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Education Japanese style (Spanish)

(Spanish) Here comes the part of the story that, because of my old age, that I can criticize. Japanese education was totally controlled from Nihon, how to teach and what to teach. The Minister of Nihon ordered this. But what…a child was molded into a little soldier.

Why am I saying this to you? I was six-years old when I entered school. And thus it all began. How did the class begin? Listening to radio taiso, [and] doing exercise. Suddenly, the exercise ended, the director of the school appeared and climbed on a platform and began to speak to us: “Young ones, last night….No. Yesterday something happened….” It was a kind of news briefing regarding the war. “The army has entered such and such place, and we have taken such and such place, and this is due to the spirit of the Japanese army.” “Nihon, banzai! (Viva Japan!” we began to shout like crazy. Banzai! But little by little the days passed by…the months [passed by], and we began to receive information about how the war was going in Asia.

Why did they tell such things to a child of six, seven, and eight years of age? This is what I say right now, but it was a situation that Nihon had at the time, one has to understand that. That was our education, our formation. What is true is that we were very disciplined, very correct, very orderly, and when an adult was speaking, the only thing we could say was hai (yes). Period. There were no discussions.


Japanese language schools language schools Peru

Date: September 6, 2007

Location: Lima, Peru

Interviewer: Harumi Nako

Contributed by: Asociación Peruano Japonesa (APJ)

Interviewee Bio

Venancio Shinki (born 1932 in Supe, Lima, Peru) is one of the most outstanding Peruvian painters. The son of a Japanese father (Kitsuke Shinki of Hiroshima Ken) and a Peruvian mother (Filomena Huamán), Venancio was raised on the San Nicolás hacienda in Supe, north of Lima, an area with a large concentration of Japanese immigrants in the early years. He studied at the National School of Fine Arts of Peru, and graduated with the best grade in his class in 1962.

His paintings recall Eastern, Western, and Andean traditions, with a distinctive surrealism that shows an unknown and intriguing universe, set off by a purified technique and a renovated figuration, which links Venancio with other great Latin American artists. Venancio has received many accolades and has participated in a variety of individual and group exhibits in Peru, Japan, Italy, United States, Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil, Venezuela, Panama, and Mexico, among others. In 1999, the year of the centenary marking Japanese migration to Peru, Venacio was invited to exhibit his work in the Museum of Man in Nagoya, Japan. His most recent works were displayed in November 2006 during the 34th Annual Japanese Cultural Week in Lima, Peru. He passed away in 2016. (October 2017)

Art Shibayama
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Art Shibayama

Activities growing up in Peru

(1930-2018) Nisei born in Peru. Taken to the United States during WWII.

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Art Shibayama
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Art Shibayama

Family's deportation from Peru to U.S. after the bombing of Pearl Harbor

(1930-2018) Nisei born in Peru. Taken to the United States during WWII.

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Art Shibayama
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Art Shibayama

Denied redress as a Japanese Peruvian

(1930-2018) Nisei born in Peru. Taken to the United States during WWII.

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Mitsuo Ito
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Mitsuo Ito

Japanese school

(b.1924) Japanese Canadian Nisei. Interpreter for British Army in Japan after WWII. Active in Japanese Canadian community

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Alfredo Kato
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Alfredo Kato

Japanese vs. Peruvian identity (Spanish)

(b. 1937) Professional journalist

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Alfredo Kato
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Alfredo Kato

Peru Shimpo for the Nikkei community (Spanish)

(b. 1937) Professional journalist

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Alfredo Kato
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Alfredo Kato

Escaping to a small village in the mountains during the World War II (Spanish)

(b. 1937) Professional journalist

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Alfredo Kato
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Alfredo Kato

Post-war experiences in Lima (Spanish)

(b. 1937) Professional journalist

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Mónica Kogiso
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Mónica Kogiso

Nihongo gakko - Preserving Japanese culture (Spanish)

(b. 1969) Former president of Centro Nikkei Argentino.

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Francis Y. Sogi
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Francis Y. Sogi

Going to Japanese school

(1923-2011) Lawyer, MIS veteran, founder of Francis and Sarah Sogi Foundation

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Emi Kasamatsu
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Emi Kasamatsu

Inclusiveness of the first Japanese colony in Paraguay (Spanish)

Nisei Paraguayan, Researcher

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Akira Watanabe
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Akira Watanabe

Origins of the Matsuri Daiko Group in Peru (Spanish)

(b. 1974) Director of Ryukyu Matsuri Daiko in Peru

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Akira Watanabe
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Akira Watanabe

The kimochi surpasses technique (Spanish)

(b. 1974) Director of Ryukyu Matsuri Daiko in Peru

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Johnnie Morton
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Johnnie Morton

Attending Japanese school

(b.1971) Professional football player.

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Johnnie Morton
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Johnnie Morton

Making a speech in Japanese

(b.1971) Professional football player.

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