Interviews

1. Not too concerned about learning Japanese when he was growing up in Brazil (Portuguese)

2. The reason why the city of Oizumi became “Brazilian town” (Portuguese)

3. Japanese Brazilians living in Oizumi (Portuguese)

4. The reason why he immigrated to Japan (Portuguese)

5. Advantages of living in Japan (Portuguese)

6. More government supports in the city of Oizumi for Japanese Brazilians (Portuguese)

7. Oizumi, the Brazilian town in Japan (Portuguese)

8. Future of the Japanese Brazilian community in Japan (Portuguese)

9. Lehman shock’s impact on the Japanese Brazilian community in Japan (Portuguese)

10. 3.11 Earthquake stopped his business in Sendai and Fukushima (Portuguese)

11. Transition from a factory worker to starting his own business (Portuguese)

Shikota,Antonio Shinkiti

(b. 1962) Japanese Brazilian owner of a Brazilian products store in Japan.

The reason why he immigrated to Japan (Portuguese)

(Portuguese )

It’s been 28 years. I came – I arrived here in nineteen hundred and ... huh ... I think ‘88, ya know? And ... Why did I come here – to Japan? It's that, it's ... In Brazil, ya know, I’ve always, like ... I wanted to open my own business, and out of the blue a friend of mine came one day – I mean, he came to Japan and all that, and he got to know Japan, and he began working here, ya know, and he liked Japan. ... Then he said, “Oh, what if you came to Japan; it’s interesting here, you can make some money. And I believe it's gonna be great, ya know?” So I took advantage of this opportunity, and ... I came here planning on staying a year, but I ended up liking it. I ended up liking it and I'm still ... still here today. [laughs]

Brazil Japan

Date: October 19, 2016

Location: Gunma, Japan

Interviewer: Shigeru Kojima

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

Interviewee Bio

Antonio Shinkiti Shikota was born on September 12, 1962, in the city of Campinas, São Paulo state, Brazil. His parents were born in Japan. Wanting to start his own business, he followed a friend’s advice and went to Japan. Initially, he worked as a factory worker and ended up liking it so he stayed in the country. Today, he lives in the city of Oizumi and he is the owner of an itinerant Brazilian products store in Japan. The itinerant store is a truck that offers a variety of Brazilian products directed mainly at the Nikkei public. Antonio is very fond of living in Japan and the city of Oizumi. (February 2018)