The work of leading Brazilian artist Beatriz Milhazes is exhibited as a part of Japan House London’s current exhibition Symbiosis: Living Island. During her talk at Japan House London, she explained her involvement in the Inujima ‘Art House Project' and how she has explored the transnational connections between Japan and Brazil, which are in some way displayed in her work Yellow Flower Dream.

Nikkeijin or more simply nikkei, comprise the Japanese emigrants and their descendants who have created communities throughout the world outside Japan, particularly in South America. While Brazil currently has the largest number of people of Japanese descent, other countries in South America such as Colombia, Peru and Venezuela are home to other Japanese communities who share similarities and diversities in their histories and contemporary identities.

Japan House London is delighted to present two free screenings of the 2011 documentary Nikkei - Un viaje extraordinario,‘an extraordinary journey’, by filmmaker Kaori Flores Yonekura, who explores her heritage as a Venezuelan of Japanese descent by narrating the story of her grandparents’ journey from Japan to Peru to Venezuela.

Along the way, their personal search for a new home is set against the larger backdrop of the history of Japanese immigration to South America: from servitude in Peru, to the anti-Japanese media campaigns in World War II, to the promises of a better life in Venezuela. Nikkei is a fascinating and artfully constructed documentary that uses photographs, animation and personal testimony to reconstruct a subject of South American and Japanese history that is rarely presented in cinema.

This film is screened in Japanese and Spanish, with English subtitles. Duration: approx. 80 minutes. Please note that this movie is rated 12 and is therefore not considered suitable for an audience younger than 12 years old unaccompanied.

Guests who are booked to attend the screening can also enjoy 10% off drinks at The Stand on their way in.

About the Director

Kaori Flores Yonekura was born in Merida, Venezuela, to a Venezuelan father and a Japanese mother. In 1999 she has graduated from International School of Film and TV of San Antonio de los Banos in Cuba. She worked with filmmaker Hugo Shinki in Peru and has dedicated her work to human rights, popular culture, indigenous people and identity.