From childhood to adulthood, I can say that as a Brazilian Nikkei I lived and saw some aspects of coexistence between descendants. I also observed that Japanese culture has gradually become popular and this has certainly influenced, along with other changes – for example, the view I have of my roots – the way I live today in relation to the Japanese-Brazilian community and that of non-descendants. .
Japanese roots
I remember that during my childhood I was often asked if I was sansei (third-generation descendant, grandson of Japanese) or yonsei (fourth-generation descendant, great-grandson of Japanese), but I didn't understand what they meant. My parents whispered the answer to me: yonsei . I discovered the meaning and logic in these words only when I immersed myself in Japanese culture, when I worked at Bunkyo in São Paulo.
At school, when I was still little, my classmates referred to me as “Japanese” and made jokes, asking if I could see, because they said my eyes looked like they were closed.
Then, as a teenager, they said that I and other descendants were super intelligent, a view that is still held today about Japanese-Brazilians. For me, Nikkei are very hardworking and dedicated to what they do.
Using and learning nihongo
Many people are surprised when I tell them that I studied at a German school. Until I took a Japanese course, I had already learned a little German, English and Spanish. Some even said that as a descendant I should know how to speak my great-grandparents' mother tongue, Nihongo .
As a family, during my childhood, we used everyday expressions in Japanese, a custom that – over time – we lost. My grandmother on my father's side even taught me how to count numbers from 1 to 10 and some words and phrases.
I noticed that those who have more contact with Japan or Japanese tend to use words in the language of that country, such as Nihon (“Japan”), arigatou (“thank you”), daijoubu (“alright”, “everything is fine”, “ok” ) and onegai (“please”). When I took classes, I spoke like that too!
Brazilian and Japanese food
It is quite likely that food is the only part of my life in which Brazilian and Japanese culture has always existed mixed. My family used to – and still does – barbecue with Gohan , and ate futomaki along with other dishes from here and Japanese cuisine, including at Christmas and New Year's dinner. Even mochi and manju are on the menu for breakfast or afternoon snacks or even as dessert.
My grandmothers used to prepare some typical foods. Today it is easier to buy ready-made or an obento (“lunch box”). Especially because nowadays there are more markets that sell Japanese products than a few years ago. There are also more restaurants serving Japanese cuisine, which is now very popular and valued in Brazil.
Nikkei today: society and customs
Interestingly, I have experienced some situations in which non-descendant Brazilians commented that any Oriental similar to a Nikkei was “a Jap”. Maybe because nowadays it's quite common to see Japanese people in Brazil, but it's also maybe a little thoughtless, since there are a lot of Chinese and Koreans here.
At least in São Paulo it's already like that. The Liberdade neighborhood, or just “Liba”, has Japanese shops and restaurants in the city center. Formerly known as the “Japanese neighborhood”, it is currently called the “Oriental neighborhood” due to the presence of many Chinese establishments in the region. Despite this, it still has references to Japan – such as the typical lampposts and the torii (“gate”, in Portuguese) on Rua Galvão Bueno.
I really like walking there, doing some shopping (there is a wide variety of products imported from Japan) and eating kare (“curry”), sushi or teishoku (a kind of Japanese combo, which generally has the main dish with pork or fish, a portion of rice, tsukemono – pickled vegetables – and tofu – a soy “cheese”). I have the impression that, perhaps more and more, non-descendants are frequenting the neighborhood.
This popularization of culture may have contributed to breaking the “prejudice” that Brazilians descended from other countries had towards the Nikkei . In reality, I see this pre-judgment as an idea that people had because they were previously unaware of the Japanese and their world.
Japanese and immigrants, an inspiration to Brazilians
With the experience of living in Brazil and after getting to know and understand Japan better, I can say that the culture and history of my family's country of origin has a lot to teach Brazilians, descendants or not.
For now, this influence is perhaps more present in food, music, pop culture ( manga , anime ) and the like. However, little by little (who knows?), won't we be inspired by those people who had their country destroyed in the Second World War? Or in those immigrants who, after months of traveling, arrived in a completely unknown land and, even so, faced a series of difficulties and achieved a better life?
© 2016 Tatiana Maebuchi
