Discover Nikkei

https://www.discovernikkei.org/en/interviews/clips/895/

Moving to Brazil wanting to see the world (Japanese)

(Japanese) The reason I left Japan-well, my father was a vinegar maker. One day he told me to deliver the vinegar to a customer, and that was the first time I left my hometown. I went somewhere completely different, and being in a new place made everything seem so beautiful. I thought, "Wow, such a wonderful place exists out here." From then on, I started to love traveling more than going to school. That was the beginning for me. In the very beginning there really wasn't much migration. It was only to North America. But then in North America, the English. the Americans began bullying the Japanese. And they couldn't really bully the adults, so they started picking on the children. This was written on a magazine once, and I had that magazine, but I lent it to someone or something. Anyway, the Japanese government stopped it [migration to North America]. Then [migration to] Brazil began. When the migration to Brazil started, only people who had family could come to Brazil. You couldn't come [to Brazil] unless you came with your family. But I was by myself, so that wasn't an option. My next-door neighbors were able to come to Brazil as a family. So I. so my father wanted me to go with them [as part of their family] since I had already gotten my passport. My father helped me out [monetarily], too, because I didn't have enough traveling money, because you've got to pay your traveling fees first. So for the first time in his life, he bought some cloth, and made some clothes. That's kind of the way I got to Brazil (laughs).


Date:

Location: Brazil

Contributed by: Caminho da memória - 遥かなるみちのり. São Paulo, Brazil: Comissão de Elaboração da História dos 80 Anos de Imigração Japonesa no Brasil, 1998. VHS.

Interviewee Bio

Ryoichi Kodama was born in Hiroshima in July of 1895. He immigrated to Brazil in 1908 aboard the Kasato-maru, which carried the very first group of Japanese immigrants to Brazil. Kodama, who was brought over to Brazil under a contract, worked on a farmland called Dumont, along the Mogiana railroads, for 4 years. Thereafter, he would become the first Japanese person to obtain a Brazilian driver’s license, and would make his living as a driver. He held a vast knowledge regarding the Kasato-maru immigration, and was known as the “Living Encyclopedia” in the city of Presidente Prudente. He was also an active member of the Hiroshima Kenjin-kai as well as the local cultural association. (1998)

Funai,Kazuo

Coming to America (Japanese)

(1900-2005) Issei businessman

Funai,Kazuo

First work in America (Japanese)

(1900-2005) Issei businessman

Funai,Kazuo

Company in Tokyo burned down (Japanese)

(1900-2005) Issei businessman

Hirabayashi,James

Family interrelations between mother and father

(1926 - 2012) Scholar and professor of anthropology. Leader in the establishment of ethnic studies as an academic discipline

Kaji,Steve

FOB's

Hawaii born Nikkei living in Japan. English Teacher at YMCA.

Kawakami,Barbara

Going back to Hawaii

An expert researcher and scholar on Japanese immigrant clothing.

Kawakami,Barbara

Picture brides and karifufu

An expert researcher and scholar on Japanese immigrant clothing.

Okasaki,Robert (Bob) Kiyoshi

Grandmother's influence on decision to go to Japan

(b.1942) Japanese American ceramist, who has lived in Japan for over 30 years.

Takeshita,Yukio

Impression of Japan upon arrival

(b.1935) American born Japanese. Retired businessman.

Yokoyama,Wayne Shigeto

Working at the magazine

(b.1948) Nikkei from Southern California living in Japan.

Matsumoto,Roy H.

Kibei schoolchildren in Hiroshima, Japan

(b.1913) Kibei from California who served in the MIS with Merrill’s Marauders during WWII.

Hongo,Etsuo

The reason he came to the United States (Japanese)

(1949 - 2019) Taiko player. Founded five taiko groups in Southern California

Shimomura,Roger

Grandfather's arrival in the U.S., experiencing discrimination

(b. 1939) Japanese American painter, printmaker & professor

Kanemoto,Marion Tsutakawa

Mother's immigration to U.S. as a treaty merchant

(b. 1927) Japanese American Nisei. Family voluntarily returned to Japan during WWII.

Kutsukake,Rose

Why her parents came to Canada

(1918-2004) Interned in Slocan during World War II. Active member of the Japanese Canadian community.