(Japanese) In the 90s, many different people came from Central and South America to work in Japan. At the time we called them dekasegi workers or Nikkei dekasegi workers. I was aware of dekasegis at that time, but I had no idea that such a large number of dekasegis were coming here. Anyway while I was at Tsukuba University — and after as well — I received a lot of inquiries from different corporations and organizations because I spoke both Spanish and Japanese and my Japanese level was improved by then. I was also asked to help in courtrooms and by law enforcement, so there were a lot of one-off jobs. I received a lot of requests for mainly interpretations and a little bit of written translation as well.
Because of that, I decided to change my plans and my field of study, and I transferred to Yokohama National University majoring in law. My master’s thesis was also focused on labor law, so I studied Japanese civil codes and civil proceedings quite thoroughly. Thanks to that I’ve been able to work in many different capacities, including offering support to Nikkei from Latin America.
Date: September 22, 2019
Location: California, US
Interviewer: Yoko Nishimura
Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum
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