Ariel Takeda
Ariel Takeda is a professor with a degree in Education. A Nisei, Takeda was born and raised in southern Chile. For six years, he has been director and writer of the newsletter “Nikkei Informative” for the Japanese Beneficence Society. In 2002, he was the primary author of the chapter on Japanese migration in the Encyclopedia of Japanese Descendants in the Americas: An Illustrated History of the Nikkei (AltaMira Press). In 2006, Takeda published the book, Anecdotario histórico: Japoneses Chilenos (primera mitad del siglo XX). He continues to research and write about Japanese culture. He is currently working on “Nikkei Chilenos – Segunda Mitad del Siglo XX” and the novel “El Nikkei – A la Sombra del Samurai.”
Updated November 2012
Stories from This Author
Specifying the Nikkei concept
Dec. 28, 2018 • Ariel Takeda
The article “ Who is it about when they say 'nikkeijin'? ” by Professor Shigeru Kojima seemed necessary and illuminating to me because it develops the “Nikkei” concept and observes its components through the prism of what it was and what could be having an impact on the present because, in truth, we urgently need clarifications punctual measures that allow us, once and for all, to universalize the NIKKEI concept within its fundamental scope. Hence, my purpose is to complement …
For the first time: Fujimori
Feb. 20, 2017 • Ariel Takeda
It was only four months ago (October 2016) that I wrote again about former President Fujimori (“ From Duterte to Fujimori: Reflections ”) remembering, insisting, urging for justice and recognition. I have been presenting and repeating the reasons since the day they opened that tangled and murky judicial process to attribute guilt that they were unable to substantiate and that were finally reduced to legal rhetoric. The concrete thing is that they still managed to imprison him for 25 years …
Some history and xenophobic attempts against the Japanese who made Chile their second homeland - Part 2
Dec. 21, 2016 • Ariel Takeda
Read part 1 >> CONSEQUENCES DERIVED FROM THESE CAUSES In Chile there is no Japanese Colony due to the persistent campaign carried out by the power groups of the last century to avoid the danger of the internal presence of a Japanese group that, through excessive work, could appropriate its many lands, due to its "multiplication in geometric progression” and for its historical group danger. The difficulty of finding a job according to their abilities and merits due to the …
Some history and xenophobic attempts against the Japanese who made Chile their second homeland - Part 1
Dec. 20, 2016 • Ariel Takeda
BY WAY OF INTRODUCTION When one starts to think about the characteristics presented by the descendants of those Japanese who for one reason or another ended up settling in America, one quickly ends up deducing that their similarities lie in the fact that we have all inherited a basic Japanese genetic pattern of tremendous persistence that resists the generational step, which can become recessive but always ready to emerge when circumstances demand it. (Examples in this regard are not lacking). …
From Duterte to Fujimori: Reflections
Oct. 20, 2016 • Ariel Takeda
When reviewing the press I was surprised by an article referring to the newly elected President of the Philippines RODRIGO DUTERTE (June 2016) who, as soon as he was in the presidential chair, began an open raid against the large crime and drug companies that, once Furthermore, they were fighting to take possession of the national institutions as in the times of Ferdinand Marcos (1965-1986). Hence, during his campaign, Duterte did not hesitate to state: “If I assume the presidency, …
New Nobel Prize for Japan
Nov. 1, 2012 • Ariel Takeda
In the month of October of this year, once again, Japan has been awarded a Nobel Prize, this time in Medicine. This is Shinya Yamanaka (born in Osaka in 1962), who shares the award with the already illustrious Englishman Sir John B. Gurdon. His invaluable contributions are located in the field of cellular research. Specialized cells that were believed to be born with predetermined roles to play within the organism are now proven to be capable of fulfilling the same …
Japanese Stoicism
Oct. 17, 2012 • Ariel Takeda
In order to give you a better idea of who I am, we can start by saying that I am a product of southern Chile where I was born and raised and where I got my first teaching experience. Within those parameters—even today—Japanese culture was hard to come by, and, very little of it was practiced inside our home. My childhood was defined both by a domineering Chilean mother who ran the same tight ship that she had experienced growing …
Once again, Fujimori
May 4, 2011 • Ariel Takeda
Even when Alberto Fujimori is not the topic of conversation—and I haven’t changed my opinion of him one iota—it’s his daughter Keiko Fujimori who takes center stage, as she is one step closer to becoming president. Through the usual dirty campaigns, we have shown the desperate efforts to condemn Keiko despite her flawless political trajectory since 2006, when she received the highest number of votes ever in Peru at the legislative level. Her family background was supposed to prejudice Keiko …
Chilean Dekasegi and the Sakura group
Sept. 24, 2010 • Ariel Takeda
In 1990, the news reached Chile that Japan had decided to give back to America for those Japanese emigrants who came at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century to look for new sources of livelihood. Now, their descendants can have those same opportunities on their ancestors' lands. But this news does not have in Chile the repercussions that it reaches in other countries such as Peru or Brazil, where it causes approaches to generational …
Reflecting on "The Great Farce: The Fujimori Trial"
Feb. 2, 2010 • Ariel Takeda
When one has more or less closely followed the twisted trials against former President Alberto Fujimori and then reads the article by Mrs. Deolinda Esteves Gil de Villa ; You can only lower your head and reflect. What to do in the face of a de facto power that has put together a theatrical piece related to the trial of a convicted man from the first minute of the performance. They were able to set up court scenes, write a …
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