Discover Nikkei

https://www.discovernikkei.org/en/interviews/clips/1050/

Being a Nikkei today (Spanish)

(Spanish) Being a Nikkei.... You know this word started to appear as part of conversations beginning this past decade... by the end of the 80’s. However, it is a word that gained currency as a result of its frequent use. Like every word, it is a result of frequent use. For example, we can come to an agreement that the word “chair” describes what you and I have in our minds. That is “chair”. We know that Nikkei is a Japanese descendant from Japan, but the interesting part is how this came up in academies, conventions, seminars, and how the population turned it on their own. “Jap” is a popular word. “Of the eye” is a popular word. But in the schools, seminars, people were not going to talk about “the Japs”, “Of the eye”. So the word Nikkei was created, and the interesting thing is how this word, by the citizen, by the Nikkei, the standard Nikkei, has made it theirs in less than 10 years. They themselves describe themselves as Nikkei. Interesting. Why? It’s because we’re a very demanding and intelligent culture. We absorb what we see, and we understand the issue. But now I think that “Nikkei” is going to go beyond that. The word, the concept Nikkei is going to go beyond the biological. There is going to be a moment when Nikkei becomes a way to categorize working people, very close people. There is even going to be a moment in the future of Peru when people say, as they say, “work like a negro” or “smoke like Chinese in bankruptcy”, They are going to say “he seems like a Nikkei”, a person that works a lot, quietly, or does not complain, or something like that.


Hawaii identity Japanese Americans Nikkei United States

Date: February 26, 2008

Location: Lima, Peru

Interviewer: Harumi Nako

Contributed by: Asociación Peruano Japonesa (APJ)

Interviewee Bio

Doris Moromisato Miasato (1962) was born in Chambala, an agricultural zone of Lima, Peru. She graduated with a degree in Law and Political Science at the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos.

She has published the collection of poems Morada donde la luna perdió su palidez [Home were the moon lost its paleness] (1988), Chambala era un camino [Chambala was the path] (1999), Diario de la mujer es ponja [Diary of a Jap woman] (2004), Paisaje Terrestre [Terrestrial Path] (2007), as well as the story book Okinawa, un siglo en el Perú [Okinawa. A century in Peru] (2006). Her poems, stories, essays, and features have also been included in several anthologies and have been translated into several languages.

She is an ecologist, feminist and Buddhist. In 2006, the Okinawa Municipality nominated her as an Ambassador of Good Will. Nowadays, she is columnist for the Discover Nikkei Website, and since 2005 she has managed the organization of book fairs as Cultural Director of Cámara Peruana del Libro. (February 26, 2008)

Hirabayashi,PJ

Diverse membership in San Jose Taiko

Co-founder and creative director of San Jose Taiko

Okasaki,Robert (Bob) Kiyoshi

Looking at your country from the outside

(b.1942) Japanese American ceramist, who has lived in Japan for over 30 years.

Okasaki,Robert (Bob) Kiyoshi

Wife's family in Japan

(b.1942) Japanese American ceramist, who has lived in Japan for over 30 years.

Takeshita,Yukio

Lack of notion of citizenship in Japan

(b.1935) American born Japanese. Retired businessman.

Watanabe,Akira

Generational Change (Spanish)

(b. 1974) Director of Ryukyu Matsuri Daiko in Peru

Yamano,Jane Aiko

Lack of language skills

(b.1964) California-born business woman in Japan. A successor of her late grandmother, who started a beauty business in Japan.

Yamano,Jane Aiko

Preserving traditional Japanese culture

(b.1964) California-born business woman in Japan. A successor of her late grandmother, who started a beauty business in Japan.

Yamano,Jane Aiko

Having patience in Japan, being both

(b.1964) California-born business woman in Japan. A successor of her late grandmother, who started a beauty business in Japan.

Glaser,Byron

Supporting art because it's essential

Illustrator and designer

Yokoyama,Wayne Shigeto

Being on the outside

(b.1948) Nikkei from Southern California living in Japan.

Yonamine,Wally Kaname

His parents' experience with Japanese resistance toward intermarriage with Okinawans

(b.1925) Nisei of Okinawan descent. Had a 38-year career in Japan as a baseball player, coach, scout, and manager.

Yonamine,Wally Kaname

Working in cane fields as teenager, and how it helped in his athletic training (Japanese)

(b.1925) Nisei of Okinawan descent. Had a 38-year career in Japan as a baseball player, coach, scout, and manager.

Matsumoto,Roy H.

Nickname

(b.1913) Kibei from California who served in the MIS with Merrill’s Marauders during WWII.

Matsumoto,Roy H.

Mixed emotions after declaration of war on Japan

(b.1913) Kibei from California who served in the MIS with Merrill’s Marauders during WWII.

Kosaki,Richard

Growing up in Waikiki

(b. 1924) Political scientist, educator, and administrator from Hawai`i