflicts is known by the Japanese as the “dark valley,” or kurai …
Fernando Hiramuro and Yasuaki Yamashita: Japanese Mexican Survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki Bombings – Part 1
July 7, 2016 • Sergio Hernández Galindo
This August will mark 71 years since the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The people of both cities paid for the end of the war with their own deaths and the destruction of their cities, but those who managed to survive continue to suffer the effects of the radiation left by those terrible weapons. The war exacted enormous sacrifices from the Japanese people. Before the atomic bombs were dropped, the people of Japan had …
The Chuo Gakuen School: The Seeds of Prestige for the Japanese Community in Mexico
June 3, 2016 • Sergio Hernández Galindo
For 72 years, the Chuo Gakuen school has provided Japanese language and cultural education to Nikkei and Mexican children. The school, located in a modest neighborhood in the center of Mexico City, is celebrating this anniversary thanks to the hard work and tenacity of many people who have made sure this educational project stays alive. Japanese pioneers, since the school’s establishment in 1944, always considered education to be their primary responsibility, in order to create a better future for their …
Tatsugoro Matsumoto and the Magic of Jacaranda Trees in Mexico
May 6, 2016 • Sergio Hernández Galindo
In 1912, the mayor of Tokyo, Yukio Ozaki, presented the United States with almost 3,000 cherry trees, which were then planted throughout the U.S. capital. In the years that followed, Washington, D.C. came to be covered with millions of cherry blossoms, coloring the city’s landscape every year in early spring. There was also an effort to plant thousands of cherry trees in Mexico City. During his presidency, Pascual Ortíz Rubio (1930–1932) asked the Japanese government to donate cherry trees to …
Mitsuko Kasuga: Passion for Tanka in Mexico and Japan
April 1, 2016 • Sergio Hernández Galindo
Mitsuko Osaka was born in 1914 in the small town of Ina, Nagano Prefecture, the second of four daughters of the Osaka family. She grew up at the center of a well-off farming family. Her father, in addition to growing silkworms and rice, was the treasurer of a silk farmers’ cooperative. At the time, silk was one of Japan’s most important exports. Sericulture, or silk farming, was a way of life for hundreds of thousands of families in Nagano, as …
Japoneses la comunidad en busca de un nuevo sol naciente - Parte 10
Feb. 3, 2011 • Sergio Hernández Galindo
Parte 9 >> EL LICEO MEXICANO JAPONÉS La construcción del Liceo Mexicano Japonés cerró una etapa en la reconstitución de la comunidad japonesa después de la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Cuarenta años después de finalizada, y luego de superar el trauma de la derrota, los residentes japoneses se unieron para crear una escuela única con gran prestigio que atrajera a miembros de otras comunidades. Sus propósitos se hicieron realidad. La comunidad japonesa se fortaleció en términos económicos y tejió una serie …
Japoneses la comunidad en busca de un nuevo sol naciente - Parte 9
Jan. 27, 2011 • Sergio Hernández Galindo
Parte 8 >> LA ESCUELA CHUO Como parte de la concentración, una de las prioridades de los residentes japoneses fue atender a sus hijos y conseguir la continuidad de sus estudios. Para ello, el Comité de Ayuda Mutua (Kyoeikai) fundó el Departamento de Educación, enfocado en la enseñanza del idioma japonés. Nombraron a maestros con amplia experiencia docente, como el profesor Takizawa, encargado de la escuela de Río Mayo en Sonora. El organizó la Escuela Chuo en el segundo piso …
Japoneses la comunidad en busca de un nuevo sol naciente - Parte 8
Jan. 20, 2011 • Sergio Hernández Galindo
Parte 7 >> LAS PAPELERÍAS LA VIOLETA Y LA NUEVA VIOLETA Al ser obligados a concentrarse en la ciudad de México durante la guerra, el señor Arata Akachi y su familia arribaron de Los Mochis, Sinaloa, donde vivían desde hacía más de diez años. En esa ciudad norteña la familia Akachi poseía un molino de nixtamal, fruto de su trabajo y del ahorro de muchos años, que les permitía vivir de manera holgada. Junto con ellos venía su primo, Ernesto …
