The Japanese Association of Rosario (in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

, ''Asociación Japonesa de Rosario'', ''AJR''; in

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

, ロサリオ日本人会 ''Rosario Nihonjinkai'') is a community devoted to the promotion of Japanese culture, located in Rosario,

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of Santa Fe,

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. The Association was founded by

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, a ...

from Japan and their descendants.

History

In 1920 a period of considerable Japanese immigration into Argentina began, with its peak in 1936 before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. Even before this date, more-or-less regular gatherings of Japanese people were organized at private houses. By 1918 a room was hired to serve as the seat of the nascent Association, opposite today's Central Post Office. In 1922 the AJR affiliated with the Japanese Association of Argentina. The seat of the AJR was moved then in 1933, 1938 and 1940. In 1940 World War II forced the AJR to dissolve. Yet some years later the Association re-assembled, this time with official status, acknowledged on 1 May 1949 by 50 members. Its authorities were: President Shiira Masateru, Vice-President Tomita Genkichi, and Secretary Teruya Toshio. The seat was located on 1240 Entre Ríos St., home of Mr. Natsumoto Hideki. It was removed a few times afterwards, in 1951 and 1952. In 1953 the AJR proposed, agreed on, and funded the creation of a Pantheon for the deceased members, their families and the Japanese community in general. In 1957 a property at 1035 Iriondo St. was acquired. The seat of the Association was moved there in 1963, where it remains at present (2006). In the period that goes from 1968 to 1976 many works were done there: the construction of the Japanese Language School, the room for the housemaster, complete service infrastructure, a

judō is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo"). ...

dōjō A is a hall or place for immersive learning or meditation. This is traditionally in the field of martial arts, but has been seen increasingly in other fields, such as meditation and software development. The term literally means "place of the ...

, a

gym A gymnasium, also known as a gym, is an indoor location for athletics. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasium". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learning spaces in educational i ...

nasium, a hall with a performing stage, etc.

Activities

The Japanese Association of Rosario provides facilities for a number of socio-cultural activities, such as classes of

shodō also called is a form of calligraphy, or artistic writing, of the Japanese language. Written Japanese was originally based on Chinese characters only, but the advent of the hiragana and katakana Japanese syllabaries resulted in intrin ...

(brush calligraphy),

origami ) is the Japanese art of paper folding. In modern usage, the word "origami" is often used as an inclusive term for all folding practices, regardless of their culture of origin. The goal is to transform a flat square sheet of paper into a f ...

, karate, and

taiko are a broad range of Japanese percussion instruments. In Japanese, the term refers to any kind of drum, but outside Japan, it is used specifically to refer to any of the various Japanese drums called and to the form of ensemble drumming ...

drum playing, eisa dancing, and more prominently Japanese language classes. A large part of the structure is devoted to the

Japanese Language is spoken natively by about 128 million people, primarily by Japanese people and primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language. Japanese belongs to the Japonic or Japanese- Ryukyuan language family. There have been ...

School (ロサリオ日本語学校 ''Rosario Nihongo Gakkō''), which has a teaching schedule compatible with international requirements, preparing students who wish to do so for the

Japanese Language Proficiency Test The , or JLPT, is a standardized criterion-referenced test to evaluate and certify Japanese language proficiency for non-native speakers, covering language knowledge, reading ability, and listening ability. The test is held twice a year in Japan a ...

. The school celebrates a yearly

karaoke Karaoke (; ; , clipped compound of Japanese ''kara'' "empty" and ''ōkesutora'' "orchestra") is a type of interactive entertainment usually offered in clubs and bars, where people sing along to recorded music using a microphone. The music i ...

contest and a reading contest (whose selected winners may attend a national Japanese reading contest in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

). The AJR has also hosted or sponsored picnics and sports contests, and participates representing Japan in the celebration devoted to the local immigrant communities ( Encuentro y Fiesta Nacional de Colectividades), held in Rosario usually in November each year.

Sources

''Asociación Japonesa de Rosario''
(official website, in Spanish) Asian-Argentine culture Culture in Rosario, Santa Fe Japanese Argentine Ethnic organisations based in Argentina Overseas Japanese organisations

History

Activities

See also

Sources