Muitos Visitantes, Poucas Ações

Since the beginning of this year, our Centro de Estudos and the Museu Histórico da Imigração Japonesa have been receiving an increasing number of visitors.

Yes, this is Centenário da Imigração Japonesa. This is exactly what we have long imagined to be how it should be.

The recent coverages of the Japanese Immigration in the Brazilian media are obviously pushing a lot of Brazilians, Nikkei or non-Nikkei, to our office rooms, as if to say that "it is time to recall the history of the Japanese immigration!"

In fact, we have been visited by a wide range of people: college and graduate students from all over São Paulo State, university professors, college study tours from Japan and Brazil, magazine editors, journalists, foreign correspondents, producers from TV channels, "amateur" historians, museum workers, NGO activists, etc. Even leaders from the Committee of Céntenario come to us to see if their writings are historically "correct."

This is a critical moment when the historical materials long hidden in our old office rooms are being translated into a large-scale social memory.

However, we also need to ask ourselves: "are we well prepared to serve these people in the right way?"

I observe that many of our colleagues are so busy with their daily administrative work that they are unable to attend these people as they should/hope to. Moreover, I see, especially in our Centro de Estudos, a lack of theory and hospitality in receiving the visitors from outside the colônia.

We should all be aware that our institutional mission will be much better achieved through strengthening the network of friends and supporters.