Discover Nikkei

https://www.discovernikkei.org/en/journal/series/dekasegi-story/

Dekasegi Story


June 18, 2012 - April 18, 2024

In 1988, I read a news article about dekasegi and had an idea: "This might be a good subject for a novel." But I never imagined that I would end up becoming the author of this novel...

In 1990, I finished my first novel, and in the final scene, the protagonist Kimiko goes to Japan to work as a dekasegi worker. 11 years later, when I was asked to write a short story, I again chose the theme of dekasegi. Then, in 2008, I had my own dekasegi experience, and it left me with a lot of questions. "What is dekasegi?" "Where do dekasegi workers belong?"

I realized that the world of dekasegi is very complicated.

Through this series, I hope to think about these questions together.



Stories from this series

第一話 ケンジンニョはブラジルを発見した!

June 18, 2012 • Laura Honda-Hasegawa

新しい学校での初めての日、大変な下痢のため、少年は学校に行けなかった。 母親は心配した。フェイジョアーダがあたったのかと思った。 しかし、少年は内心ではちゃんと分かっていた、どうしてそうなったのか。前の学校の友だちは言った。「向こうはガイジンだけだよ」 「どうしよう?」今までずっと山に囲まれた小さな町に暮らしていた少年は地球の反対側にやってきた。「イラセマばあちゃんの家ではさっぱり分からない言葉でみんなが話す。学校でも同じなのかなぁ」と、とても不安だったのだ。 気持ちを入れ…

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Author in This Series

Born in São Paulo, Brazil in 1947. Worked in the field of education until 2009. Since then, she has dedicated herself exclusively to literature, writing essays, short stories and novels, all from a Nikkei point of view.

She grew up listening to Japanese children's stories told by her mother. As a teenager, she read the monthly issue of Shojo Kurabu, a youth magazine for girls imported from Japan. She watched almost all of Ozu's films, developing a great admiration for Japanese culture all her life.


Updated May 2023