"How was your trip to South America? It was a long journey, so I'm sure you were tired."

I spoke to two customers who were sitting together quietly in economy class. During meal service, while many customers were ordering a variety of things, these two were very quiet and chose their food as recommended by us. For drinks, they only ordered one glass each of guarana, a favorite drink of Brazilians.

"No, no, we've been living in Brazil for 70 years now."

I was speechless.

"To Brazil in '70?"

This customer, who left Hiroshima on an immigrant ship for Brazil at the age of 15, remains vivid in my memory with his tanned skin, deep wrinkles, thick, gnarled fingers, and the friendly smile that only someone steeped in Latin culture can have, all of which suggest years of hard labor under the hot South American sun.

"Is that so? How many years has it been since you last returned to Japan?"

"It's been 70 years."

He said it so casually, and it took me a moment to think about just how long that period of time had been.

"What? Seventy years? So this is your first time back home?"

I couldn't help but ask them back. I don't know if it was because they hadn't been able to go back home for the last 70 years, or if they just didn't feel homesick, but the elderly couple looked smiling and a little proud as they looked to be truly looking forward to their first homecoming.

For me, who was born and raised in Japan, living outside of Japan for the rest of my life was unimaginable at the time. I had many friends who worked overseas for several years in their twenties, but in addition to the backing of a company, they were guaranteed a standard of living equal to or higher than that in Japan. There is no comparison between the feelings of those who have settled in a country as immigrants, built a life for themselves from scratch, and grown a family, but I thought I would somehow try to understand at least a little of their feelings.

"I'm sorry to ask you something so rude, but you came to Japan at the age of 15 and have lived away from Japan for 70 years, yet you speak Japanese normally."

Southern California Hiroshima Prefectural Association Band

I think their Latin smiles made me ask the big question that had been on my mind, the rude question. And the answer they gave me was my first encounter with the existence of a "Kenjinkai." The couple were members of the Hiroshima Kenjinkai in Brazil, where Japanese is always spoken, and where the Kenjinkai has played a central role in protecting the Japanese spirit, culture, and language, from large gatherings such as events and ceremonial occasions to family-level connections.

Every day, many Japanese-Brazilian passengers board the plane, some of whom are eight generations old. They are migrant workers who are heading to Japan to work. They cannot speak broken Japanese, and I worry about whether they will be okay, but they say they are going to Japan through a friend. There, they meet a Brazilian community where Japanese-Brazilians gather, speak Portuguese, and enjoy Brazilian food, customs, and culture, which no doubt cheer up these lonely souls. Even though they are far apart, the culture of Japanese-Brazilians is passed down from generation to generation within this community. It is truly a fusion of cultures.

The world has become smaller. You can go to the other side of the earth in 24 hours. Since it no longer takes months to travel by boat like in the old days, nostalgia has faded and the determination to live in a foreign country is not as necessary as it was in the old days.

Currently, the position of prefectural associations is tough everywhere. The younger generation who should take over are already young Americans. Among them, the Southern California Hiroshima Prefectural Association has managed to raise successors, albeit small. However, it may be difficult for this very small Hiroken Group (an affiliated group of the Southern California Hiroshima Prefectural Association by the younger generation) to maintain the scale that the prefectural association has had up until now. The consciousness of the members is very different from the past, and they will inherit the history of the "Hiroshima Prefectural Association" and Japanese culture by acting as a Japanese community in a different sense, rather than a place to gather together a place of spiritual comfort or wisdom and knowledge for living in America. From now on, as a member of the younger generation, I would like to continue the path that our pioneers have walked for 100 years and liven up the Hiroshima Prefectural Association.

She married a Japanese man who leads the Hiroken Group. Many members of the Southern California Hiroshima Prefectural Association attended the wedding.

*Author's note: This memoir describes my experiences while working as a flight attendant for Varig Brazilian Airlines.

*This article is reprinted from the Hiroken Group website .

© 2011 Masako Mukai