Interviews

1. From the "middle" Nikkei (Spanish)

2. Growing up with some Japanese families (Spanish)

3. The various realities of Nikkei in Latin America (Spanish)

4. The political effects on Nikkei during the war (Spanish)

5. Retaining Japanese customs (Spanish)

6. Advantages of being Nikkei (Spanish)

7. To be more Japanese than you really are (Spanish)

8. Nikkei vs. Nisei (Spanish)

(b. 1950) Nisei Chilean, Businessman

To be more Japanese than you really are (Spanish)

(Spanish) I think that one of the biggest things is the contribution of professionals to Chilean society as Nikkei. And of course, as Nikkei, I think they still retain some positive influences from Japanese culture, although with each successive generation this gets weaker and weaker. Nevertheless, I think there will always be things like the sense of responsibility, the commitment to doing things well, etc. So from that point of view, it seems to me that being in this position of a Nikkei is contributing quite a bit to…in this case, to our Chile. On the other hand, maybe it’s an acquired characteristic. In general, people tend to think you are more Japanese than you really are. Which means that a lot of times someone sees a lot of the good qualities of a Japanese person and in that sense there’s a sort of respect towards Nikkei because someone thinks that you are very responsible, you’re a real hard worker, even though sometimes it’s not all true. But in general, I think there is that dynamic between Chileans and Nikkei.

Chile culture identity Nikkei United States

Date: October 7, 2005

Location: California, US

Interviewer: Ann Kaneko

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

Interviewee Bio

Roberto Hirose was born in Quillota, Chile on August 8, 1950. He spent his childhood in an agricultural environment where he met a variety of the local Japanese in Chile. He attended school in Quillota and later in Copiapó. In Copiapó, he had the opportunity to meet people from Japan who had come to the mining area of Chile for work. He studied electrical engineering at La Universidad de Chile, in Santiago (1968-1973). Subsequently, he was awarded a six month scholarship by the Ministerio de Educación de Japón to study Japanese at the University of Foreign Languages in Osaka, and research electrical engineering at the University of Hiroshima for one year. For over a decade, Roberto worked in the machinery department at Mitsui Chile Ltda. In 1986, he worked at Industrias Vinycon (as a manufacturer of industrial fishing materials). In 2002, he managed the diversification of Vinycon in northern Chile, specifically in Caldera, where he directed an agricultural center for the cultivation of abalone. In regards to Nikkei activities in Chile, Roberto actively participated in the Sociedad Japonesa de Beneficencia from 1968 to 1986. Afterwards, he became involved with the Corporación Nikkei de la Región de Valparaíso (formerly the Agrupación Nikkei de Valparaíso) of which he is still a part of today. (May 2, 2007)

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