Interviews
Supporting Nikkei in Japan (Japanese)
(Japanese) In the 90s, many different people came from Central and South America to work in Japan. At the time we called them dekasegi workers or Nikkei dekasegi workers. I was aware of dekasegis at that time, but I had no idea that such a large number of dekasegis were coming here. Anyway while I was at Tsukuba University — and after as well — I received a lot of inquiries from different corporations and organizations because I spoke both Spanish and Japanese and my Japanese level was improved by then. I was also asked to help in courtrooms and by law enforcement, so there were a lot of one-off jobs. I received a lot of requests for mainly interpretations and a little bit of written translation as well.
Because of that, I decided to change my plans and my field of study, and I transferred to Yokohama National University majoring in law. My master’s thesis was also focused on labor law, so I studied Japanese civil codes and civil proceedings quite thoroughly. Thanks to that I’ve been able to work in many different capacities, including offering support to Nikkei from Latin America.
Date: September 22, 2019
Location: California, US
Interviewer: Yoko Nishimura
Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum