Discover Nikkei

https://www.discovernikkei.org/en/interviews/clips/1061/

Feminist, ecologist, Buddhist… activist (Spanish)

(Spanish) I am a militant person. I like activism. That is the reason why I am cultural manager; that’s why I organize book fairs, poetry readings; that is why I organize young people. I think this is a very okinawenes mentality, the solidarity. The characteristics of Okinawan people are: hospitality, solidarity, and joy. I have all those characteristics (laughs). That doesn’t mean that I’m not a sad person. My books are very sad. I cannot read the book Chambala era un camino [Chambala was a path]. I can’t read that book. I threw it away. I said, “good grief! How can someone write that?” I even surprise myself, with my poems, because they’re very sad. They’re of my father, mother. I consider myself, at this moment, a Buddhist. I have a Buddhist conception that is hereditary. I’m an ecologist. I have always been ecologist. I am a feminist. With the book El diario de la mujer es ponja [The diary of the jap woman] my feminist aspect was shown, to say in a way. And I’m a very organized person. I don’t choose the poetry books by chronology, but by atmosphere, by theme. And I select the chapters by atmosphere, rhythm, by amounts, because poetry above all, is accuracy. And actually I published this book because I wanted to emphasize this fact in my ecologist battle. I think Peru is a country that needs to be thoroughly ecological. We don’t have an ecological movement. It’s disgusting really. It’s terrible… being such a rich country: richness in the nature, so rich in dances…


activism Buddhism ecology feminism identity literature Okinawans Peru poetry religions social action

Date: February 26, 2008

Location: Lima, Peru

Interviewer: Harumi Nako

Contributed by: Asociación Peruano Japonesa (APJ)

Interviewee Bio

Doris Moromisato Miasato (1962) was born in Chambala, an agricultural zone of Lima, Peru. She graduated with a degree in Law and Political Science at the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos.

She has published the collection of poems Morada donde la luna perdió su palidez [Home were the moon lost its paleness] (1988), Chambala era un camino [Chambala was the path] (1999), Diario de la mujer es ponja [Diary of a Jap woman] (2004), Paisaje Terrestre [Terrestrial Path] (2007), as well as the story book Okinawa, un siglo en el Perú [Okinawa. A century in Peru] (2006). Her poems, stories, essays, and features have also been included in several anthologies and have been translated into several languages.

She is an ecologist, feminist and Buddhist. In 2006, the Okinawa Municipality nominated her as an Ambassador of Good Will. Nowadays, she is columnist for the Discover Nikkei Website, and since 2005 she has managed the organization of book fairs as Cultural Director of Cámara Peruana del Libro. (February 26, 2008)

Hirabayashi,PJ

Sense of lineage between Sansei and Issei through Taiko

Co-founder and creative director of San Jose Taiko

Nakamura,Ann K.

Image of Americans

Sansei from Hawaii living in Japan. Teacher and businesswoman.

Okasaki,Robert (Bob) Kiyoshi

Japanese influence growing up

(b.1942) Japanese American ceramist, who has lived in Japan for over 30 years.

Hirabayashi,PJ

Diverse membership in San Jose Taiko

Co-founder and creative director of San Jose Taiko

Okasaki,Robert (Bob) Kiyoshi

Looking at your country from the outside

(b.1942) Japanese American ceramist, who has lived in Japan for over 30 years.

Okasaki,Robert (Bob) Kiyoshi

Wife's family in Japan

(b.1942) Japanese American ceramist, who has lived in Japan for over 30 years.

Takeshita,Yukio

Lack of notion of citizenship in Japan

(b.1935) American born Japanese. Retired businessman.

Yamano,Jane Aiko

Lack of language skills

(b.1964) California-born business woman in Japan. A successor of her late grandmother, who started a beauty business in Japan.

Yamano,Jane Aiko

Preserving traditional Japanese culture

(b.1964) California-born business woman in Japan. A successor of her late grandmother, who started a beauty business in Japan.

Yamano,Jane Aiko

Having patience in Japan, being both

(b.1964) California-born business woman in Japan. A successor of her late grandmother, who started a beauty business in Japan.

Glaser,Byron

Supporting art because it's essential

Illustrator and designer

Yokoyama,Wayne Shigeto

Being on the outside

(b.1948) Nikkei from Southern California living in Japan.

Yonamine,Wally Kaname

His parents' experience with Japanese resistance toward intermarriage with Okinawans

(b.1925) Nisei of Okinawan descent. Had a 38-year career in Japan as a baseball player, coach, scout, and manager.

Yonamine,Wally Kaname

Working in cane fields as teenager, and how it helped in his athletic training (Japanese)

(b.1925) Nisei of Okinawan descent. Had a 38-year career in Japan as a baseball player, coach, scout, and manager.

Matsumoto,Roy H.

Nickname

(b.1913) Kibei from California who served in the MIS with Merrill’s Marauders during WWII.