Marina Yukawa
Marina Yukawa is a writer and journalist. She was born in 1994 in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. She is Brazilian and has lived since the age of two in the city of São Paulo. She graduated in Journalism at ECA-USP in 2017; as her course conclusion work, she presented the report “Sorrisos Amarelos,"* which Editora Viseu published in book form in 2020. She is also dedicated to fiction writing and had the short stories “Setas Que Voam de Dia” ("Arrows That Fly by Day") and “Abutre” ("Vulture") selected in a contest and included in the collection “Isto Não É Direito” (double meaning: "This Isn't Right/This Isn't Law Studies"), published by IBAP [Brazilian Institute of Public Advocacy] (Editora Terra Redonda, 2021). (Photo by Artur Ivo)
* Translator's note：The title Sorrisos Amarelos: Histórias de jovens mulheres orientais no Brasil (literally, "Yellow Smiles: Stories of Young Oriental Women in Brazil") has a double meaning: "Yellow Smiles" means "forced/embarrassed smiles," while "Yellow" is also an ethnic label for East Asians (like the word "Oriental," deemed offensive in the U.S. but not in Brazil).
Updated October 2021
Stories from This Author
Baachan’s Beloved Gyoza
Oct. 4, 2021 • Marina Yukawa
I don’t have many vivid memories of my childhood, but I remember that day well. I don’t know how old I was. Baachan had gathered several mothers, including mine, her daughter-in-law, for what today I would call a “gyoza workshop.” Baachan’s gyoza was well known among family and friends, having a guaranteed spot on the table whenever we visited our grandparents in Mogi das Cruzes, an hour away from the city of São Paulo, where I’ve lived since the age …
