The four Uchiyama sisters were always together. As children, they played house in their grandmother's garden, and as teenagers, they went to the movies, concerts, and trips together.

However, as they grew up, they each chose different paths and drifted apart.

The eldest daughter, Yuki, passed a job interview at a major bank and went on to build a promising career.

The second daughter, Yuri, married a Canadian she met at work and moved to Vancouver.

The third daughter, Mari, married her childhood friend Ken-chan, and the two went to Japan to work.

The fourth daughter, Mina, worked for a newspaper in Brasilia after graduating from university.

And so, Mari returned home for the first time in five years. Everyone was surprised, saying, "You've had tan since you were little, but now you're pale!", "The lively girl who only wore jeans has transformed into a lady!", "You can even speak Japanese now!", and "Japan is amazing! It can change people so much that you can't recognize them!"

Then, Mina, who happened to be back at her parents' house, said, "Japan is a special country. I want to live in Japan too!"

Mina has traveled abroad many times, but has never been to Japan. When she said she wanted to be a journalist as a student, she was asked, "You'll write your articles in Japanese, right?" and she replied, "I don't understand Japanese! I'm Brazilian."

But her grandmother used to say, "Your face tells your roots." Recently, Mina has come to think, "No matter how Brazilian you are, your face is Japanese, so you should learn about Japan and the Japanese language."

Mina finally decided to go to Japan, and six months later she moved to Hamamatsu, a city with a large Japanese Brazilian population. She gained a lot of experience and started a website to help the Japanese community.

Meanwhile, Yuri, who was living in Canada, sadly lost her husband in a car accident and returned to Brazil. Since she had no children, she was thinking of starting a new life on her own. Inspired by Mina's story of a new life in Japan, she decided to go to Japan.

In the end, three of the four sisters ended up living in Japan. Mari and her husband worked at an auto parts factory in Toyohashi and led a busy but happy life with their two-year-old son. Mina worked at a restaurant in Hamamatsu while studying Japanese and researching the local area. And Yuri was working hard to put her knowledge of English and graphic design to good use.

Her parents are second-generation Japanese, and had never been to Japan, so Yuki, the eldest daughter, took a day off from work to take them to Japan for a visit. It had been several years since the whole family had been together, and her parents were delighted, saying, "It's a miracle that we can all get together like this. Mari came to work, and Ken-chan and I worked hard together, so we were able to come to Japan."

After returning to Brazil, Yuki set a goal for herself: "Aim for Japan." This was after her children graduated from high school and her husband and she retired, but she wanted the whole family to work toward that goal from now on.

① I want my eldest son and daughter to go to a university in Japan or get a job in a Japanese company. To that end, I want them to learn Japanese and improve their English.

② Open a Brazilian restaurant in Japan. My husband is an office worker and loves cooking, so I thought I'd have him learn how to cook Brazilian food.

③I thought I would train at a Japanese bakery. The first bakery Yuki visited in Hamamatsu was like a magical world, and it was an unforgettable sight. After finishing his 30-year career, Yuki's dream for his second life was to make delicious bread that would please everyone.

The four Uchiyama sisters are steadily moving towards their dreams.

© 2022 Laura Honda-Hasegawa