Laura Honda-Hasegawa
@laurahhBorn in São Paulo, Brazil in 1947. Worked in the field of education until 2009. Since then, she has dedicated herself exclusively to literature, writing essays, short stories and novels, all from a Nikkei point of view.
She grew up listening to Japanese children's stories told by her mother. As a teenager, she read the monthly issue of Shojo Kurabu, a youth magazine for girls imported from Japan. She watched almost all of Ozu's films, developing a great admiration for Japanese culture all her life.
Updated May 2023
Stories from This Author
Japanese Style Christmas in Brazil
Dec. 24, 2024 • Laura Honda-Hasegawa
As the year drew to a close, my mother always said, “We Nikkei are so lucky! We get to enjoy both Brazilian and Japanese traditional celebrations. At Christmas, we celebrate with Brazilian panettone, decorate the tree, and exchange gifts with loved ones. On New Year’s Day, we indulge in traditional Japanese delicacies like mochi, zoni, and enjoy watching the kohaku utagassen together as a family. We are truly fortunate!” I agreed with her. I’ve always thought Nikkei families in Brazil …
Episode 48 Mai-chan's Dream
Dec. 10, 2024 • Laura Honda-Hasegawa
Mai-chan is in the third grade of elementary school. Her father, Lucas, came to Japan from Brazil when he was nine years old with his father, Takeshi. Her mother, Ayumi, was born and raised in Japan, where her parents came to Japan from Brazil on dekasegi. Mai-chan was born in Japan, goes to a Japanese school, and all her friends are Japanese children. Also, many of her mother's relatives have lived in Japan for a long time, so they all …
Why I Don’t Have a Japanese Name
Oct. 30, 2024 • Laura Honda-Hasegawa
My name is Laura Hasegawa. I’m 77. I think that Nikkei people in my generation usually have either Japanese names only or Brazilian names with Japanese names as their middle names. It seems that mother wanted to name me “Noêmia.” It’s a Brazilian name, but as it can be pronounced “Noemi” in Japanese, she probably thought it was a very convenient one. My father went to the civil registry office immediately after I was born. When he came back, he …
Episode 47 (Part 1) "I want to go home, but I can't"
April 18, 2024 • Laura Honda-Hasegawa
Eiji, the eldest son of two older sisters, was told by his parents to become a doctor in the future. His older sisters were made to do housework and help out at the supermarket run by his parents, but Eiji was always told to focus on his studies instead of helping out. When I was in my third year of high school, my daily routine was to go to a cram school immediately after school, study at home in the …
Episode 46: Who is Rihana in the painting?
Feb. 27, 2024 • Laura Honda-Hasegawa
On her 27th birthday, Hana got married to her husband, Eiji, who was three years younger than her and was the younger brother of her classmate. Six months ago, that same classmate came to visit Hana. Her younger brother was going to Japan to work, but it was decided that if he was going to work, it would be better to get married first, so he was looking for a wife. The classmate immediately remembered Hana and came to see …
Episode 45: I'm glad Fujiko is Japanese!
Jan. 16, 2024 • Laura Honda-Hasegawa
The Ozaki family was a large one. The eldest and second sons were married and lived together with their families and parents at the family home. Fujiko was born in that house. Her grandfather, who had three grandsons, was a big fan of the Japanese actress Fujiko Yamamoto, so he named his first granddaughter Fujiko. The family hoped that she would become as beautiful and popular as Fujiko Yamamoto. Fujiko grew up to be a cheerful girl. However, in her …
Episode 44 (Part 2) "I'm back home"
June 30, 2023 • Laura Honda-Hasegawa
Read the first part >> Returning to Brazil for the first time in three years, Paulo went alone to the church he had attended since childhood on Sunday. Paulo's family doesn't go to church, so he thought, "My mom and dad must have gone jogging at Ibirapuera Park and my sisters must still be asleep." It had been a long time since I'd seen a church with its arched doors and stained glass windows, and it brought back memories. I …
Episode 44 (Part 1) "I'm back home"
April 20, 2023 • Laura Honda-Hasegawa
Paulo had already made up his mind when he was in junior high school: "After graduating from high school, I will enter seminary and become a missionary." Although his parents were not Christians, Paul received a Christian education through the influence of his paternal grandmother. On Sunday mornings, I took a 30-minute bus ride to my grandmother's house, and then went to church with her and my two cousins. The service was divided into an adult service and a children's …
"Bachchan" is a popular word
March 20, 2023 • Laura Honda-Hasegawa
When I was still little, my mother would show me pictures and tell me about my grandmother, saying, "Laura's grandmother lives far away." Then, when I was 12 years old, I visited my grandmother's house for the first time. There were my grandparents, four single uncles, two granddaughters who were being looked after by my grandmother, my uncle and aunt and uncle's family and their five children who lived in a house built on the same property, so there were …
Episode 43: Tomomi and Naruto both pursue their dreams
Jan. 30, 2023 • Laura Honda-Hasegawa
Tomomi is 19 years old and has a Japanese father and a Japanese-Brazilian mother. Tomomi's mother, who came to Japan as a dekasegi (a laborer), first worked at a bakery in Nagoya. Then, the owner of a nearby bicycle repair shop invited her to quit the bakery and work at the bicycle repair shop. Soon after, the two fell in love and started living together. Then, Tomomi was born and their life became fulfilling and stable. Four years ago, Tomomi's …
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