ジョン・カタギ氏は、全米日系人博物館の元職員です。南米への約 20 年間の旅の思い出を語ります。彼の経験は、ロサンゼルスを拠点とする異文化交流機関 JEMS のディレクター スタッフとしての研究と観察から生まれたものです。
2012年2月更新
この執筆者によるストーリー
Not All Jungle
2009年4月17日 • ジョン・カタギ
A far cry from its perception as a jungle outpost, Belém is a modern port city on the Amazon River. On this day in Belém, I was instructed, "Stand in front of me. Let me look at you." These were the directions of my friend Rick, a Sansei from Pasadena, California and a ten-year veteran of work in the Amazon. We were about to embark on a trip through the famous Ver-O-Peso open air market in Belém. He wanted to …
Coffee on the Amazon
2009年3月11日 • ジョン・カタギ
I'm in the middle of Pará state, about three hours from the large city of Belém on a dirt road three hours from a small village called Tomé Açu. Tomé Açu was one of several Japanese farming colonies in the state that started with the arrival of 43 Japanese families in 1929. This farming community would emerge successfully through the cultivation of pepper. The fortunes of the community would also decline as the pepper plant fell victim to a fungus …
Say What?
2009年2月4日 • ジョン・カタギ
My first meal during my first visit to Brazil was in a conference center just an hour from São Paulo’s international airport. This would be my first Nikkei leadership conference in Brazil, my first time for everything. We arrived at the hour of almoço (lunch) and I was handed a plate. I soon found myself standing in line for lunch in the cafeteria. There were people behind tables serving us as we passed in front. The first person scooped what …
Beisebol or Besuboru?
2009年1月14日 • ジョン・カタギ
Beisebol is big among the Japanese farming colonies of South America. I found myself at a weekend tournament in Pedro Juan Caballero, a small town in eastern Paraguay on the border of Brazil. As I wandered around, it occurred to me that it wasn't just about baseball. It was about community. It was certainly a chance to watch various games and rivalries played out, but it was also an opportunity to visit, to picnic, to laugh, to gossip. Onigiri (rice …
Ahh. Piranha
2008年12月18日 • ジョン・カタギ
I am sitting in a dugout canoe with three rather large Nikkei Brazilian guys. We're fishing in the Parana River just outside the town of Panorama on the borders of the states of São Paulo and Mato Grosso do Sul in central Brazil. One hour earlier, the invitation to go fishing seemed like a good one. It meant skipping a three-hour lecture and discussion on Nikkei community issues and as this was my first trip to Brazil, I wouldn't have …
Paraguay with Eyes Open
2008年11月26日 • ジョン・カタギ
September 2008 marked my first opportunity to visit the capital city of Asunción, Paraguay. I had been looking forward to my study trip, and was hoping that I hadn't lost my sense of adventure and the flexibility that would be needed for a two week stay, bookended by two twenty-four hour travel days. Prior to embarking on my study trip to Paraguay, I dutifully read all I could find (thanks, Google!) on the history of the country. I would learn …
