Interviews

1. Nikkei means fusion (Spanish)

2. History of her family's immigration (Spanish)

3. Jobs for Japanese Argentines (Spanish)

4. Nihongo gakko - Preserving Japanese culture (Spanish)

5. Identity crisis (Spanish)

6. Easier to be a foreigner in Japan (Spanish)

Mónica Kogiso

(b. 1969) Former president of Centro Nikkei Argentino.

History of her family's immigration (Spanish)

(Spanish) Well, my father came to Argentina in the sixties. My dad ended up in Argentina because his uncle had emigrated to Argentina and was living there. I think my dad saw an opportunity to go abroad and, well, since he had a relative living in Argentina, that’s where he went. My mother later went to Argentina in order to marry my dad. My father is from Gifu, the prefect of Gifu [in Japan] and my mom was born in Yamanashi but grew up in Osaka. They got married…they met each other through pictures, miai shashin, and then, you know, it was miai kekkon (arranged marriage). So they went…I think the families were introduced to each other. And, well, my mother was also a 20 year-old girl at that point, and was also interested in going abroad and they gave her the chance to go abroad, and to get married. And so she accepted and like an innocent adventurer went to Argentina.

Argentina arranged marriages immigration marriages migration

Date: October 7, 2005

Location: California, US

Interviewer: Ann Kaneko

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

Interviewee Bio

Monica Kogiso is a Nikkei Nisei Argentinian, born in Buenos Aires in the city of Escobar where the Japanese community thrives on floristry. She is licensed in tourism, currently working as a resource, tourism and event coordinator for Japan, serving as bridge between both Argentina and Japan. She is the former president of Centro Nikkei Argentino, a Nikkei organization located in Buenos Aires and is a representative for the Panamerican Nikkei Association. (January 23, 2007)