Celebrating Japanese heritage: Princess Mako visiting the Japanese Garden at the Botanical Garden in Rio de Janeiro with Nikkei Association president Minoru Matsuura (left). — AFP
AS eight-year-old Eiki Shimabukuro left Japan in 1959 with his parents and five siblings for the two-month sea voyage to Brazil, passengers were given ribbons linking them to those who stayed behind. As the ship pulled away, the ribbons stretched, unravelled and finally broke.
“It was the last link, a very moving vision,” says Shimabukuro, now 67 years old.
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