I have always interpreted this famous phrase by the Russian writer, Leo Tolstoy, “If you want to be universal, start by painting your village”, in the following way: If you want to get to know all the villages in the world, dear reader, first get to know yours well; in …
One day it hit me: all my friends knew how to play soccer—except me.
The first time I visited the city of Rio de Janeiro, I realized that there was something a little different there. On Monday, when I stayed longer, I confirmed what I had noticed and what I had heard from some relatives: people from Rio love Japanese. Not the adult Carioca …
Every other week, I stop by a Japanese grocery store that's just down the block from my house, in Liberdade, to buy some basic products: sushi, soy sauce, tofu, rice... that sort of thing. And it was in this place that I met a little girl who is already a …
"Mango? Mango? Mango?" The scene that took place in front of me was quite unusual. It took me a few seconds to understand her: A woman, with a huge question mark over her head, looking at me and saying: “Man-ga? Mango? Mango?". At that moment, I realized that this would …
Even though there are many words and expressions that characterize them for Brazilians—hai, banzai, and arigatô—the interjection né [Portuguese-language contraction of não [not] + é [is], meaning “isn’t it?”], of course, is the one that most relates to Japanese.
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