Discover Nikkei

https://www.discovernikkei.org/en/interviews/clips/714/

The various realities of Nikkei in Latin America (Spanish)

(Spanish) I think that the development of this thing called Nikkei has been somewhat distinct from country to country. I’m referring to Latin America in general. Through the Pan-American Association of Nikkei, I’ve had the opportunity to come into contact with various Nikkei realities, and yes, there are some common roots, however there are also certain differences. Perhaps the greatest difference I see comes from the number of Japanese that settled in a given place. In places where there are a lot of Japanese, there are obviously Japanese schools. There are Japanese clubs, Japanese churches, or Buddhist temples – whatever, I don’t know! By contrast, in countries like Chile, there was none of that. Therefore, in the development of countries where there were a lot of Japanese, maybe the customs, the culture lasted longer. Maybe it wasn’t growing, but it lasted longer in those places. In the case of Chile, in my case, I think we drifted quite a bit towards adapting to Chilean society, and as fast as possible in order to get by as best we could. So, for example, within this context you see that in religion, for example, in Chile there’s no…uh…the majority religion is Catholicism, and perhaps therefore all of us ended up embracing that religion. Something else, for example, is that since the nucleus of Japanese and Nikkei was so small, weddings, marriages to locals was much greater than in other places. Naturally, this led to, among other things, a very rapid loss of the language.


Chile communities culture immigration

Date: October 7, 2005

Location: California, US

Interviewer: Ann Kaneko

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

Interviewee Bio

Roberto Hirose was born in Quillota, Chile on August 8, 1950. He spent his childhood in an agricultural environment where he met a variety of the local Japanese in Chile. He attended school in Quillota and later in Copiapó. In Copiapó, he had the opportunity to meet people from Japan who had come to the mining area of Chile for work. He studied electrical engineering at La Universidad de Chile, in Santiago (1968-1973). Subsequently, he was awarded a six month scholarship by the Ministerio de Educación de Japón to study Japanese at the University of Foreign Languages in Osaka, and research electrical engineering at the University of Hiroshima for one year. For over a decade, Roberto worked in the machinery department at Mitsui Chile Ltda. In 1986, he worked at Industrias Vinycon (as a manufacturer of industrial fishing materials). In 2002, he managed the diversification of Vinycon in northern Chile, specifically in Caldera, where he directed an agricultural center for the cultivation of abalone. In regards to Nikkei activities in Chile, Roberto actively participated in the Sociedad Japonesa de Beneficencia from 1968 to 1986. Afterwards, he became involved with the Corporación Nikkei de la Región de Valparaíso (formerly the Agrupación Nikkei de Valparaíso) of which he is still a part of today. (May 2, 2007)

Mónica Kogiso
en
ja
es
pt
Kogiso,Mónica

History of her family's immigration (Spanish)

(b. 1969) Former president of Centro Nikkei Argentino.

en
ja
es
pt
Mónica Kogiso
en
ja
es
pt
Kogiso,Mónica

Nihongo gakko - Preserving Japanese culture (Spanish)

(b. 1969) Former president of Centro Nikkei Argentino.

en
ja
es
pt
Mónica Kogiso
en
ja
es
pt
Kogiso,Mónica

Easier to be a foreigner in Japan (Spanish)

(b. 1969) Former president of Centro Nikkei Argentino.

en
ja
es
pt
Vince Ota
en
ja
es
pt
Ota,Vince

Moving to and living in Japan

Japanese American Creative designer living in Japan

en
ja
es
pt
Vince Ota
en
ja
es
pt
Ota,Vince

The reason to stay in Japan after his third year

Japanese American Creative designer living in Japan

en
ja
es
pt
Francis Y. Sogi
en
ja
es
pt
Sogi,Francis Y.

The Kona Island community

(1923-2011) Lawyer, MIS veteran, founder of Francis and Sarah Sogi Foundation

en
ja
es
pt
Lorraine Bannai
en
ja
es
pt
Bannai,Lorraine

The importance of Japanese American role models in childhood community

(b. 1955) Lawyer

en
ja
es
pt
Lorraine Bannai
en
ja
es
pt
Bannai,Lorraine

Recognizing issues of dual identity in the nisei generation

(b. 1955) Lawyer

en
ja
es
pt
Lorraine Bannai
en
ja
es
pt
Bannai,Lorraine

Heightened awareness of identity as a Japanese American

(b. 1955) Lawyer

en
ja
es
pt
Margaret Oda
en
ja
es
pt
Oda,Margaret

Growing up with Japanese language and values

(1925 - 2018) Nisei educator from Hawai‘i

en
ja
es
pt
Michie Akama
en
ja
es
pt
Akama,Michie

Reasons for immigrating to Brazil (Japanese)

Issei, Pioneer of women's education in Brazil

en
ja
es
pt
Paula Hoyos Hattori
en
ja
es
pt
Hattori,Paula Hoyos

Her interests in Japanese culture (Spanish)

Sansei Argentinean

en
ja
es
pt
Paula Hoyos Hattori
en
ja
es
pt
Hattori,Paula Hoyos

The importance of learning cultural diversity (Spanish)

Sansei Argentinean

en
ja
es
pt
Paula Hoyos Hattori
en
ja
es
pt
Hattori,Paula Hoyos

The arrival of her grandpa (Spanish)

Sansei Argentinean

en
ja
es
pt
Ryoko Hokama
en
ja
es
pt
Hokama,Ryoko

Initial struggles with the language barrier (Japanese)

(b. 1917) Okinawan, Issei Argentinean

en
ja
es
pt