Interviews

1. Moving to Brazil wanting to see the world (Japanese)

2. In the boat on the way to Brazil (Japanese)

3. Experiences in the farmlands (Japanese)

4. The first Japanese driver in Brazil (Japanese)

5. Affect of the World War II (Japanese)

Ryoichi Kodama

Kasato-maru immigrants

Affect of the World War II (Japanese)

(Japanese) During the war, because, of course, I was considered an enemy alien, I had to stop working as a caminhão (truck) driver. My son was part of the Brazilian army, so he went into the battlefield in Italy. Anyway, the trucks were ordered to stop. They cannot take my caminhão away, so they broke off a part of the engine so that I would be unable to work. Since I was involved in the shipping industry, and because many Japanese people came in and out, it caused a lot of chaos. And since I thought being there would cause more trouble, I moved to my sitio (city) in Monte Albano. I tried farming there, even though I didn't know anything at all about [planting] milho (corn) (laughs).

Brazil discrimination driving interpersonal relations racism World War II

Date:

Location: Brazil

Contributed by: Caminho da memória - 遥かなるみちのり. São Paulo, Brazil: Comissão de Elaboração da História dos 80 Anos de Imigração Japonesa no Brasil, 1998. VHS.

Interviewee Bio

Ryoichi Kodama was born in Hiroshima in July of 1895. He immigrated to Brazil in 1908 aboard the Kasato-maru, which carried the very first group of Japanese immigrants to Brazil. Kodama, who was brought over to Brazil under a contract, worked on a farmland called Dumont, along the Mogiana railroads, for 4 years. Thereafter, he would become the first Japanese person to obtain a Brazilian driver’s license, and would make his living as a driver. He held a vast knowledge regarding the Kasato-maru immigration, and was known as the “Living Encyclopedia” in the city of Presidente Prudente. He was also an active member of the Hiroshima Kenjin-kai as well as the local cultural association. (1998)