Laura Honda-Hasegawa

In our January e-newsletter, Discover Nikkei put out a call for Oshogatsu stories. We asked our Nikkei readers from around the world to show us, through photos and words, how they welcomed the New Year. We received several stories written in English, Japanese, and Portuguese. One story, by Justin Inahara, was so long that we had to publish it separately. The rest are gathered below for your reading pleasure. Enjoy!

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Desperate Measures of Un-Chanto Woman
By Naomi Hirahara

I made my Hiroshima-born mother cry sometimes because I’ve been so un-chanto since childhood. If I didn’t lose ...

As the end of the year approaches, the East Asian quarter of São Paolo is lively. Signs in the shop windows of Japanese food supply stores say, “Now taking reservations for mochi and offerings.”

Even for Nikkei who do not usually follow Japanese customs, one cannot do without mochi during New Year’s. I think it is common to grill the mochi and have it with soy sauce and sugar. Another way is ozoni.

My first New Year’s spent in Japan was 42 years ago. Two Nikkei Brazilians studying abroad came over to my house, and we spent ...

“On Christmas Day, we’ll have Brazilian dishes, and on Oshogatsu¹ we’ll have the Japanese New Year’s traditional foods. We Nikkei can enjoy twice as many banquets. We’re truly blessed!”

That’s what Mom used to say at the end of every year.

And I think the same way. It’s an advantage to belong to two different cultures.

At our family’s Christmas and New Year’s celebrations, there were always the three of us: Dad, Mom, and me. Although our numbers were small, our gatherings were a very important time in our lives. I ...

I’ve loved reading since I was little and would find myself drawn to characters in each story. The powerful “Momotaro” and peculiar White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland, to name a few. They were all adorable characters.

Once I entered middle school and high school, I was surprised by the complex personality of Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights. I also encountered a lot of interesting protagonists in Brazilian and Portuguese literature which I majored in college.

But the person I’ve been most impressed by has been Kokichi-san. While other characters have been written in the imagination of authors, Kokichi-san ...

Part 1 >>

Japanese cuisine was also a popular topic. Our shows aired on weekday mornings so many of our listeners were housewives, but we found that there was interest among men as well.

Brazilians are known to incorporate soybeans in their cooking, so we introduced a recipe for cake using “okara” (bean curd lees from making tofu). Other ingredients included bananas and fubá (corn powder), which are commonly used by Brazilians. We immediately received a call after introducing the recipe. 

“Sorry, but would you please list the ingredients for me one more time? My wife is out, and I want ...