Meiry Mayumi Onohara
Meiry Mayumi Onohara received a degree in Letters and Accounting from the Federal University of Uberlândia, Brazil, and she is currenly a Master's student in Accounting at the same university. She is a Nisei on her father's side and a Sansei on her mother's side. Her father is from Saga-ken and her mother's family came from Kobe. She used to be a Portuguese language teacher, but today she manages the family business.
Updated May 2022
Stories from This Author
Oshōgatsu Japanese-Brazilian
Jan. 1, 2024 • Meiry Mayumi Onohara
You know the Oshōgatsu is coming when many people schedule the Bōnenkai, at least here in Brazil. The Bōnenkai is a meeting with other Nikkei in the mochiyori style, with each family bringing a plate of food to share. There are also volunteers who give musical presentations (karaoke) and other performances, bring gifts for bingos and play games, all with the aim of getting together and celebrating the end of the year and the arrival of the next. In Brazil …
115 Years of Japanese Immigration in Brazil and Brazilians’ Tributes to Japan
June 16, 2023 • Meiry Mayumi Onohara
June 18, 2023 marks the celebration of 115 years of Japanese immigration to Brazil. This country is home to the largest population of the Japanese diaspora; approximately 2 million Japanese and Japanese descendants have been estimated to live in Brazil.1 Brazilians appreciate Japanese culture and recognize the contributions that Japanese people have brought to the country, whether in agriculture, technology, health or any other specialty. In view of this, there are many monuments in honor of the Japanese, reinforcing the …
Futon, Shoyu, and More: Japanese Words Incorporated into the Vocabulary of Brazil
March 3, 2023 • Meiry Mayumi Onohara
It is common, in Brazil, for the descendant of Japanese to mix the Portuguese language with the Japanese language, popularly called batianês (ばあちゃん + Portuguese), dekasseguês, koronia-go, or even nissei-go. In short, these terms refer to a variant of a language with interference from another, in a kind of lexical loan. For example, we can say: “Gomen, today I’m isogashii!” or even make structural changes in the morphosyntactic aspects, as in: “Okāsan, I need an onegaizão.” Thus, new words appear in ways …
Japanese-Brazilian Food: Japanese Cuisine with a Brazilian Touch
June 15, 2022 • Meiry Mayumi Onohara
I grew up in a Japanese-Brazilian environment in which my father is an Issei and my mother is a Nisei. However, living in Brazil with a family that has Japanese customs you will have an identity crisis because you don't fit in anywhere or you will have the best of both worlds. In my case, I only see advantages in this cultural diversity, especially with regard to food. For those who don't know Japanese cuisine, you don't know what gastronomy …
The Nikkei Community in Uberlândia: Dispersed or Uninterested?
May 4, 2022 • Meiry Mayumi Onohara
I was born in São Gotardo, a Brazilian city in the interior of Minas Gerais, where there is still a large presence of Japanese descendants. It is a city in national reference known for the production of carrots, potatoes and garlic. Among these producers, most are Nikkei who have contributed and diversified activities in the countryside—in addition to generating many jobs in this region. I remember there was a nihonjinkai that featured festivals like the Undokai and Hana Matsuri, where …
