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
Japanese music and me
Oct. 11, 2018 • Laura Honda-Hasegawa
When I was eight years old, I attended Japanese language school for a while and the only memory I have of it is Gakugei-kai , when students performed musical numbers and plays for a small audience of parents and teachers. The most graceful girl in the class always took on the coveted role of princess in history and those with musical talent sang traditional children's songs. I was never chosen to be the princess nor was I good at singing, …
Episode 29: The Song of Dekasegi
Aug. 17, 2017 • Laura Honda-Hasegawa
Eric and Emily are twin siblings. When they were five years old, their parents divorced and their father took them in. Two years later, their father went to work in Japan, and their paternal grandparents took care of them in Brazil. Although their grandfather ran a Japanese grocery store and their grandmother ran a beauty salon, Eric and Emily were raised with a lot of love, despite being busy families. Their grandparents, who were second-generation Japanese Americans, were skilled in …
Episode 28 (Part 2) A Homecoming After 27 Years
April 24, 2017 • Laura Honda-Hasegawa
Read the first part >> Masahiro Shibata, 46, has been living in Japan for 25 years, but this is his first time back in Presidente Prudente, where he was born and raised, in 27 years. The town hadn't changed as much as he had thought. Just as he thought, "There's probably no one left who remembers me," someone called out to him. "Do you remember me? I'm Kiyoshi's grandma." "Well, nothing has changed!" "Is 'Familia 1 ' included?" "Well, Prudente …
In Brazil I was always “the Japanese”, but in Portugal I became “the Brazilian”!
March 13, 2017 • Laura Honda-Hasegawa
The other day I read “ Astro ”, written by Hudson Okada and published on this website and, at the same time, I remembered an event that happened to me years ago. I was born in the Capital of São Paulo, daughter of a Japanese father and a Nikkei mother, daughter of Japanese immigrants. Therefore, my features are Japanese, so much so that when I'm in Japan, as long as I don't open my mouth, everyone thinks I'm a native …
Nikkei Oshogatsu Stories 2017 - Part 1
March 2, 2017 • Naomi Hirahara , Laura Honda-Hasegawa
In our January e-newsletter, Discover Nikkei put out a call for Oshogatsu stories. We asked our Nikkei readers from around the world to show us, through photos and words, how they welcomed the New Year. We received several stories written in English, Japanese, and Portuguese. One story, by Justin Inahara, was so long that we had to publish it separately. The rest are gathered below for your reading pleasure. Enjoy! * * * * * Desperate Measures of Un-Chanto Woman …
Episode 28 (Part 1) A Homecoming After 27 Years
Feb. 6, 2017 • Laura Honda-Hasegawa
"Massa is coming back!" "Eh?! Shibata's?" "That's right. My third son, Masahiro, is coming home!" "How many years has it been?" "Maybe 20 years or so?" Masahiro left Presidente Prudente, where he was born and raised, around May 1990 when he was 19 years old. When I was a child, I lived with my parents and two older brothers, and there were five of us in my family. After school, I would play ball with my friends in the field, …
Episode 27 (Part 2) A Gift from Heaven
Dec. 26, 2016 • Laura Honda-Hasegawa
Read the first part >> To Hirari-chan Hello. I'm Ryoko Tokunaga. I'm a grandmother. I'm sure you were surprised by this sudden message. I'm really sorry for not replying at all. I have read all of Hirari-chan's letters (22 in total). I have carefully stored the photos and Christmas cards. They are my grandmother's treasures. You may be wondering why he never responded to you until now. I'm sorry. A lot has happened. Firstly, after your father Leo died in …
Episode 27 (Part 1) A Gift from Heaven
Nov. 17, 2016 • Laura Honda-Hasegawa
My name is Hirari. Is it a nice and unusual name? Everyone says so. Why Hirari? My mother chose it for me. My Japanese-Brazilian mother went to Japan to work right after graduating from high school. She really wanted to go to college, so she planned to work in Japan for about two years to earn money for college and then go to college in Brazil. For Mom, who was born and raised in a rural town in Brazil, life …
Episode 26 (Part 2) "Don't come back! Do your best in Japan!"
Oct. 27, 2016 • Laura Honda-Hasegawa
Read the first part >> After finishing overtime work, Kei returned home. When he opened his mailbox, it was full of flyers. "I wish I could read Japanese," he thought as he looked through them one by one, and then he found a letter. I hurried into the house, turned on the light, and saw the sender - it was from my mother! "What?! A letter from my mother? That's unusual!" I thought, and immediately opened it. There was only …
I want some Japanese fabric too!
Oct. 7, 2016 • Laura Honda-Hasegawa
I was deeply moved when I read the story of Mia Nakaji Monier, which was published in Discover Nikkei on September 21. As soon as I read that Mia had found a Japanese fabric store, attended sewing classes there with her mother, and made various things together, I felt a connection to my mother's life. I looked back fondly and thought, "Oh, there was a time like that for us, too." My mother was born and raised on a farm …
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