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
Japanese slaves and Jews who came to South America in the 16th century - Part 1
Feb. 3, 2021 • Masayuki Fukasawa
A sensational article ran on BBC Brazil. The article is in Portuguese and is titled " The History of Japanese Slaves Sold Around the World by the Portuguese 400 Years Ago " (September 12th, by Ana Paula Ramos). It was based on an interview with Associate Professor Lucio de Souza of Tokyo University of Foreign Studies and Associate Professor Mihoko Oka of the Historiographical Institute of the University of Tokyo. The book begins with the words, "In 1585, an eight-year-old …
Part 6: Children of immigrants make national contributions
July 27, 2020 • Masayuki Fukasawa
Read Part 5 >> To celebrate Okamoto's great achievement, a victory celebration called the "Kappa Festival" was held in his hometown of Marilia on September 28, 1952. Three cows were roasted and a grand churrasco party was held, inviting 1,000 people. According to a report on the event in the Paulista Newspaper dated October 2, 1952, Okamoto's father, Sentaro, was in high spirits throughout the event, saying, "When I started swimming, I trained myself in my Kankai-ryu style (one of …
Part 5: How a flying fish changed Okamoto’s fate
July 20, 2020 • Masayuki Fukasawa
Read Part 4 >> In the documentary film "O nadador – A história de Tetsuo Okamoto" (hereafter abbreviated as "Swimming Athlete", 2014, 26 minutes, Portuguese, directed by Rodrigo Gullotta), which summarizes Okamoto's achievements and personality, his sister Suzue says that her brother's personality was "very modest and not very sociable. He was more devoted to sports than to studying." This personality may have been a factor in why he was not well known in the colonia. Toninho Neto, a childhood …
Part 4: Anti-Vargasist sports promotion policies
July 13, 2020 • Masayuki Fukasawa
Read Part 3 >> A surprising connection from before the war Research revealed that Padilha had indeed been working at the Sports Bureau since before the war. He was highly trusted by Adhemar Barros, who was appointed Consul General of São Paulo State (1938-41) by the Vargas dictatorship, and he began construction of the Baby Baglioni Sports Complex in the Agua Branca district of São Paulo, and the Ibirapuera Sports Complex Constantino Vaz Guimarães. The former is still used as …
Part 3: The unsung hero, Director Padilha
July 6, 2020 • Masayuki Fukasawa
Read Part 2 >> The Director of the São Paulo State Sports Bureau who gave permission to fly the Japanese flag at the Pacaembu swimming pool was Mr. Padilha, the same man who had given special permission for the Japanese to use the pool during the war. The March 28, 1950 edition of the Paulista newspaper carried a comment by Director Padilha, which read, "Never before has a foreign athlete participated in this tournament. We are extremely pleased that we …
Part 2: A ray of hope in the midst of hardship for Japanese immigrants
June 29, 2020 • Masayuki Fukasawa
Read Part 1 >> At the US-led Pan-American Conference of Foreign Ministers held in Rio in January 1942, ten South American countries, excluding Argentina, resolved to sever economic relations with the Axis powers, and on the 29th of the same month, the Brazilian government also declared the severance of diplomatic relations with the Axis powers. As part of its crackdown on "enemy nationals," the São Paulo State Security Bureau imposed restrictions on Japanese immigrants, such as "prohibiting the distribution of …
First medal in swimming at the 1st Helsinki Olympics
June 22, 2020 • Masayuki Fukasawa
Nisei swimmer Tetsuo Okamoto (born 1932 - died 2007) brought the first Olympic medal to both Brazilian swimming and the Japanese community. He reached third place on the podium on August 3, 1952, in the 1500m freestyle at the Helsinki Olympics (Finland). What's more, three swimmers of Japanese descent made up the podium at that time. At the time, Japanese newspapers focused on the good performance of the Japanese swimmers at the Olympics. However, despite the lingering aftertaste of the …
The Feelings of a Japanese Person Who Became a Foreigner: A Long, Endless Journey - Part 2
May 20, 2020 • Masayuki Fukasawa
Read Part 1 >> Can someone be trusted as a Japanese person just because they have Japanese citizenship? As I was reading the comments section of the journalist's column "Brazilians in Japan should also be given 100,000 yen, " I noticed that many people were lumping together permanent residents and short-term visitors when it came to foreigners in Japan, and that there were strong preconceived notions about nationality. For example, something like this: "I mean, foreigners have foreign nationality, which …
The Feelings of a Japanese Person Who Became a Foreigner: A Long, Endless Journey - Part 1
May 19, 2020 • Masayuki Fukasawa
The feeling of relief when I see the "Welcome Home" sign at Narita International Airport For Japanese people living abroad, or immigrants, everyday life is like a long, never-ending journey. For most people, the journey ends when they return to their hometown, somewhere in their home country. It's been more than 25 years since I started living in Brazil, but I still feel like I'm traveling somewhere. For those who have no choice but to live abroad, or who have …
From Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteer to Ceramic Sculptor, Moji Ochayashiki - Part 2
March 19, 2020 • Masayuki Fukasawa
Read Part 1 >> After serving as a volunteer in the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers, he traveled around Central and South America and ended up in Brazil Nakatani was born on May 23, 1943 in Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture, as the fourth of five boys. He graduated from the Kyoto University of Arts (now the University of Education) Fine Arts Department and worked at the Nitten Exhibition, which handles exhibition construction at commercial facilities, but he quit after one year, …
