Emi Kasamatsu
Emi Kasamatsu is a Paraguayan Nisei, a researcher on Japanese immigration and gender, a graduate of the Bachelor of Arts and a Master's in Gender and Development from the National University of Asunción. Abroad, she took courses in Applied Anthropology; Research Methodology; Governance and Leadership; Social Feminist Economy; Ethics, Social Capital and Development; and Care Economy. She belonged to INRP (International Nikkei Research project). She gave numerous lectures on these topics.
Publications: Japanese Presence in Paraguay ; History of the Pan-American Nikkei Association ; Life Path in Bushido ; Evocations . In group: Encyclopedia of Japanese descent in America; New worlds, New lives; “When the East arrived in the Americas”; “Bicentennial of the independence of Paraguay (1811-2021)” and has appeared in numerous anthologies.
Distinctions: Decoration of the Rising Sun with Gold and Silver Rays, Red Cross of Japan, Academic of the Paraguayan Academy of History, Honorary President of the PEN Paraguay Center. Ambassador of Kagawa.
Last updated November 2024
Stories from This Author
The Japanese cultural influence of the 19th and 20th centuries on Nikkei society
Feb. 3, 2009 • Emi Kasamatsu
In the last decade of the 19th century, the emigration of Japanese people abroad began, after due authorization from the Japanese Empire that allowed the departure of its subjects to other countries. It is officially known that the first emigrations were to Hawaii in 1869 and in Latin America to Mexico in 1897, to other countries such as Paraguay it only occurred in 1936. The characteristics of these immigrants differ according to the time they left Japan and their circumstances, …
The situational advantage and disadvantage of the Japanese and Nikkeie in Paraguay
Jan. 6, 2009 • Emi Kasamatsu
There is a common thread between the Japanese and their descendants through the word SEI , such as issei, nisei, sansei, yonsei, gosei , when blood and generational ties clearly mark that distinction. In this way they say: I am Nisei, I am Sansei and proud to be descendants of the Japanese, especially in the Americas. There is an indissoluble bond of consanguinity and a bond that ancestors have transmitted as a cultural heritage – especially customs and their language …
The Celebrations for the 100 years of Japanese immigration in Brazil
Sept. 9, 2008 • Emi Kasamatsu
On June 18, 1908, aboard the Japanese ship Kasato Maru, the first group of 781 Japanese immigrants to Brazil arrived at the port of Santos and since then 100 years have passed. In successive arrivals, more than 250,000 people entered, which multiplied to the current number of 1,300,000 Nikkei of up to the sixth generation. Initially being hired workers as settlers for coffee plantations, they came to make important contributions to agriculture, with the introduction of new varieties of products …
International Symposium on Japanese Presence in Latin America
June 18, 2008 • Emi Kasamatsu
In a property where modernity and good taste are harmoniously combined throughout its entire length is the Memorial of Latin America. Its monumental buildings were designed by the famous architect Oscar Niemeyer. It is a set of seven buildings in an area of 84 thousand square meters, built by the Government of the State of São Paulo, Brazil, with the purpose of promoting integration between peoples through culture. In the main auditorium with a capacity for 1,600 people, the International …
Historical background of the disadvantaged situation of the Orientals and the Japanese in Latin America and Paraguay
March 11, 2008 • Emi Kasamatsu
At the beginning of the 19th century, on the eve of the abolition of slavery for blacks brought from Africa to plant sugar cane in the Caribbean, the owners of these cane fields began to look for cheap, efficient and at the same time docile labor in management and control and were sought among Asians. In the 1930s, when slavery was completely abolished, according to Evelyn Hu-de Hat, in the European colonies of Dutch, British and French Guiana, about 500,000 …
The need for effective cultural integration of the Nikkei with the majority society where they live
Feb. 20, 2008 • Emi Kasamatsu
The issue of globalization brought about the valorization of multiculturalism on the world stage and the acceptance of the word “multiethnic” instead of the discriminatory use of division into races and color. The majority of the population in the world tries to live in the present by assimilating the different cultures that the media and population movement facilitate knowledge and at the same time bring them closer. However, it seems that cultural globalization refers more to the expansion of Western …
Life experience of a Paraguayan Nikkei
Nov. 20, 2007 • Emi Kasamatsu
I was born in the middle of five brothers in Paraguay. My parents called me "ojimesama (little princess)" perhaps because I was the quietest, because of my affinities to fine arts and because I was delicate and fragile. Which is why I didn't have a say in family decisions. As a teenager, I lived in the Paraguayan capital and entered a girls' school, with a renowned history in the capital, and as time passed I realized that life is a …
Discrimination and social exclusion and access to Nikkei politics in the Americas*
June 19, 2007 • Emi Kasamatsu
According to the Immigration Law of 1903, Article XIV prohibited the entry of black and yellow immigrants into Paraguay. Countries such as Guatemala, Venezuela and Uruguay were in this same situation. In this regard, the Paraguayan historian Carlos A. Pastore said: “While other countries opened their doors to new immigrations, Paraguay closes its door to development. According to yellow immigration scholars, this anti-Asian stance had to do with the American conflict that led to the well-known “Gentleman Agreement.” It was …
Peculiar characteristics of the Nikkei of Paraguay. Comparative study with the Nikkei of the Americas
June 6, 2007 • Emi Kasamatsu
The beginning of the new millennium, which by the way has already been seven years, it would seem that things were going to change. However, the world continues to be in turmoil and corruption is becoming more and more accentuated, the economic crisis is worsening, violence is growing and poverty is reaching its highest levels in the region at 60%. This tangle of complexities occurs in most Latin American countries and in Paraguay in particular. However, it is interesting to …
The Nikkei identity and the connection between Nikkei youth in the Americas
May 22, 2007 • Emi Kasamatsu
Undoubtedly the identity between the Japanese and the Nikkei born on our continent differs substantially. The former maintain their Japanese identity as much as possible and try not to deteriorate that cultural way of life. While the Nisei and Sansei try to interact with the majority society starting in schools, universities and then in the workplace and social sphere. The Nisei carry within themselves two worlds, two identities, one Japanese and the other half the country where they were born …
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