Discover Nikkei

https://www.discovernikkei.org/en/interviews/clips/897/

Experiences in the farmlands (Japanese)

(Japanese) I went to a farmland called Fasenda Dumont. There, the coffee wasn't growing much. They're on big tress, and you look up, and you can only see a few that were growing. Every time we hit [the branches of the coffee tree] we'd get in trouble for it. so we'd go away, and then come back to slap at it again. That was the only way we could get the coffee. That's kind of how it was. So now I'm in Brazil, there's no coffee, and I have little money. The people in that farmland were mostly Japanese, so we asked for an interpreter from Rio, and we made negotiations with the other fazendeiro (farmers). In the end they conceded, and we were allowed to leave the farmland. So we didn't run away during the night (laughs). [We left] very openly. So, well, when we left we split into two groups and left at different times. I went on to work at a railroad factory for Lins, in Noroeste. Someone else went to work in Santos, waiting for a ship bound for Japan to come around, thinking, "Well, it's sure to arrive someday." But it wouldn't come for quite some time. There were also a few who went to Argentina, and some floated over to Sao Paulo city. We spread apart like so. That's how things went the first time around. It happened to me just like that, too. In my case, the immigration company really hounded me for that. "Your six-month contract isn't over yet, so you have to fulfill your obligations," they would say. And I would defiantly say "No, no, no, no." So then they would threaten that the "The debt will be put on your parent's shoulders," but I just said "Fine, go ahead, go ahead," to just have them take it (laughs).


agriculture Brazil farming immigration migration

Date:

Location: Brazil

Contributed by: Caminho da memória - 遥かなるみちのり. São Paulo, Brazil: Comissão de Elaboração da História dos 80 Anos de Imigração Japonesa no Brasil, 1998. VHS.

Interviewee Bio

Ryoichi Kodama was born in Hiroshima in July of 1895. He immigrated to Brazil in 1908 aboard the Kasato-maru, which carried the very first group of Japanese immigrants to Brazil. Kodama, who was brought over to Brazil under a contract, worked on a farmland called Dumont, along the Mogiana railroads, for 4 years. Thereafter, he would become the first Japanese person to obtain a Brazilian driver’s license, and would make his living as a driver. He held a vast knowledge regarding the Kasato-maru immigration, and was known as the “Living Encyclopedia” in the city of Presidente Prudente. He was also an active member of the Hiroshima Kenjin-kai as well as the local cultural association. (1998)

Roger Shimomura
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Shimomura,Roger

Grandfather's arrival in the U.S., experiencing discrimination

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Marion Tsutakawa Kanemoto
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Kanemoto,Marion Tsutakawa

Mother's immigration to U.S. as a treaty merchant

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Rose Kutsukake
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Kutsukake,Rose

Why her parents came to Canada

(1918-2004) Interned in Slocan during World War II. Active member of the Japanese Canadian community.

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Fred Sasaki
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Sasaki,Fred

Family background of Fredrick Yoshihide Sasaki

(b. 1918) Issei businessman in Canada

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Kimi Wakabayashi
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Wakabayashi,Kimi

Arranged marriage

(b.1912) Japanese Canadian Issei. Immigrated with husband to Canada in 1931

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Kimi Wakabayashi
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Wakabayashi,Kimi

Her early life in Canada

(b.1912) Japanese Canadian Issei. Immigrated with husband to Canada in 1931

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Mitsuo Ito
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Ito,Mitsuo

Daily life in his childhood

(b.1924) Japanese Canadian Nisei. Interpreter for British Army in Japan after WWII. Active in Japanese Canadian community

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Mitsuo Ito
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Ito,Mitsuo

Sugar-beets farm in Alberta

(b.1924) Japanese Canadian Nisei. Interpreter for British Army in Japan after WWII. Active in Japanese Canadian community

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Mitsuo Ito
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Ito,Mitsuo

Chose to go back to Japan

(b.1924) Japanese Canadian Nisei. Interpreter for British Army in Japan after WWII. Active in Japanese Canadian community

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Shizuko Kadoguchi
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Kadoguchi,Shizuko

Choice to move east or go to Japan

(b.1920) Japanese Canadian Nisei. Established the Ikenobo Ikebana Society of Toronto

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Seiichi Tanaka
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Tanaka,Seiichi

Coming to America

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

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Alice Sumida
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Sumida,Alice

Learning to do farm labor at a sugar beet farm

(1914-2018) Founder of the largest gladiolus bulb farm in the United States.

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Enson Inoue
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Inoue,Enson

The reason for coming to Japan

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Bill Hashizume
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Hashizume,Bill

Father’s success in farm business

(b. 1922) Canadian Nisei who was unable to return to Canada from Japan until 1952

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Bill Hashizume
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Hashizume,Bill

Yobiyose system in Canada

(b. 1922) Canadian Nisei who was unable to return to Canada from Japan until 1952

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