They bring to life the struggle of the first Japanese in Mexico

the manga The samurai of Mexico: The true story of the first Japanese immigrants in Latin America, Written by the diplomat Hisashi Ueno, with the collaboration of the researcher Sergio Hernández Galindo and the Japanese Mexico Association, it is a historical review of the suffering, struggle and passion that these first Asian visitors had to settle in Mexico when it was already an independent nation. .

In interview with The Day, The minister of the embassy of that country, Tsukasa Hirota, and teacher Hernández Galindo spoke about this complicated, but fruitful journey that is narrated in this book.

When they presented the story to us, we were amazed to learn about these first immigrants who did not have a good time upon their arrival: they were abandoned by the project for which they came, they had not done research on the ground in Chiapas and, to make matters worse, they did not have many resourcessaid the Japanese diplomat.

The edition was produced by Kyoto Seika University, illustrated by Konohana Sakuya and published by the Kyoto International Manga Museum. The creators thought of giving it a manga format as it is one of the most popular readings among young people. In addition, it is written in Spanish and Japanese, and will be distributed in Japanese universities.

The book narrates the arrival of the Enomoto group, made up of 36 young migrants, who arrived by boat to Mexico as part of a program to plant coffee in the area near Soconusco. The project was organized by Viscount Takeaki Enomoto, during the Meiji period (1868-1912).

The journey, which began in March 1897, lasted more than two months; When they arrived in Chiapas, the planting season had already passed. With the strong heat, facing the fauna and later the lack of resources, they decided to disperse to survive. After adapting and living in communities of that entity, an event occurred that would complicate everything on a national scale: the Mexican Revolution.

While the Japanese endured the conditions of this internal conflict, without taking sides they began to help rebuild nearby towns, which made them pillars of those communities. When peace finally came, the Japanese informed the Mexican government that they decided to reject the compensation offered to them for the destruction of their material assets such as factories, stores and companies.

Similar civilizations

Minister Hirota assured that, despite having a very brief stay in Mexico, since he arrived a little less than a year ago, he knew that it was a story that would bring closer togetherness the people of Mexico and Japan, because both societies are fighters and perseverant.

He commented that the similarity between both cultures and their historical relationship is very important, because “when we opened the doors to the rest of the world in the 19th century, Japan and Mexico made the Treaty of Friendship and Trade; This was a breakthrough, because it was the first that you had with an Asian country, and for us it was the first that we had with a non-Asian nation.

We Japanese and Mexicans have always supported each other in difficult times. Here, with the Mexican Revolution, and in our case with the consequences of the Second World War. Mexico has never closed its doors to us and has supported us to the extent that they helped a lot when we began to be part of the United Nations Organization.Tsukasa Hirota recalled.

For his part, Sergio Hernández Galindo, researcher at the Directorate of Historical Studies of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), and academic expert on Japanese migration to Mexico, assured that this story is a clear reflection of the great brotherhood of both towns.

“The relationship between both cultures would have no soul if we did not tell the story of these first migrants who arrived in our country. We decided that the book had the word ‘samurai’ because it refers to the spirit that does not give up easily. We see it in the pharmacies, grocery stores, maquilas and others that these foreigners created and that would later be an important and useful support for the local population.”

During World War II, in 1941, the United States asked President Manuel Ávila Camacho to round up citizens of Japanese origin who were in its territory and relocate them to concentration camps to monitor them. Mexico refused, and the most it allowed was to install them in the big cities.

The Japanese in the United States were interned in 16 concentration camps, where more than 100,000 people were held. Most were already citizens, but they found themselves caught up in an anti-immigrant racial struggle.

In Mexico, the Japanese only had to report to the authorities about their activities; These records are kept in the General Archive of the Nation. It is no longer the history of that Asian country, but ours, because they were already our compatriots.assured the expert.

They created schools, power plants, stores, pharmacies-apothecaries and they were even doctors in the towns, that made them very loved; They even created a monument for them. It is very striking to see an effigy with kanji in the middle of a Chiapas townHernández Galindo added happily.