Rio Imamura
@riodanRio Imamura, cidadão americano há quase 30 anos morando na cidade de Nova York e no sul da Califórnia, retornou ao Japão após se aposentar em 1994. Sua tradução japonesa de Dear Miss Breed escrita por Joanne Oppenheim foi publicada pela Kashiwa Shobo, Tóquio em 2007.
Atualizado em fevereiro de 2012
Stories from This Author
Nipo-americanos notáveis
28 de Junho de 2016 • Rio Imamura
A 46ª escola primária, inaugurada no início do próximo ano em Chula Vista, com um orçamento de 47,5 milhões de dólares, levará o nome de Saburo Muraoka. Achei que o caso poderia ser a primeira escola pública construída em homenagem a um imigrante nipo-americano, algo sem precedentes para os nipo-americanos. Pesquisei o falecido herói de guerra havaiano, 442º veterano de combate, o senador americano Daniel Inouye (1924–2012), o primeiro congressista nipo-americano. Sim, o Instituto DKI foi construído em 2013, dentro …
Minato Gakuen agora
1 de Junho de 2016 • Rio Imamura
A turma de 2016 formada em Minato Gakuen foi parabenizada uma vez em San Diego, em meados de março, e novamente em Kyoto, no início de abril. Aqui estão capítulos e versículos da história de toda a vida e os frutos do serviço conjunto e da dedicação de todas as partes envolvidas. Minato Gakuen foi fundada em 1978 como Nihongo Hoshuko (Escola Suplementar de Língua Japonesa aos sábados) em San Diego, principalmente para crianças japonesas expatriadas. O período de atribuição …
Infâmia
11 de Agosto de 2015 • Rio Imamura
Meu filho, que mora em Nova York, se deu ao trabalho de me enviar por via aérea Richard Reeves' Infamy , um livro de 340 páginas recém-publicado pela Henry Holt & Co. O subtítulo diz “A história chocante do internamento nipo-americano na Segunda Guerra Mundial”. Este é o primeiro livro que Dear Miss Breed, de Joanne Oppenheim, é citado extensivamente. Fiquei feliz em encontrar a foto de Clara Breed no livro. Ela era bibliotecária infantil da Biblioteca Pública de San …
"Painted My Way"—Henry Fukuhara, A True Artist
26 de Dezembro de 2013 • Rio Imamura
Shadow of the distant pass; Their memories still last Manzanar: Monument of Tears. Ignorance and pseudo-fears; A wrong that can’t be made right; A blindness for lack of sight; A day now engulfed by night; A hope shaded, once so bright. The memories still last, …they still last —“Manzanar” …
Voluntary Evacuation
29 de Novembro de 2013 • Rio Imamura
“Attempted but failed” was my understanding of the voluntary evacuation efforts by the Japanese Americans when Japan declared war against the Allied Forces in attacking Pearl Harbor. Ryo Takasugi’s book on Fred (Isamu) Wada took me by surprise. The book, written a decade ago, was recently republished as The Man who ushered in the Tokyo Olympics (1964) from Kobunsha. What caught me was its subtitle “The Story of an Nisei Japanese who Refused to go to the Concentration Camp.” The …
Revisiting Balboa Park Japanese Friendship Garden
25 de Setembro de 2013 • Rio Imamura
I wish to dedicate this article to: Will Hippen, Jr., Clara Breed, Marge Wells, Mark Umemura, Ken Takada, Denny Ikeda, and George Woodworth. Recently, I had the chance to re-visit the Balboa Park Japanese Friendship Garden. I tried to rely on my memory to find the entrance from the Organ Pavilion, the center of San Diego Balboa Park. I found myself at the VIP (or service) gate which was locked to the general public. Once I realized I was at the …
Imamura Church
11 de Junho de 2013 • Rio Imamura
Edson Aoki, a Japanese Brazilian, whom I just got to know, visited Tachiarai1, Fukuoka recently. Tachiarai, easily reachable by train from Kurume (20 km further inland) or Fukuoka Tenjin Station, is a quiet rural country with rice paddies. We can’t imagine what it looked like during World War II. Tachiarai back then was heavily bombed because the Imperial Army Air Force base was there. It was the training center of young pilots and AA artillery armies. I barely remember the …
Japanese Drifters to Mexico
2 de Abril de 2013 • Rio Imamura
Captain Jukichi’s Diary led me to the tale of Zensuke, another sea captain of the ship Eijyumaru, a vessel boastfully designated as “Sengokubune,” or One Thousand Koku boat (see previous post “Trip to Discover Kyoto History” regarding definition of “koku,” a unit of volume), measuring roughly 15 meters long, single-masted, capable of carrying 150 tons of rice and other cargo. However, the term 1000 Koku was loosely used. The English translation of Sengokubune was large junk-style ship. So chances were …
Samurai Missionary
21 de Novembro de 2012 • Rio Imamura
I tell you the truth, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. —John 12:24 1 It was close to my retirement when browsing the UCSB Library, I found the book titled Samurai Missionary published in 1985. While perusing the book, the name “Imabari” jumped out at me and caught me by surprise. This is the city in Ehime Prefecture on Shikoku Island …
The Washugyu Dream Venture
27 de Setembro de 2012 • Rio Imamura
Ever heard of Washoku? It’s a culinary and cultural tradition of Japanese dishes now quietly prevailing worldwide. If you know Washoku, then Wagyu may not sound peculiar. “Wagyu” is defined by Larry Olsmed, who wrote “Kobe Beef Scam” in the Forbes magazine (4/13/12) as follows: “Wagyu, on the other hand, means ‘Japanese Cattle’ and refers to the entirety of the nation’s breeds.” Beyond that, its definition gets vaguer depending on who you ask and what country you are in. It …
