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).


Brazil immigration migration

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)

Shunji Nishimura
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Nishimura,Shunji

Early life in Brazil (Japanese)

(1911-2010) Founder of JACTO group

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Shunji Nishimura
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Nishimura,Shunji

Learning skills by watching others work (Japanese)

(1911-2010) Founder of JACTO group

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Shunji Nishimura
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Nishimura,Shunji

Repaying Brazil by educating the technicians (Japanese)

(1911-2010) Founder of JACTO group

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Masao Kinoshita
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Kinoshita,Masao

Makegumi - Movement to regognize the defeat of Japan (Japanese)

A central figure for the “Makegumi” (defeatists)

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Masao Kinoshita
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Kinoshita,Masao

What prompted heavy religious involvement (Japanese)

A central figure for the “Makegumi” (defeatists)

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Masao Kinoshita
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Kinoshita,Masao

Experiences in the inland colony (Japanese)

A central figure for the “Makegumi” (defeatists)

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Emi Kasamatsu
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Kasamatsu,Emi

Treatment of Japanese Paraguayans during World War II (Spanish)

Nisei Paraguayan, Researcher

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Emi Kasamatsu
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Kasamatsu,Emi

Inclusiveness of the first Japanese colony in Paraguay (Spanish)

Nisei Paraguayan, Researcher

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Emi Kasamatsu
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Kasamatsu,Emi

Nikkei contributions to Paraguayan agriculture (Spanish)

Nisei Paraguayan, Researcher

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Yumi Matsubara
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Matsubara,Yumi

Leaving for the States without telling my parents (Japanese)

Shin-Issei from Gifu. Recently received U.S. citizenship

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Henry Shimizu
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Shimizu,Henry

Grandmother convinced his mother to return to Canada

(b. 1928) Doctor. Former Chair of the Japanese Canadian Redress Foundation.

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Henry Shimizu
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Shimizu,Henry

Government urged Japanese Canadians to go to Japan

(b. 1928) Doctor. Former Chair of the Japanese Canadian Redress Foundation.

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Venancio Shinki
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Shinki,Venancio

We go to America (Spanish)

(b. 1932-2016) Peruvian painter

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Peter Mizuki
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Mizuki,Peter

Not wanting to stand out as a foreigner

Sansei Japanese American living in Japan and Kendo practioner

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Hideto Futatsugui
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Futatsugui,Hideto

Deciding to migrate to Brazil upon the influence of my Senpai (Japanese)

(b.1911) Issei educator 

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