Masayuki Fukasawa
@masayukifukasawaBorn on November 22, 1965, in Numazu City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. In 1992, he went to Brazil for the first time and worked as an intern at Paulista Shimbun (Japanese newspaper in Brazil). In 1995, he went back to Japan and worked with Brazilians at a factory in Oizumi-machi, Gunma Prefecture. He wrote a book, Parallel World (Ushio Publishing) about his experiences there and received Ushio Nonfiction Award in 1999. He returned to Brazil in 1999. Beginning in 2001, he worked at Nikkey Shimbun and became the editor-in-chief in 2004. He has been an editor-in-chief of Diário Brasil Nippou since 2022.
Updated January 2022
Stories from This Author
The Extraordinary Life of Midori Kobayashi, the First Japanese Adventurer to Travel up the Amazon River—Part 2
April 4, 2025 • Masayuki Fukasawa
Read Part 1 Adventurer who travelled up the Amazon and across the Andes What is particularly noteworthy is that Kobayashi Midori was also an “adventurer.” In 1929, he became the first Japanese person to travel up a tributary of the Amazon River, crossing Bolivia and Peru and crossing the Andes. The publication that culminated his work is “50th Anniversary of the Yamato People’s Journey to Brazil: Fukushima Memorial Book” (compiled by the Brazilian Fukushima Prefecture Association, responsible person: Kobayashi Midori, …
The Extraordinary Life of Midori Kobayashi, the First Japanese Adventurer to Travel up the Amazon River—Part 1
April 3, 2025 • Masayuki Fukasawa
Midori Kobayashi of Seishu Gijuku University — Friends of Eiichi Shibusawa and Einstein When I heard that “I have a hanging scroll handwritten by Eiichi Shibusawa at home,” I couldn’t believe my ears at first, but when I saw the photo that was sent to me by email, my eyes were opened wide. What’s more, this story was coming from the grandson of a famous figure in the history of Japanese immigration to Brazil. In a previous column, I wrote …
The Aftertaste of Taisho Democracy in Brazil: The Stories of Three Japanese-Brazilian Women Artists - Part 2
Sept. 20, 2023 • Masayuki Fukasawa
Read Part 1 >> Creating works that reflect the Brazilian soil When Akiko landed at the port of Santos, she recalled as if it had happened just recently, "I felt as if I was being held up by my mother. I wonder if it could be called the preciousness of the earth. I felt so happy, so happy, like I was being held by something so big." Creating ceramic works using fragments of that "earth" was also a way of …
The Aftertaste of Taisho Democracy Remains in Brazil: The Stories of Three Japanese-Brazilian Women Artists - Part 1
Sept. 19, 2023 • Masayuki Fukasawa
Alianza, where 1,000 Japanese families flocked during the Taisho Democracy period "When my father saw the primeval forest, he was so overwhelmed with emotion that he knelt before the earth, thinking that he was going to create a new culture here. I felt that there was something in common with what Suzuki Shoko said." Katsue Yuba (75 years old, second generation), the youngest daughter of Isamu Yuba, founder of Yuba Farm in Aliança, made this comment, which had a sense …
Japanese school where the students suffered repeated persecution during the war = Female students who listened to the Emperor's radio broadcast while crying - Part 2
Aug. 23, 2023 • Masayuki Fukasawa
Read Part 1 >>During the war, students were ordered to evacuate after their Japanese language documents were confiscated. June 20th: "There have been frequent incidents in which students' documents have been confiscated by the authorities over the Japanese language and other matters, and there is also the fear of searches of the school and its premises, so it has been agreed at a staff meeting to exercise restraint in the future. Until now, Director Akama and Professor Kanno have worked …
Japanese school suffered repeated persecution during the war = Female student in tears as she listened to the Emperor's radio broadcast - Part 1
Aug. 22, 2023 • Masayuki Fukasawa
100 people cried after hearing the Emperor's radio broadcast, and the windows fogged up. On August 15th, 78 years ago, at Sao Paulo Girls' School (now Akamagaoka Gakuin) in the city of Sao Paulo, female students with tense expressions on their faces waited with bated breath for the Emperor's surrender broadcast to begin. "At the request of teacher Akama Michihe, about 100 students and staff gathered in the cafeteria and listened to the Emperor's surrender broadcast on a small shortwave …
Half a century since the last immigrant ship = "People change when they cross borders" - Part 2
July 19, 2023 • Masayuki Fukasawa
Read Part 1 >> His former boss was Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso. At the opening, Ship Members' Association Chairman Tsuji Tetsuzo (78 years old, from Hyogo Prefecture) began his speech with melancholy words hinting at the end, saying, "Today marks 50 years since the Nippon Maru arrived in Australia. Our membership is now declining as we age, so we have set aside Nippon Maru's last day to avoid it disappearing naturally and to bring it to a close. Normally, …
Half a century since the last migrant ship = "People change when they cross borders" - Part 1
July 12, 2023 • Masayuki Fukasawa
Cruise ships serve as migrant ships to South America Half a century has passed since the last immigrant ship arrived - "The Equator Festival and the arrival in Santos were experiences that only those who had been on the ship could experience. It was a turning point in my life. I knew the half-century ceremony for the last immigrant ship would come," said Kazuo Koike, with deep emotion in his opening remarks at the 50th anniversary ceremony of the Nippon …
The secret to living to 100 years old in good health - Yoshiaki Umezaki, a walking dictionary of immigration history - Part 2
April 12, 2023 • Masayuki Fukasawa
Read Part 1 >> A poetry reading after watching "Flying Fish of Fujiyama" Umezaki settled in the Brazilian coffee plantations of Cafelandia and worked in the fields in the colony. During the war, Japanese immigrants were forbidden to move as enemy nationals, and had no choice but to devote themselves to work. During that time, Umezaki studied photography and literature, and in 1949 he left the country and opened the first photo studio on San Joan Street, where he pursued …
The secret to living to 100 years old in good health - Yoshiaki Umezaki, a walking dictionary of immigration history - Part 1
April 11, 2023 • Masayuki Fukasawa
To reach 100 years of age in good health Yoshiaki Umezaki (born in Nara Prefecture), who lives in the southern part of Sao Paulo, turned 100 on March 21 and recently published his fourth collection of tanka. In addition, a grand 100th birthday celebration party was held on the 25th at the Shizuoka Prefectural Hall, attended by 120 relatives and friends, and was hosted by his family. He can converse without hearing aids, composes tanka and other writings every day, …
Discover Nikkei Updates
See exciting new changes to Discover Nikkei. Find out what’s new and what’s coming soon!