Sachio Negawa
Sachio Negawa is an assistant professor in the departments of Translations and Foreign Languages at the University of Brasília. An expert on Immigration History and Cultural Comparative Studies, he has lived in Brazil since 1996. He has fully dedicated himself to the study of learning institutions in Japanese and other Asian communities.
Last Updated March 2007
Stories from This Author
Part 15: Conclusion
Aug. 30, 2011 • Sachio Negawa
I have recently returned to Brazil after spending a year and a half in Japan for research abroad. I am writing this article at the São Paulo Institute of Humanities (commonly known as Jinbunken), where I first stayed after arriving in Brazil in 1996. Taisho Elementary School in the city of São Paulo is said to be the "oldest Japanese educational institution in Brazil," and the current Brazilian Japanese Cultural Association building stands on the site of that school building, …
Extra 1 - Davao, Philippines
April 14, 2011 • Sachio Negawa
"I bumped into this person out of nowhere in the mountains of Mindanao, and he said to me in Japanese, 'I'm Ainoko.' I was so surprised." YA, a Japanese businessman living in Davao, Philippines, talks about his sudden encounter with a Japanese-Filipino named Mr. A. At the time, he was a journalist and was tracking the activities of guerrillas such as the New People's Army (NPA) in the mountainous region of Mindanao. That was the first time that YA learned …
14th Yojo Elementary School
Dec. 14, 2010 • Sachio Negawa
From the prewar to postwar period, immigration from Japan, a country surrounded by the sea, was almost entirely by sea transport. Emigrant ships were the main means of travelling overseas, and all immigrants experienced life on board a ship. "Floating elementary schools" (shipboard elementary schools) were elementary schools opened on immigrant ships. Since most immigrants to Brazil were families, the group included many housewives and children, adding excitement and gaiety to the voyage. Floating elementary schools were aimed at children …
13th Imperial Portrait, Imperial Rescript on Education, and Moral Education
Sept. 10, 2010 • Sachio Negawa
It is often said that the ideal of education for the children of Japanese immigrants in prewar Brazil was a subjective education, an education that would be patriotic and loyal to the Emperor.1 So what exactly was this subjective education, or a patriotic education that would be loyal to the Emperor? It could be said that it was about becoming "subjects" who received the Emperor's portrait and who embody the spirit of the Imperial Rescript on Education, in other words, …
12th Japanese Business School
June 21, 2010 • Sachio Negawa
There were many different educational institutions for Japanese immigrants in Brazil, but it can be confirmed that several vocational schools, such as agricultural and commercial schools, were established in the 1930s. Among those previously introduced were the Japan-Brazil Practical Girls' School and the São Paulo Sewing Girls' School (see Parts 5 and 6 of this series), as well as the Registro Supplementary School ( see Part 9 of this series ). The school was also known as the "Agricultural Supplementary …
11th Northern Parana Region (2)
March 17, 2010 • Sachio Negawa
The settlement of Japanese immigrants in northern Paraná, which began in Cambalá on the border with São Paulo state, spread in the 1930s as the region developed, and Japanese education expanded accordingly. The São Paulo Japanese School Parents' Association, the governing body for Japanese education in Brazil, was reorganized into the Brazilian Japanese Education Promotion Association in 1936, with former diplomat Furuya Shigetsuna taking over as chairman. This association established six branches in Brazil, with the third branch covering the …
10th Northern Parana Region (1)
Dec. 9, 2009 • Sachio Negawa
As is well known, Brazil has the world's largest Japanese community, with a population of approximately 1.5 million. The Japanese population is concentrated in several areas, with the largest population in the state of São Paulo, followed by the neighboring state of Paraná to the south1 . Within the state, the Japanese population is concentrated in the northwestern part of the state known as "Northern Paraná." Currently, Northern Paraná is said to have the hottest presence of "Japanese culture" in …
Episode 9: The Case of Registro
Nov. 5, 2009 • Sachio Negawa
Registro, in the state of Sao Paulo, is located about 200 km southwest of Sao Paulo, halfway along National Route 116 heading towards Curitiba, the capital of Paraná. The city is located at the point where the Ribeira River makes a large bend as it flows into the Atlantic Ocean, and the city area spreads out from the riverbank to the west. This is the area where one of the oldest Japanese colonies in Brazil was established. In the early …
No.8 The life world of children and teachers (2)
Oct. 1, 2009 • Sachio Negawa
Mr. YT (born in 1933), who lives in São Paulo, is a second-generation Japanese architect and one of my dear friends. He spent his childhood at a time when foreign language education was banned, but he is bilingual in both Japanese and Brazilian, and I always speak to him in Japanese. One day, while talking to him about education during the war, I suddenly asked him, "Did you learn the Imperial Rescript on Education, Mr. Y?" He said, "Shall I …
No. 7: The life world of children and teachers (1)
Sept. 3, 2009 • Sachio Negawa
Nowadays, as the benefits of bilingual education are being touted, one is reminded of the language lives of Japanese children and students in Brazil in the 1930s. At that time, many Japanese children lived a bilingual life, attending Brazilian regular classes in Portuguese in the morning and attending Japanese schools in the afternoon (or vice versa). There were many schools in the same building where Portuguese was taught for half the day and Japanese for the other half (Photo 7-1).RY …
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