Vozes de Chicago
Os artigos dessa série foram originalmente publicados em “Vozes de Chicago (Voices of Chicago)”, o jornal online da Chicago Japanese American Historical Society, que é uma organização participante do Descubra Nikkei desde dezembro de 2004.
“Voices of Chicago” é uma coleção de narrativas em primeira pessoa sobre as experiências de pessoas de descendência japonesa que moram em Chicago. A comunidade é composta por três ondas de imigração e seus descendentes: a primeira, cerca de 300 pessoas, chegou a Chicago mais ou menos na época do Columbian Exposition em 1899. O segundo e maior grupo é descendente de 30.000 pessoas que vieram diretamente para Chicago a partir dos campos de concentração após a Segunda Guerra Mundial. Chamados de "reassentados", eles criaram uma comunidade construída em torno de organizações de serviços sociais, igrejas budistas e cristãs e pequenas empresas. O terceiro grupo, mais recente, é de cidadãos japoneses que vieram para Chicago, com início na década de 1980, como artistas e estudantes, e [ali] permaneceram. Um quarto grupo, não-imigrante, é de executivos japoneses e suas famílias que vivem em Chicago por longos períodos, às vezes permanentemente.
Chicago tem sido sempre um lugar onde as pessoas podem recriar a si mesmas e onde diversas comunidades étnicas vivem e trabalham juntas. O “Voices of Chicago” conta histórias de membros de cada um desses quatro grupos e como eles se encaixam no mosaico de uma grande cidade.
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Stories from this series
Hiroshima Story - Part 1
24 de Junho de 2010 • Sachiko Masuoka
This is a story previously told by Sachiko Masuoka about living through the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.I would like to welcome all of you. Thank you for the introduction. My name is Sachiko Masuoka. I would like to speak to you as I remember my experience when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima 63 years ago. At 8:15 a.m. on August 6, 1945, we were all lined up for the morning ceremony, as all Japanese schoolchildren do. At that …
Will
7 de Maio de 2010 • Ayako Kato
You never know your fate or your path in life, yet somehow I feel we cannot avoid reflecting upon our own lives and making some decisions that are influenced by our ancestors’ bitter memories in their lives, trying not to repeat their mistakes, or else following their will, even unconsciously. My grandmother, Asano, was born in California in 1914. According to my mother, Masumi, it was in Gurendora (グレンドラ), presumably Glendale, near Los Angeles. Her parents were Yoshinosuke and Yoshie …
A Conversation with Tatsu Aoki
13 de Abril de 2010 • Chicago Japanese American Historical Society
Tatsu Aoki remains a prolific artist, composer, musician, filmmaker and educator, contributing to and enriching Chicago’s cultural scene. He works in a wide range of musical genres, ranging from traditional Japanese music to jazz to experimental music. His primary instruments are the bass and the shamisen lute. He is also an accomplished experimental filmmaker. His biological father, Wahei Hoshino, was a movie producer at Shin Toho Movie Studio in the 1960s and was the reason that Tatsu got into small …
Guiding Force
1 de Março de 2010 • Masaru Kato
Looking back into my life, I have noticed that a certain invisible hand has always supported me. I am not talking about the economics term of Adam Smith, the “invisible hand,” that describes the self-regulating nature of the marketplace. The invisible hand that I am mentioning here is a guiding force that opens doors for me. Help is offered to me when I am in trouble. Something leads me to the right direction, when I am lost. Opportunities are coming …
Catching Lightning in a Jar
6 de Janeiro de 2010 • Dwight Okita
When you’re a writer, everything that happens to you is a potential story you will one day write. The more awkward, wacky, horrible or wonderful the moments comprising the experience—the better. The writer’s job is to catch lightning in a jar. To honor the experience by rendering it as vividly on the page as it was lived in life. Sometimes a writer can even write about an experience he’s never had. For example, in one of my novels, I write …
Masaru Funai Chicago Lawyer
16 de Dezembro de 2009 • Masaru Funai
I am a transplant in Chicago, having arrived from Hawaii with my wife, Carolyn, in 1954 to attend Northwestern University Law School. Our children, Bryan and Shari, were both born in Chicago and we have made this city our home for the past 55 years. I have been asked a countless number of times what made me leave the Hawaiian Islands and relocate in Chicago. My short answer has always been, “You can’t eat sand and sunshine.” My real reason …