Interviews at the "Brasil Fustal"
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 relevant, 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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