Video: A Tanzanian Woman’s Life in Japan

NTV’s Real Time News aired the following feature report last week about Fidea Kobayashi, a Tanzanian woman living in Nagano Prefecture:

Here is a quick summary of some of the information covered in the report:

• Fidea came to Japan 12 years ago after marrying a Japanese citizen in Tanzania.
• She works at the Chateu De St. Cousair, a restaurant/wedding chapel in Karuizawa. She has worked there for 11 years and now holds a managerial position, although she still insists on helping out in nearly every duty at the restaurant.
• Fidea’s ability to balance and carry large objects on her head, something most Tanzanian villagers can do, is a rarity in Japan. At some point during her employment at the chapel/restaurant, she ended up carrying something on her head, and the positive reaction of amazement she received from customers has led her to make it a special feature. As the video shows, she sometimes balances large wedding cakes on her head, and guests and ceremonies love it. She is often asked to pose for photographs.
• Guests interviewed say that they like the celebratory style in which she leads wedding ceremonies, and they are impressed with her Japanese ability. Restaurant customers also like the fun atmosphere she creates.
• She lives with her 47-year-old husband Kazunari, their 2-year-old daughter Sara, and Kazunari’s 83-year-old mother. During a family apple-picking scene, we are shown that little Sara speaks Swahili and English with her mother, and speaks Japanese to her grandmother.
• She met her husband when he was working in Tanzania. She was 25 at the time, and he was 35. She initially thought he was Chinese, and he initially found her to be cute but a little fat. When he contracted malaria, she helped nurse him back to health and a romance developed between them.
• Kazunari’s family was initially opposed to their marriage. His father had never seen a foreigner before, let alone an African, and had major doubts about such a marriage. They eventually consented, however. Fidea’s family did not oppose the marriage, although Kazunari did have to present them with a dowry of 1 cow and 3 goats.
• As is common with such news features about foreigners living in Japan, we get a look at the kind of food Fidea cooks at home. The dinner shown in the video consists of Tanzanian-style ugali and some Japanese-style grilled saury.
• When Fidea first came to Japan, she was quite surprised by the crowds in Tokyo. She was also a bit perplexed by Shibuya’s ganguro girls, who tan their skin to the point of looking almost African. When Fidea asked them why they tanned their skin, they told her, “black is best.”

  Fidea had her picture taken the ganguro group, and her family in Tanzania was quite surprised when they saw the photograph.

• Her life in Japan has not been without difficulties. Not long after moving to Nagano, she was told to get the hell out of a shop, apparently because the shopkeeper was racist. At the time she was quite shocked that the other customers in the shop ignored what was happening, and left with the impression that Japanese people are cold. She believes that such a thing would not happen at a store in Africa.

  She has since met many kind Japanese people, and she feels that only some of the population are bad.

• Fidea and Kazunari worry about the discrimination their daughter will face when she becomes older and starts attending school. They are trying to raise her to be a strong person who will overcome such difficulties
• The report ends with a message from Fidea in Swahili: “Sisi Sote Sawasawa” [All human life is equal].

Fidea is currently active in fundraising for NewDay For Children, an NPO that helps African children orphaned by AIDS. She runs a Japanese website for the organization at http://www.sotesawasawa.jp/.