South America

INTERVIEWS

Niki’s Kitchen has strengthened family ties and has brought us closer.

July 03 2011

Interviewed & written by Isao Tokuhashi & Tomomi Tada Mail to: itokuhashi@myeyestokyo.com   Camila Furuhata (Colombia) Colombian cuisine instructor (She’s been in Japan since ’96) My Eyes Tokyo brings you interviews with teachers from Niki’s Kitchen. It’s a cooking school in which foreigners teach their homeland dishes to Japanese people. The 7th interviewee is Camila Furuhata from Colombia, who is gentle and has a brilliant smile just like an angel. We were the ones who got healed by her smile and couldn’t help asking her kiddingly, “Can we stay here and have dinner tonight?” Then she told me with a big

INTERVIEWS

I don’t have a fear of moving somewhere else. I don’t care about one’s nationality or skin color.

January 16 2011

Interviewed & written by Isao Tokuhashi Mail to: itokuhashi@myeyestokyo.com   Clara Nakazato (Venezuela) Venezuelan cuisine instructor (She’s been in Japan since ’95) The 4th interviewee of “MET × Niki’s Kitchen” is Clara Nakazato, a woman from Venezuela, South America. She is encompassing, envelopes her students in a warm hug. Her Japanese husband has a warm personality as well as Clara and the couple creates an aura of peace and harmony. Clara never builds a wall. She has no hesitation about anything. She tries any food even if it’s new to her. To people as well, she never distinguishes people by race,

INTERVIEWS

People never need my activities; that’s my ideal world.

April 16 2010

Interviewed & written by Isao Tokuhashi Mail to: itokuhashi@myeyestokyo.com   Hector Sierra (Colombia) Founder of “Artists Without Borders” （He’s been in Japan since ’93) We can’t say that we’re in peace. The guns never fall silent and people release gunfire in any number of places. There is a man who walks through the conflict regions with crayons and drawing papers. His name is Hector Sierra, the founder of the Tokyo-based organization called “Artists Without Borders”. Sierra is from Colombia, a country struggling with civil war. The reason he came to Japan is because he was attracted to security and prosperity of the country.

INTERVIEWS

I couldn’t go back home. Some of my acquaintances perished, which has been very difficult for me.

March 16 2010

Interviewed & written by Isao Tokuhashi Mail to: itokuhashi@myeyestokyo.com   Carlyn Yamada (Haiti) Special Advisor of a Haiti assistance NGO/actress （She’s been in Japan since ’96） At 9:53PM on January 13, 2010 (UTC), a big earthquake hit Haiti, a small country floating in the Caribbean Sea. This incident raised public interest in the country. And there was a woman in Tokyo who received an endless array of information sent from the quake area. Her name is Carlyn Yamada and she’s been in Japan for more than 10 years and has been involved in assistance activities for Haiti also. Also she

INTERVIEWS

I will sing Japanese songs in Japanese someday, like the “Last Samurai”.

August 08 2007

Interviewed & written by Isao Tokuhashi Mail to: itokuhashi@myeyestokyo.com   Luis Carlos Severich (Bolivia) Singer/Guitarist (Folklore & Latin music) (He’s been in Japan since ’83) Today’s guest is Luis Carlos Severich from Bolivia, a guitarist and singer of mainly Latin music. He’s been here in Japan for about 25 years and and taught us his culture and music for a long time with his groups, such as “Los Tres Amigos”. He was a young folklore superstar who used to win the Golden Disc in Argentina. Why did he come to Japan? What did he see when he stepped in the heart of Tokyo? *Interview at Nishi-ikebukuro