Ariel Takeda
Ariel Takeda is a professor with a degree in Education. A Nisei, Takeda was born and raised in southern Chile. For six years, he has been director and writer of the newsletter “Nikkei Informative” for the Japanese Beneficence Society. In 2002, he was the primary author of the chapter on Japanese migration in the Encyclopedia of Japanese Descendants in the Americas: An Illustrated History of the Nikkei (AltaMira Press). In 2006, Takeda published the book, Anecdotario histórico: Japoneses Chilenos (primera mitad del siglo XX). He continues to research and write about Japanese culture. He is currently working on “Nikkei Chilenos – Segunda Mitad del Siglo XX” and the novel “El Nikkei – A la Sombra del Samurai.”
Updated November 2012
Stories from This Author
Specifying the Nikkei concept
Dec. 28, 2018 • Ariel Takeda
The article “ Who is it about when they say 'nikkeijin'? ” by Professor Shigeru Kojima seemed necessary and illuminating to me because it develops the “Nikkei” concept and observes its components through the prism of what it was and what could be having an impact on the present because, in truth, we urgently need clarifications punctual measures that allow us, once and for all, to universalize the NIKKEI concept within its fundamental scope. Hence, my purpose is to complement …
For the first time: Fujimori
Feb. 20, 2017 • Ariel Takeda
It was only four months ago (October 2016) that I wrote again about former President Fujimori (“ From Duterte to Fujimori: Reflections ”) remembering, insisting, urging for justice and recognition. I have been presenting and repeating the reasons since the day they opened that tangled and murky judicial process to attribute guilt that they were unable to substantiate and that were finally reduced to legal rhetoric. The concrete thing is that they still managed to imprison him for 25 years …
Some history and xenophobic attempts against the Japanese who made Chile their second homeland - Part 2
Dec. 21, 2016 • Ariel Takeda
Read part 1 >> CONSEQUENCES DERIVED FROM THESE CAUSES In Chile there is no Japanese Colony due to the persistent campaign carried out by the power groups of the last century to avoid the danger of the internal presence of a Japanese group that, through excessive work, could appropriate its many lands, due to its "multiplication in geometric progression” and for its historical group danger. The difficulty of finding a job according to their abilities and merits due to the …
Some history and xenophobic attempts against the Japanese who made Chile their second homeland - Part 1
Dec. 20, 2016 • Ariel Takeda
BY WAY OF INTRODUCTION When one starts to think about the characteristics presented by the descendants of those Japanese who for one reason or another ended up settling in America, one quickly ends up deducing that their similarities lie in the fact that we have all inherited a basic Japanese genetic pattern of tremendous persistence that resists the generational step, which can become recessive but always ready to emerge when circumstances demand it. (Examples in this regard are not lacking). …
From Duterte to Fujimori: Reflections
Oct. 20, 2016 • Ariel Takeda
When reviewing the press I was surprised by an article referring to the newly elected President of the Philippines RODRIGO DUTERTE (June 2016) who, as soon as he was in the presidential chair, began an open raid against the large crime and drug companies that, once Furthermore, they were fighting to take possession of the national institutions as in the times of Ferdinand Marcos (1965-1986). Hence, during his campaign, Duterte did not hesitate to state: “If I assume the presidency, …
Nuevo Premio Nóbel para Japón
Nov. 1, 2012 • Ariel Takeda
En el mes de octubre de este año, una vez más, Japón ha sido galardonado con un Premio Nobel, esta vez en Medicina. Se trata de Shinya Yamanaka (nacido en Osaka en 1962), quien comparte el premio con el ya ilustre inglés Sir John B. Gurdon. Sus valiosísimos aportes se ubican en el campo de la investigación celular. Las células especializadas que, se creía, nacían con roles predeterminados a desempeñar dentro del organismo, ahora se comprueba que son capaces de …
Japanese Stoicism
Oct. 17, 2012 • Ariel Takeda
In order to give you a better idea of who I am, we can start by saying that I am a product of southern Chile where I was born and raised and where I got my first teaching experience. Within those parameters—even today—Japanese culture was hard to come by, and, very little of it was practiced inside our home. My childhood was defined both by a domineering Chilean mother who ran the same tight ship that she had experienced growing …
Once again, Fujimori
May 4, 2011 • Ariel Takeda
Even when Alberto Fujimori is not the topic of conversation—and I haven’t changed my opinion of him one iota—it’s his daughter Keiko Fujimori who takes center stage, as she is one step closer to becoming president. Through the usual dirty campaigns, we have shown the desperate efforts to condemn Keiko despite her flawless political trajectory since 2006, when she received the highest number of votes ever in Peru at the legislative level. Her family background was supposed to prejudice Keiko …
Dekasegi chileno y el grupo Sakura
Sept. 24, 2010 • Ariel Takeda
En 1990 llega a Chile la noticia de que Japón ha decidido devolverle la mano a América por aquellos emigrantes japoneses que vinieron a fines del siglo XIX y principios del XX a buscar nuevas fuentes de sustento. Ahora, sus descendientes pueden tener esas mismas oportunidades en las tierras de sus ancestros. Pero esta noticia no tiene en Chile las repercusiones que alcanza en otros países como en Perú o Brasil donde ocasiona acercamientos a quiebres generacionales por la multitud de jóvenes …
Reflexionando a partir de "La gran farsa: El juicio a Fujimori"
Feb. 2, 2010 • Ariel Takeda
Cuando uno ha seguido más o menos de cerca los retorcidos procesos contra el ex Presidente Alberto Fujimori y lee después el artículo de la señora Deolinda Esteves Gil de Villa; sólo se puede bajar la cabeza y reflexionar. Qué hacer frente a un poder fáctico que ha montado una pieza teatral relacionada con el enjuiciamiento de un hombre condenado a partir del primer minuto de representación. Ellos pudieron levantar escenarios de tribunales, escribir un sesudo libreto sobre argumentaciones acusatorias, preparar actores de bocas grandes y conciencias …
