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Episode 29: The Song of Dekasegi

Author's Thumbnail — Laura Honda-Hasegawa

Translated by: Google Translate

Published Aug. 17, 2017

Eric and Emily are twin siblings. When they were five years old, their parents divorced and their father took them in. Two years later, their father went to work in Japan, and their paternal grandparents took care of them in Brazil.

Although their grandfather ran a Japanese grocery store and their grandmother ran a beauty salon, Eric and Emily were raised with a lot of love, despite being busy families.

Their grandparents, who were second-generation Japanese Americans, were skilled in Japanese songs, and Eric and Emily were singing Japanese children's songs and popular songs from a young age.

Emily had participated in a local singing contest for children, but Eric was unable to sing in front of people because he would panic so much during the actual performance that he would be unable to move.

They looked forward to their father's vacation every year when he returned to Brazil. When they were in elementary school, they looked forward to receiving Japanese toys, colored pencils, and games, but when they became junior high school students, they looked forward to going out with their father more than to souvenirs.

The proactive Emily told her father, "Let's go shopping," and he bought her lots of clothes and accessories, and she was very satisfied as she ate her favorite sweets.

Shy Eric couldn't express his intentions clearly and just followed the two of them. Of course, Eric was given clothes just like his sister, but there was something else he wanted to do with his father. His grandmother noticed and said, "Let's go to the zoo tomorrow! Eric is looking forward to it. I'll make you a delicious lunch."

"Yes! Grandma is amazing! She understands me!" Eric was overjoyed.

Unfortunately, it rained the next day, and the day after that too. In the end, we couldn't go to the zoo. My father just stayed home and watched TV and talked with the relatives who had come to visit, and the ten-day holiday was over in a flash.

After his father returned to Japan, Eric began to have a question: "Maybe Emily is cuter than Dad!"

One day, while looking at the family album, I suddenly thought, "Emily looks like Dad and looks Japanese, but I look just like Mom!" Come to think of it, a classmate once asked me, "Why do you have a Japanese surname? You have a Brazilian face."

Eric's grandmother had told him that his mother had been the one who wanted a divorce, so he became convinced that his father hated him because he looked like his mother.

Six months later, for their birthdays, their father gave them a big present: round-trip tickets to Japan.

We arrived in Japan on June 30th, and on Sunday July 2nd, which was my birthday, the three of us (parents and child) went to church.

When they arrived at the church, their father went to the back, saying he had some preparations to make, leaving Eric and Emily nervous as they sat and waited.

The church was filled with people.

Then, a voice like that from heaven was heard.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

You ^were born to be loved
Your life is full of love

You were born to be loved
Your life is full of love

The eternal love of God
In our encounter
What a joy it is for me to have you, who bears fruit.

Her father was also singing with all his heart as a member of the choir. Emily stood up from her seat, shouting, "So cool!" Eric then ran over to his father, not caring about the public.

You were born to be loved, and you are still receiving that love

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

As his father sang the final part solo, Eric shouted, "Thank you, Dad! Thank you! I love you too, Dad!" and held out his arms to his father.

With the blessing of everyone at the church, the three of them (parents and children) embraced each other tightly.

Eric's first summer vacation in Japan with his father was the best. For Eric, the best thing was that he was taken to Ueno Zoo.

Then, while observing the polar bears, Eric declared decisively, "When I grow up, I want to be a veterinarian!"

Note
1. "You were born to be loved" Lyrics and composition by Lee Min-seop, translation by Shin Myung-ho, arrangement by Yamamoto Shinichiro

Brazil dekasegi families fiction foreign workers Nikkei in Japan

About this series

In 1988, I read a news article about dekasegi and had an idea: "This might be a good subject for a novel." But I never imagined that I would end up becoming the author of this novel...

In 1990, I finished my first novel, and in the final scene, the protagonist Kimiko goes to Japan to work as a dekasegi worker. 11 years later, when I was asked to write a short story, I again chose the theme of dekasegi. Then, in 2008, I had my own dekasegi experience, and it left me with a lot of questions. "What is dekasegi?" "Where do dekasegi workers belong?"

I realized that the world of dekasegi is very complicated.

Through this series, I hope to think about these questions together.

About the Author

Laura Honda-Hasegawa @laurahh

Born in São Paulo, Brazil in 1947. Worked in the field of education until 2009. Since then, she has dedicated herself exclusively to literature, writing essays, short stories and novels, all from a Nikkei point of view.

She grew up listening to Japanese children's stories told by her mother. As a teenager, she read the monthly issue of Shojo Kurabu, a youth magazine for girls imported from Japan. She watched almost all of Ozu's films, developing a great admiration for Japanese culture all her life.

Updated May 2023

Episode 47 (Part 1) "I want to go home, but I can't"

Episode 46: Who is Rihana in the painting?

Episode 45: I'm glad Fujiko is Japanese!