Laura Honda-Hasegawa
@laurahhBorn 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
Stories from This Author
第二話 キミコ、24年後
July 26, 2012 • Laura Honda-Hasegawa
そうですね、あれは1988年4月のことでした。私は27人の女性だけの団体の一人として、日本にデカセギに行くことになっていました。初めての女性だけの団体だったのでとても話題になりました。新聞記者やテレビ局が空港に来ていて、記者たちは私たちに「どうして日本へ」とインタービューしましたが、私は緊張していて何も言えませんでした。でも、ほかの人は必死に理由を述べていたので、エライなぁ、と思いました。「だってブラジルに居たら食べるのも大変だもの」「子どもの学費でも稼げたらいいなと思って…
第一話 ケンジンニョはブラジルを発見した！
June 18, 2012 • Laura Honda-Hasegawa
新しい学校での初めての日、大変な下痢のため、少年は学校に行けなかった。 母親は心配した。フェイジョアーダがあたったのかと思った。 しかし、少年は内心ではちゃんと分かっていた、どうしてそうなったのか。前の学校の友だちは言った。「向こうはガイジンだけだよ」 「どうしよう？」今までずっと山に囲まれた小さな町に暮らしていた少年は地球の反対側にやってきた。「イラセマばあちゃんの家ではさっぱり分からない言葉でみんなが話す。学校でも同じなのかなぁ」と、とても不安だったのだ。 気持ちを入れ…
フェイラが大好き
Feb. 27, 2012 • Laura Honda-Hasegawa
遊園地でもないのに楽しい。映画館でもないのに面白いものが見られる。サーカスでもないのにカラフルで、リズミカルで、アトラクションがいっぱいだ。わたしにとってフェイラはとても魅力的な場所だ。 「フェイラ」はポルトガル語で「市場」、「朝市」のこと。17世紀からサンパウロ市にはフェイラがあった。1914年に公営化され、1948年から毎週一回各地域で行われるようになった。 わたしは1947年生まれなので、生まれたときには、フェイラはすでにあった。フェイラが開かれる通りに住んで…
私のクリスマスの思い出
Dec. 25, 2011 • Laura Honda-Hasegawa
注：このお話は日系ブラジル人一家のクリスマスの思い出です。ブラジルはカトリックの国なのでNatal（クリスマス）は最大の行事です。 各家庭では親戚が集まって、ごちそうを囲み、プレゼントの遣り取りをして楽しく過すのが普通です。 子どもの頃、12月に入るとクリスマスの飾りつけをするが一番の楽しみでした。 母に買ってもらった初めてのクリスマス・ツリーは、今でもはっきりと記憶に残っています。いっしょに選んだ緑色の60センチのツリー、彩りの素敵な光った玉や小さなサンタや天…
Chapter 20 (Part 2): “OHAYO Bom Dia” On-Air
Dec. 7, 2011 • Laura Honda-Hasegawa
Part 1 >>Japanese cuisine was also a popular topic. Our shows aired on weekday mornings so many of our listeners were housewives, but we found that there was interest among men as well. Brazilians are known to incorporate soybeans in their cooking, so we introduced a recipe for cake using “okara” (bean curd lees from making tofu). Other ingredients included bananas and fubá (corn powder), which are commonly used by Brazilians. We immediately received a call after introducing the recipe. …
Chapter 20 (Part 1): “OHAYO Bom Dia” On-Air
Nov. 30, 2011 • Laura Honda-Hasegawa
“Ohayo Bom Dia! What a wonderful morning it is. This is Laura Honda, bringing you today’s program, full of spirit. Please enjoy.” For seven years, this is how my day started. Rain or shine, I commuted to the radio station and truly enjoyed my time there. It had been a life-long dream of mine to work as a radio host. Back in the 50s, there was a question that adults often asked us kids: “What do you want to be …
Chapter 19: To Be Nikkei
Nov. 23, 2011 • Laura Honda-Hasegawa
As I was leaving the Anna Rosa subway station one day, I overheard a conversation between some students behind me. “She’s too good. It’s because she has ‘Asian neurons’.” What did they mean by “Asian neurons”? It was the first time I had heard of such a term. Since there were some high schools and prep schools nearby, I thought maybe these boys had failed an exam while they believed “she” was able to pass because she was Asian. It …
Chapter 18 (Part 2): Old Japan, It’s here!
Nov. 17, 2011 • Laura Honda-Hasegawa
Part 1 >>Here’s another story from the past…In 1959, I visited my mother’s family home for the first time. It was a farm outside of Londrina in the state of Parana. I experienced many things for the first time there. One was having to take off my shoes when entering the house. We had to do that at my house too, but we had a geta-bako [a place for storing shoes]. (Of course, I’d never worn geta – traditional wooden …
Chapter 18 (Part 1): Old Japan, It’s here!
Nov. 16, 2011 • Laura Honda-Hasegawa
Forty years ago, I went to Japan as a foreign exchange student. At that time, my Japanese was limited to a few words. Yet, for whatever reason, I wasn’t worried at all. I think it was because I was young. First, I found lodging and said to the woman who ran the place, “Please loan me a maekake.” She turned her head a bit and said, “If it’s an apron you want, here you go.” After some time had passed, …
Chapter 17: Only this path in Autumn
Nov. 9, 2011 • Laura Honda-Hasegawa
I wrote "Aki (Autumn)" while I was an exchange student in Japan. Thirty five years later, it was translated into Japanese, and part 2 was added. And then, very recently, while I was worshiping at my church, a bible verse inspired me to write part three. * * * This path, covered with fallen leavesA sparkling pond, jumping koiThe sweet sound of a flute in the distanceUnder an old pine treePenning Love’s song When was that dayWhen the pond turned …
