Kizuna 2020: Nikkei Kindness and Solidarity During the COVID-19 Pandemic
In Japanese, kizuna means strong emotional bonds. In 2011, we invited our global Nikkei community to contribute to a special series about how Nikkei communities reacted to and supported Japan following the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. Now, we would like to bring together stories about how Nikkei families and communities are being impacted by, and responding and adjusting to this world crisis.
If you would like to participate, please see our submission guidelines. We welcome submissions in English, Japanese, Spanish, and/or Portuguese, and are seeking diverse stories from around the world. We hope that these stories will help to connect us, creating a time capsule of responses and perspectives from our global Nima-kai community for the future.
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Although many events around the world have been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have noticed that many new online only events are being organized. Since they are online, anyone can participate from anywhere in the world. If your Nikkei organization is planning a virtual event, please post it on Discover Nikkei’s Events section! We will also share the events via Twitter @discovernikkei. Hopefully, it will help to connect us in new ways, even as we are all isolated in our homes.
Stories from this series
Nikkei small businesses face challenges in the coronavirus pandemic
Aug. 10, 2020 • Tatiana Maebuchi
São Paulo, capital. Economic center that brings together several local establishments managed by Japanese-Brazilian entrepreneurs. Similarities and peculiarities emerge in the impacts resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak caused by the coronavirus. As an example, four business creators share their experiences in this scenario. * * * * * United family “The pandemic made us come together to work as a family”, says Cristiane Haruyama Sampei, creator of the Na-Na-Ya Pâtisserie bakery, in Vila Mariana. Her husband is helping her full …
America’s Ugly History of Xenophobia Resurges with COVID-19
Aug. 3, 2020 • Matthew Saito
If there’s anything that COVID-19 revealed, it is that xenophobia never went away; it was just hidden. With the rise of COVID-19 cases, hate crimes targeting Asians have increased after having decreased in the 21st century. Xenophobia is the fear or hatred of foreigners, people from different cultures or strangers.1 It is the dislike or fear of the customs of people culturally different from oneself. It’s important to note that xenophobia is very similar to racism. However, it differs from …
Kizuna 2020: My Birthday Wish
July 23, 2020 • Mary Sunada
As I celebrated my 72nd birthday on January 1, 2020 with my family, we greeted each other with Shinnen Akemashite Omedeto Gozaimasu (Happy New Year) and toasted with sparkling apple cider. My family started the day with ozoni (soup with rice cake). Our dining table was full of osechi ryori (Japanese New Year’s Day food) inside two-tier lacquer boxes called jubako. All day long we ate our favorite Japanese foods. My husband would eat his inari sushi, futomaki sushi with …
Community Bonding During the Pandemic – Part 2
July 22, 2020 • Laura Honda-Hasegawa
Read Part 1 >> Reuniting with nostalgic Japanese songs During the stay-at-home period, I started to exchange more videos of Japanese TV programs and Japanese pop songs with my friends. The first video that arrived on my smartphone was "Ue o Muite Arukou." I felt very nostalgic when I heard Kyu Sakamoto's voice singing it. This is because this song was the theme song of the radio program I hosted from 2001 to 2007. Every morning, with that beautiful melody …
Community Bonding During the Pandemic – Part 1
July 21, 2020 • Laura Honda-Hasegawa
A new life in Londrina It was exactly one year ago that I decided to leave my hometown of São Paulo and move to Londrina, Paraná. I had been retired for 19 years and was already 73 years old. This was the result of a lot of thought. The reason I decided to move to Londrina is because it is a place where I can trace my roots. The farm that my maternal grandfather built up with hard work remains …
JANM Volunteers in the Time of Covid
July 14, 2020 • Julia Murakami
40 staff and 200 volunteers are the human resource numbers for the Japanese American National Museum. With volunteers outnumbering staff 5:1, the hallways and the Takei Volunteer Center became much quieter places in early March when, for health safety reasons, we had to ask they no longer come into the Museum until further notice. With half of our volunteers having been part of the JANM forces for 10 or more years, there are definite bonds that have formed between staff …