Small timers go over big
by Benigno Tutor Jr.
“Tungkol po sa
pagiging milyonarya mula sa barya ang ating interview
(The interview is all about becoming a millionaire from
small business),” was how we approached Rosalina
“Cherry” Honda and Sheilla “Sachico”
Okabe on separate occasions in Ibaraki and Chiba, respectively.
“Ano po ba ang milyonarya (What’s
a millionaire),” was the embarrassed reply of Cherry,
proprietress of Fiesta Restaurant in Ibaraki Pref. “Wala
po akong milyon (I don’t have a million).”
Our explanation about net worth did
not help much. If numbers don’t seem to add up
for our interview subject, it’s probably because
she is used to counting small bills in her retail business.
Deducting all her short-term debts (she has fully paid
up her mortgage) from the value of her mansion sprawled
on a 1,400-sqm property in Bulacan as well as other
assets, Cherry is easily worth about P20 million.
Sheilla also happens to be a Bulakeña,
but her property is in another posh part of the province.
The two Bulakeñas have never crossed paths in
Japan, but they share many traits, are almost of the
same age, and have had similar experiences in Japan.
Sheilla likewise refuses to be conferred the honor of
being a milyonarya, preferring to remain the low-profile,
small-time viajera businesswoman that she is in Chiba.
Read
more
Staying together
Fifty percent of Filipinas married
to Japanese divorce or are divorced by their husbands
every year. Staying married to the same person in Japan,
it seems, is a feat in itself. Marriage of convenience
has spawned divorce of convenience.
Sally Harada, an Ilongga who just
recently acquired her Japanese citizenship, admits that
staying married has not been easy for her either, even
if one is married to a university professor like she
is. Read
more
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