Interviews at the "Brasil Futsal"
One day, two of my colleagues (Alina and
Luis) and I went to an indoor soccer court called "Brasil
Futsal". There, I met Angela Maria Barbosa Enseki.
When she told me her last name I was confused. She did not look
of Japanese descent at all. When I questioned her about her last
name she responded:
"I took my last name from my husband who is a nissei-Brazilian.
When I got married I decided to change my last name". I questioned
latter interviewees if the fact of possessing a Japanese last
name eased up all the bureaucracy Brazilians have to go through
upon entering Japanese ground. My unexpected response was that
it is irrelevant, as long as a Brazilian possesses the legal documentation
stating that he or she is married to a Japanese or anyone of Japanese
ancestry there is no problems to come and work in Japan.
Another subject I was interested in was the level of Japanese
language proficiency by Brazilians living in Japan. I questioned
Angela about her knowledge in Japanese language: "It's very
hard for a Brazilian like me to learn Japanese fluently. In place
where I work, the Kaisha (company), I can only speak Portuguese
with my coworkers, because the majority of them are Brazilians.
Moreover, my leisure time is so limite that I barely have chance
to learn Japanese on my own, though I would like to learn it more
fluently."
Adriana Miyagui Segura is another Nikkei-Brazilian I met at
the Futsal. Adriana is a yonsei Nikkei who has been living in
Japan a little over 6 years. She is the daughter of a Spanish
father and a sensei Brazilian mother and she had very little or
no Japanese physical features. She was regularly shy during the
interview, hence I could not engage in a profound interview like
the one I had with Angela. Despite of her shyness, she told me
she works in a factory in the Saitami Prefecture (place where
the city of Hamamatsu is located, one of the largest concentration
of Brazilians in Japan). In this factory she works with another
280 Brazilians. Adriana decided to come to Japan because her mother
was offered a job position in a factory seven years ago. Relunctant
at the beginning she decided to accept the job position. Adriana
was fairly young then, and did not want to stay away from her
mother.
I also asked Adriana about her Japanese language skills. Her Japanese
fluency seemed to be more proficient than the average Nikkeis
that I met. She told me she always wanted to learn the language
and she has studied assiduously to attain the level she currently
has. A little over the interview was over, I told her that my
stomach hurt. Adriana was kind enough to approach a Japanese lady
sitting next to her and ask if she had any idea of a medication
to easy the pain in my stomach. She talked to the lady for a fair
amount of time, and at no instance she seemed to be clueless what
the lady was telling her. At the end, she gave me a list with
some very good medices for my stomach problem.
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