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His first jobs in Argentina (Spanish)

(Spanish) I didn’t have any money to study Spanish. As I couldn’t speak Spanish but had to live, I didn’t have any money. Therefore, they suggested that I become a flower grower…[in that job] Spanish wasn’t necessary. Then I went, they hired me, but I lasted thirty minutes: I didn’t like being cooped up all day…I returned once again to Buenos Aires. It was the lesser evil to have found an Argentine job that forced me to speak Spanish…so that I could listen to and understand Spanish. I entered as a manager of a large hardware store. There I made many mistakes.


Argentina languages Spaniards

Date: Feb 23, 2007

Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina

Interviewer: Takeshi Nishimura, Ricardo Hokama

Contributed by: Centro Nikkei Argentino

Interviewee Bio

Takagi Kazuomi was born in Japan on March 27, 1925, in the Mie province. He arrived in Argentina as a tourist and never returned to Japan. By chance he started out in journalism, a profession that provided employment for more than fifty years on radio and in the graphic arts. Today, at eighty-one years old, he continues to fervently work as a journalist for the newspaper of the Japanese collectivity, La Plata Hochi (Japanese Section), including acting stints in various forms of publicity. He passed away on November 10, 2014 at age 89. (January 2021)

Peter Mizuki
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Peter Mizuki

Japanese wife with American citizenship

Sansei Japanese American living in Japan and Kendo practioner

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Hideto Futatsugui
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Hideto Futatsugui

The Japanese-Portuguese dictionary by Dr. Yoshiharu Noda (Japanese)

(b.1911) Issei educator 

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Johnnie Morton
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Johnnie Morton

Talking with Grandmother

(b.1971) Professional football player.

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Clifford Uyeda
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Clifford Uyeda

Japanese Language School

(1917 - 2004) Political activist

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Henry Suto
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Henry Suto

Didn’t speak Japanese until moving to Japan

(1928 - 2008) Drafted into both the Japanese Imperial Army and the U.S. Army.

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Cedrick Shimo
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Cedrick Shimo

Growing up with both Japanese and American influences

(1919-2020) Member of the 1800th Engineering Battalion. Promoted Japan-U.S. trade while working for Honda's export division.

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Henry Suto
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Henry Suto

Working tirelessly after the war (Japanese)

(1928 - 2008) Drafted into both the Japanese Imperial Army and the U.S. Army.

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Miyoko Amano
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Miyoko Amano

An Opportunity to Learn more Japanese (Japanese)

(b. 1929) President of Amano Museum

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Miyoko Amano
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Miyoko Amano

A Lifestyle Using Both Japanese and Spanish (Japanese)

(b. 1929) President of Amano Museum

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Masakatsu Jaime Ashimine Oshiro
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Masakatsu Jaime Ashimine Oshiro

The Power of Language: Japanese Identity Constructed in Santa Cruz, Bolivia (Spanish)

(1958-2014) Former Bolivian Ambassador to Japan

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Jimmy Murakami
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Jimmy Murakami

Teaching English in Japan

(1933 – 2014) Japanese American animator

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Harry Schneider
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Harry Schneider

Learning Japanese with the MIS

(1916 - 2013) Member of the U.S. Military Intelligence Service

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Jean Hamako Schneider
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Jean Hamako Schneider

Respecting the will of a five-year-old daughter (Japanese)

(1925-2024) War bride

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Paulo Issamu Hirano
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Paulo Issamu Hirano

Facing hardships in Japan (Japanese)

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

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Antonio Shinkiti Shikota
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Antonio Shinkiti Shikota

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

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

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