Shigeo Nakamura
Researcher at Rikkyo University Institute of Asian Studies. From 2005, he served as a curator at a historical museum in a town in the interior of the state of São Paulo, Brazil, as a youth volunteer dispatched by JICA for two years. This was his first encounter with the Japanese community, and since then, he has been deeply interested in the 100-year history of Japanese immigration to Brazil and the future of the Japanese community.
(Updated February 1, 2007)
Stories from This Author
The Kasato Maru carries the "Meiji spirit"
June 26, 2008 • Shigeo Nakamura
"Then, in the middle of the hot summer, Emperor Meiji passed away. At that moment, I felt as if the Meiji spirit had begun and ended with the Emperor. I was struck by the strong feeling that we, who had been most strongly influenced by the Meiji era, were the ones who had survived after that, and that we were ultimately behind the times." (From Kokoro) I think many Japanese high school students have read this work in their modern …
Thinking about the Kasato Maru Emigrants
May 15, 2008 • Shigeo Nakamura
At this time 100 years ago, the Kasato Maru was at sea with 781 contracted immigrants and free travelers on board. It had been 60 days since it left Kobe Port until it arrived at Santos Port on June 18th. It seems there is no such thing as a group photo of the Kasato Maru immigrants. The only photo I knew of was one that was taken by a person from Kagoshima Prefecture at a shrine in Kobe. I can …
"Immigrant Fathers" and Their Children
April 3, 2008 • Shigeo Nakamura
There are people who are called "immigrant fathers" among the 100-year history of Japanese immigrants to Brazil. I have never heard of a father of immigrants to Hawaii or Peru, so Japanese immigrants to Brazil may be the only ones who have "fathers." Indeed, in a place as far away as Brazil, nothing can get done unless someone takes the initiative to prepare a place to receive the migrants and procure ships, in other words, to start a business, so …
Stories about migrant workers
March 13, 2008 • Shigeo Nakamura
The history of Japanese immigration to Brazil will mark exactly 100 years in 2008, so in order to get a rough idea of the history, there are two figures that are useful to know: approximately 250,000 and approximately 1.5 million. The figure of about 250,000 is the total number of Japanese who immigrated to Brazil. If we divide it into pre-war and post-war periods, it comes to about 190,000 and 60,000, respectively. The number of people, about 1.5 million, is …
New Year 2008: Revival of Sanbaso
Jan. 17, 2008 • Shigeo Nakamura
Over the past few articles, I have covered the history of a certain town in Brazil. This town, which suddenly appeared in the wilderness as a Japanese settlement, is reaching a turning point this year since its development. It is not a long history for a town, but it is about the same length of time as an average person lives. Various plans are being made to celebrate this anniversary with all Japanese people, including the first generation of immigrants …
Reasons for coming to the settlement
Dec. 7, 2007 • Shigeo Nakamura
There are various reasons why people who lived in the resettlement areas decided to leave Japan in the first place. As KY tells us the circumstances that led him to decide to come to Brazil, a certain image seems to come back to his mind vividly. KY's hometown was in the mountains. It was a place where the villagers' lives were closely linked to the mountains. KY's family also worked in the mountains, so he grew up thinking that when …
Brazilians in Japanese settlements in Brazil
Oct. 18, 2007 • Shigeo Nakamura
Even though it was a Japanese settlement, that doesn't mean that there were no Brazilians living there at all. Even at its lowest, Brazilians made up about 10% of the population. Still, that's still an abnormal number. In Brazil, there seems to be a constant flow of workers from the north to Sao Paulo. Sometimes it becomes a big flow with a clear reason, but it seems that the people in the north have a vague expectation that something good …
Baseball in the settlement
Sept. 27, 2007 • Shigeo Nakamura
Many Japanese people probably have the impression that Brazil is synonymous with soccer (called futibola in Brazil). It is believed that every Brazilian plays soccer, without exception, and the image of children chasing a tattered ball in the backstreets naturally comes to mind. Of course, in reality, other sports are popular in Brazil, and volleyball and handball are also quite popular. It seems that Japanese people are not a group that plays soccer very much. There are even some nasty …
Stories from the Japanese Settlement Area (3) – Brazilian Teachers and Students
Aug. 30, 2007 • Shigeo Nakamura
There are still many interesting stories about school life. It would be a shame to end it here, so let's continue a little longer. When the era of only Japanese elementary school education came to an end, teachers were finally officially dispatched from the state government and Brazilian education began. After that, the Brazilian nationalism movement became more active, and not only elementary school education, but also education using Japanese language was no longer possible, but for a while, elementary …
Stories from the Japanese Settlement Area (2) – School Life
July 26, 2007 • Shigeo Nakamura
The elementary school in the settlement, which I introduced in the group photo last time, was completed just a few years after the first residents arrived ( The Story of the Japanese Settlement (1) – Wherever you look, there are more Japanese people than you). It was a magnificent building at the time, and became a symbol of the settlement, along with the hospital that was built opposite. Immigration history books say that the school offered "the same education as …
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