Interviews

1. Moved to Japan as my dekasegi father called on me (Japanese)

2. Facing hardships in Japan (Japanese)

3. The difference between Nikkei community in Oizumi and Brazil (Japanese)

4. Change in community after the collapse of Lehman Brothers (Japanese)

5. Accepted by Japanese society as I learned more Japanese (Japanese)

6. From being a dekasegi to a long-term resident (Japanese)

7. Challenges of Brazilian community in Japan (Japanese)

8. Change of identity (Japanese)

9. The term Nikkei (Japanese)

10. My daughter’s identity (Japanese)

11. Starting my own business as a graphic designer after the collapse of Lehman Brothers (Japanese)

12. On becoming a Japanese national (Japanese)

13. Letting people know I am from Brazil (Japanese)

14. Oizumi-machi is my hometown (Japanese)

Paulo Issamu Hirano

(b. 1979) Sansei Nikkei Brazilian who lives in Oizumi-machi in Gunma prefecture. He runs his own design studio.

Challenges of Brazilian community in Japan (Japanese)

(Japanese) What they need to change now is how they serve customers. Of course, they have their own Brazilian style and they want to keep that in the future, but in reality some businesses just cannot survive with Brazilian customers alone, so when Japanese customers visit them, they need to be able to serve them like other Japanese stores do. I think that it determines whether they can make it or not in the long run, so as one big challenge, improving service is a must, I think.

But of course, it’s not that simple. I don’t want them to lose their uniqueness and since Oizumi-machi is a place for people to relax, they should remain as a place to give comfort to Brazilians - with the Brazilian, warm way of serving customers – but at the same time change to attract Japanese customers, ideally.

Brazilians communities Gunma Prefecture Japan Nikkei in Japan Oizumi

Date: October 18, 2016

Location: Gunma, Japan

Interviewer: Shigeru Kojima

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

Interviewee Bio

Paulo Issamu Hirano was born in São Paulo in January, 1979. As a Sansei whose grandparents are from Kumamoto Prefecture, he grew up in the Monte Kemel region near Liberdade. In 1989, he moved to Japan as his father, who had come as a dekasegi, called on him. Ever since, he has lived in Oizumi-machi in Gunma Prefecture. At first he was having a hard time with the language, but he made more friends as he learned Japanese. Currently he supports the Brazilian community as a graphic designer with his Japanese skills. In 2009, he started his own business and runs a design studio now. He publishes free magazines that introduce Oizumi-machi. He dedicates his life to making Oizumi-machi a Brazil town. (August, 2017)