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Thinking about his parents in Japan (Japanese)

(Japanese) Well, as I mentioned before, my father is of course getting older and older. Being the eldest son, you know, it’s tradition for us to go home and take care of our parents, or to take over the land and home from my father… Of course, these are things that I can’t completely ignore in my life. Like any normal person, I can’t just turn my back on my ailing parents and just go on living my own life. That thought always follows you around. There was this teacher, Mr. Nakamori, who went back to Japan last year. I completely understand his feelings, and when he left I though I would probably end up following in his footsteps. The thought is always in the corner of my mind. But all in all, for me personally, I feel that going back to Japan would be taking a step backwards—it would be a regression.


Date: 2006

Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina

Interviewer: Takeshi Nishimura, Ricardo Hokama

Contributed by: Centro Nikkei Argentino

Interviewee Bio

Masaki Tamashio was born in Okinawa. In the summer of his 3rd year in college, he took his first vacation abroad in Argentina, where a relative lived. He returned for a visit upon graduation, and stumbled upon a job as a Japanese teacher by chance. Currently he works as the Vice-principal of the Japanese class at Centro Nikkei Argentino. (2006)