Interviews
Deciding to migrate to Brazil upon the influence of my Senpai (Japanese)
(Japanese) I was only in 9th grade when I decided I wanted to come to Brazil. So back in my middle school—it’s turned into a high school now—but at the middle school, a senpai of mine that lived near my house had just graduated and moved to Brazil. That had a real strong influence on me, and I really started thinking that I wanted to go to Brazil. So then, I graduated, and I was at home for a bit. I was at my home in Nagano for just about half a year, then enrolled at Rikko-kai—an international school in Tokyo called Rikko-kai, which was a school that helped prepare me to go abroad and such. I was there [at the school] for another half-year, and boarded a ship… it was the same year as when I registered for Selective Service… so, 20 years old? I was 20 when I boarded the ship and came over to Brazil. Back then, the route to get to Brazil [from Japan] was around India, around Africa, and finally to Brazil, and it took 46 days to arrive. I came to Santos. Then I went to Sao Paulo, and… where should I start… well anyway I’m all alone—single, of course, with no family, and maybe there were other Japanese in Brazil that I could consider as being my ‘relatives,’ but there wasn’t much reason to search for them back then. So, through my senpai’s suggestion, I decided to stay at a dormitory. The location of this dormitory is actually where the Cultural Center stands today. There was an old building back then… We tore it down, and the Cultural Center was built.
Date:
Location: Brazil
Contributed by: Caminho da memória - 遥かなるみちのり. São Paulo, Brazil: Comissão de Elaboração da História dos 80 Anos de Imigração Japonesa no Brasil, 1998. VHS.
Explore More Videos
Going back to Hawaii
An expert researcher and scholar on Japanese immigrant clothing.
Picture brides and karifufu
An expert researcher and scholar on Japanese immigrant clothing.
Working at the magazine
(b.1948) Nikkei from Southern California living in Japan.
Kibei schoolchildren in Hiroshima, Japan
(b.1913) Kibei from California who served in the MIS with Merrill’s Marauders during WWII.
The reason he came to the United States (Japanese)
(1949 - 2019) Taiko player. Founded five taiko groups in Southern California
Grandfather's arrival in the U.S., experiencing discrimination
(b. 1939) Japanese American painter, printmaker & professor
Mother's immigration to U.S. as a treaty merchant
(b. 1927) Japanese American Nisei. Family voluntarily returned to Japan during WWII.
Why her parents came to Canada
(1918-2004) Interned in Slocan during World War II. Active member of the Japanese Canadian community.
Family background of Fredrick Yoshihide Sasaki
(b. 1918) Issei businessman in Canada
Arranged marriage
(b.1912) Japanese Canadian Issei. Immigrated with husband to Canada in 1931
Her early life in Canada
(b.1912) Japanese Canadian Issei. Immigrated with husband to Canada in 1931
Coming to America
(b.1943) Shin-issei grand master of taiko; founded San Francisco Taiko Dojo in 1968.
The reason for coming to Japan
(b. 1967) Hawai`i-born professional fighter in Japan
Yobiyose system in Canada
(b. 1922) Canadian Nisei who was unable to return to Canada from Japan until 1952