Itinerary of a Migrant Identity

I was born 3 months after the end of Second World War, in 1945. My parents migrated from Japan to Brazil intending to enrich and return to Japan after some years of hard work in that unknown land. So my siblings and I received Japanese education at home. When began to attend elementary school, I got in touch with the Brazilian world. During the childhood I suffered bullying. I spent whole period of adolescence with a lot of quests about my identity. When I was 16 years old, went to São Paulo city, moving from a country to a metropolis, about 650 km far from my home. Then I felt indeed my Japanese education into collision with Brazilian demands. Attempting to become Brazilian, I stopped to speak Japanese and I stood back from Japanese community. With the progressive economic recovery of Japan, the Japanese and their descendants became well accepted. My entrance to University was another moment to strengthen the identity conflict, since my past experience of being country worker until 16 years old became motives of many colleagues' curiosity. Thus, the identity conflict had accentuated. I am professor at a public University for last 40 years. In my area of study, the Special Education, I am considered an important researcher in my country. My approach highlights the importance of surrounding social environment of disabled people to understand their capability and performance. I believe that the option for disabled people was something fortuitous. My interest is in relation to the minority groups in general. In that context I analyze the issues related to Special Education. I believe that my occupational course is a consequence of my life history. I believe that the study in that area helped me to understand my life trajectory and to deal better with my identity.