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,Roy

The philosophy of playing Taiko

(b.1951) Co-founder and managing director of San Jose Taiko.

(Jerome Charles White Jr.),Jero

Learning Japanese traditions by observing his mother and grandmother

(b. 1981) Enka Singer

Shibayama,Art

Activities growing up in Peru

(1930-2018) Nisei born in Peru. Taken to the United States during WWII.

Kogiso,Mónica

Nihongo gakko - Preserving Japanese culture (Spanish)

(b. 1969) Former president of Centro Nikkei Argentino.

Mizuki,Peter

Not wanting to stand out as a foreigner

Sansei Japanese American living in Japan and Kendo practioner

Yamasaki,Frank

Have compassion for all of humanity

(b. 1923) Nisei from Washington. Resisted draft during WWII.

Kogiso,Mónica

Identity crisis (Spanish)

(b. 1969) Former president of Centro Nikkei Argentino.

(Jerome Charles White Jr.),Jero

Never sang Enka outside the family

(b. 1981) Enka Singer

Kansuma,Fujima

Both Japanese and American identities though Japanese dance

(1918-2023) Nisei Japanese kabuki dancer

Herzig,Aiko Yoshinaga

Results of being more American than Japanese

(1924-2018) Researcher, Activist

(Jerome Charles White Jr.),Jero

Trying to convey the meaning of the songs

(b. 1981) Enka Singer

Endo,Kenny

Internship on a Native American reservation in Arizona

(b.1952) Master drummer, artistic director of the Taiko Center of the Pacific

Ota,Vince

Different tension between East Coast and Los Angeles

Japanese American Creative designer living in Japan

Tanaka,Seiichi

Differences between American and Japanese taiko

(b.1943) Shin-issei grand master of taiko; founded San Francisco Taiko Dojo in 1968.