Fall 2019 is a beginning with a lot of changes for me. Personally, it means the start of another academic life as a new researcher of the Center for Japanese-Brazilian Studies, São Paulo (Centro de Estudos Nipo-Brasileiros: CENB).
Graduated in International Cultural Communication from Hubei University in China, I came to Brazil after my graduation in 2014. I have never been abroad before, so it was the first time I set foot on foreign soil, the land of Brazil, which made me highly nervous and excited. At that time, as a Chinese teacher in the Volunteer Chinese Teachers Program of Hanban (The Office of Chinese Language Council International),
I began to work in the Confucius Institute of Unesp (Universidade Estadual Paulista) until 2017. During these three years, I was deeply impressed by the friendly and warmhearted Brazilian people. Besides, what attracted me even more was the ethnic diversity of Brazilian population. Little by little, I became very curious about the history of Asian people in Brazil and their interactions and communications in the area of Liberdade. Motivated by this curiosity, therefore, I applied for the MA programme of Japanese Culture, Literature and Language of São Paulo University and got the offer. My primary research of my dissertation focus on the comparison of Chinese and Japanese immigration in the neighborhood of Liberdade.
As we all know, the neighborhood of Liberdade, a district in the central region of the city of São Paulo, originally occupied by Portuguese and Italians, now known as a town of Japanese immigrants, is increasingly being occupied by Chinese immigrants. With the gradual increase of Chinese immigrants in the Liberdade neighborhood since the 1970s, social interactions between Japanese and Chinese immigrants have become more frequent and the study of the civil relationship between these two groups of immigrants is related to development and local stability. As a result, at CENB, I am investigating the social interactions of these two groups in the perspectives of daily life, participation of the entities and businesses in this area. On the basis of questionnaire survey, the paper will also discuss some perspectives on social interaction and the future civil relationship between these two groups.
As for the research of Japanese immigration, there are already plenty of publications and achievements not only at CENB, but also in the academic community. However, a comparative study of Japanese and Chinese immigrants could be considered a different angle of view. As a newly cross-cultural researcher, learning from the experiences and history of our ancestors and forebearers, I hope I can make some effective contributions for the relevant research.