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https://www.discovernikkei.org/en/journal/2008/3/4/joven-nikkei/

Nice to meet you, I'm Akira.

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Hello everyone, my name is Uchimura Akira and I will be writing a new column series here.
The other day, I introduced myself in English in the " Self-introduction " section of the message board, but I would like to introduce myself again in Japanese.

I was born in Costa Rica in Central and South America, my father is Japanese and my mother is Chilean.
Due to my father's work, we moved frequently, living in Paraguay, Bolivia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Japan, Suriname, Chile, and then back to Japan, moving every three years.

Currently, I work at the Association of Japanese Abroad in Yokohama, where I am in charge of supporting the activities of the Nippon Foundation's Japanese-descendants overseas students . I am actually an alumnus of this study abroad program, and I am working hard every day to establish an association for Japanese-descendants and alumni of these students. As part of that, I have set up an official page for Japanese-descendants overseas students. Please take a look ( www.nikkeiportal.com ). Here, we introduce the various activities we are doing and provide useful information for Japanese-descendants.

Now, back to the main topic. In this series of articles, I would like to write about my experiences studying abroad, my activities as a Japanese-Brazilian international student, and my experience traveling around the world with the international exchange NGO Peace Boat, where I worked for six months after graduating.

Thank you very much.

© 2008 Akira Uchimura

About this series

A personal account from young Japanese-American Akira Uchimura. He talks about the world from various perspectives, including his experiences studying abroad and traveling around the world with the NGO Peace Boat.

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About the Author

Born in Costa Rica, Latin America. Has a Japanese father and a Chilean mother. Due to his father's work, they moved every three years to Paraguay, Bolivia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Japan, Suriname, Chile, and then back to Japan. Currently, he works at the Association of Japanese Abroad office in Yokohama, where he is in charge of supporting the activities of Japanese-descendants from the Nippon Foundation . As a first step towards establishing an alumni association for Japanese-descendants, he has launched an official page for Japanese-descendants from overseas .

(Updated March 4, 2008)

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