A lucky man (Spanish)

His father, the pioneer of acupuncture in Argentina (Spanish) Decision to settle in Argentina after WWII (Spanish) Suffering in World War II (Spanish) Joined Japanese Imperial Army during the WWII (Spanish) Returning Argentina after the war (Spanish) Proud to be a Japanese desecendant (Spanish) A lucky man (Spanish)

Transcripts available in the following languages:

(Spanish) When we were students in high school we went to Aichi Ken (prefecture), in the Nagoya province. From Nagoya some sixty kilometers away, before there was a marsh where you couldn’t do anything, there was a plane factory. We were working there, but the soil was very loose, and at the time there was an earthquake and only four of my classmates survived; the rest died. For that reason I was as sad as I was lucky. Afterwards, [I was] a survivor in many ways, I believe that I am very lucky, because they told me, “you have to go to Argentina.” It was in 1948, you know, that in Japan, I left from Yokohama and the following week I arrived in San Francisco, and there was an earthquake [in Japan] and many perished, including many relatives. The earthquake was centered in the Fukui province where I was; thus, I truly saved myself. I always think: I become nervous and many times I don’t say to anybody, but I analyze [my past experiences] and I say to myself: “shut up if you are a dead man, [but] you are still alive.” And many times I am relieved by [that thought].

Date: September 18, 2006
Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Interviewer: Takeshi Nishimura, Ricardo Hokama
Contributed by: Centro Nikkei Argentino

earthquake immigration

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