“Art is the most sublime form of protest,” says Gato Contreras.

▲ Roberto Gato Contreras created the mural in a commercial space in the Chihuahua building. Photo by Victor Camacho

Fabiola Palapa Quijas.

La Jornada Newspaper, Monday, July 21, 2025, p. 4

Artist Roberto Gato Contreras, who created the 1968 mural "Semillas y memorias" (Seeds and Memories) in the Chihuahua building of the Nonoalco-Tlatelolco housing complex, uses his brush to promote social awareness and as a form of resistance and memory.

"I'm convinced that art is the most sublime form of protest in all its forms: in music, film, dance, and painting. Art is meant to support other causes ," he said in an interview prior to the unveiling of his mural depicting the 1968 student movement.

He considered that muralism has been a form of artistic expression that has accompanied the country's social struggles throughout its history, hence the importance of capturing what the 1968 movement means and why October 2nd is not forgotten .

He explained that the initiative to paint the mural on the Chihuahua building, one of the main scenes of the massacre, came from Tlatelolco residents, who noticed that there are frescoes in the housing complex, but none that speak comprehensively about the student movement.

“I tried to make visible what happened on October 2, 1968, the repression against the students in the Plaza de las Tres Culturas, in Tlatelolco, but also the current struggles; that's why it's called Seeds and Memories, because seeds continue to be planted and the struggle continues, although, unfortunately, the system wants to institutionalize this event with ceremonies,” said Gato Contreras.

At the mural presentation at the Chihuahua building's commercial space, attended by members of groups and residents, the self-taught painter explained the mural's structure.

I divided it into three parts. The first corresponds to the demonstrations that took place from July to September 1968, with the schools, railroad workers, teachers, and other activists, as well as culturally influential figures , he noted.

The second part is dedicated to the tragic events of October 2nd. Using photographs, Gato painted the students murdered in the Plaza de las Tres Culturas in Tlatelolco, surrounded by a river of blood; those who managed to take refuge in buildings; and objects scattered on the esplanade, such as toys, shoes, bags, and books, which convey the tragedy. "This is where the pain lies, because the massacre included children, the elderly, and housewives who sympathized with the movement ," the artist expressed.

The third part of the work, which measures 7.80 meters wide by 2.70 meters high, captures the most recent social struggles, as well as personalities present in the artist's life. We see contemporary fighters, searching mothers, teachers, and Zapatistas , he added.

The historian and teacher Enrique Dávalos, a resident of the housing unit, also participated in the inauguration. He commented that the mural fills a void, because, although there are others in that place, they do not have more active content than what Mexican muralism has been as an expression of critical consciousness .

He emphasized that '68 is not a dead movement, and that a fragment of the mural Seeds and Memories reflects the current state of the issue of social causes.

Dávalos stated that in addition to creating the painting, the residents of Tlatelolco wish to open a community center in the commercial space. The presentation of Gato Contreras' work would have been their first cultural event, but it was not possible due to the endless paperwork required by the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing (Seduvi) and the mayor's office.

The residents have been waiting for a year and a half to complete the process. Every time we complete a procedure and think we can move on to the next, we're surprised by the fact that there's another one before it, which in turn requires another. That's why we're not inaugurating the center today with the unveiling of the mural , Dávalos commented.

The historian shared that the Tlatelolco community center will serve as a space where the 40,000 residents of the community will address issues in their surroundings in search of solutions, as they have done with the defense of their gardens.

Tlatelolco residents have not lost hope of having their community center and continuing the legacy of the '68 movement.

▲ In the mid-19th century, Japan began to open up to the world after 200 years of isolation under the Tokugawa regime, and Mexico was one of the first countries with which it established diplomatic relations. Jacaranda trees arrived in the country in the early decades of the 20th century, brought by migrant Tatsugoro Matsumoto; here, a postcard of the Alameda Central. Archive photo

Omar González Morales

La Jornada Newspaper, Monday, July 21, 2025, p. 5

The Japanese community in Mexico is behind many culinary, material, and industrial creations that have led to significant progress. These contributions include the Japanese peanut, chamoy, abalone fishing, raspados (scraped rice), jamoncillo (jamoncillo), and the arrival of jacaranda trees.

Foreigners found refuge in this country from racism and xenophobia after numerous armed conflicts.

In an interview with La Jornada, anthropologist Sergio Hernández Galindo, a specialist in Japan at El Colegio de México, spoke about the importance of that community in Mexico and the significant cultural exchange that persists to this day, which has flourished into a harmonious diplomatic relationship between the two nations.

In 1853, the United States, led by Commodore Matthew Perry, forced Japan to open up to the world after 200 years of isolation under the Tokugawa regime. That society modernized, and Mexico was one of the first countries with which it established diplomatic relations , the expert commented.

The migrants saw many opportunities: wages in Mexico were better, and at the time, the country needed labor to cover its territory. Meanwhile, Japan was experiencing overpopulation, and this led to several exoduses, ultimately ending up in the United States. The first wave was in 1897, when a group of settlers arrived in Chiapas with the goal of creating a coffee-growing community. The project failed, but they moved to other places, where they worked as miners, laborers, and apothecaries , Hernández Galindo explained.

After the outbreak of World War I, Japanese society became more technologically advanced, but their participation in the conflict made them targets of xenophobia and racism. The United States government viewed them as an advance party of the imperial army, spies, and invaders.

In the following years, more migrants arrived in Mexico; about 1,000 worked in sugar mills, especially in Oaxaca; others joined the mining industry in Baja California and Chihuahua, as well as the cotton industry; and still others joined the fishing industry; their experience in abalone fishing, a technique unknown on the Mexican coast, is notable. By 1910, there were already about 10,000 workers , the anthropologist indicated.

In 1920, Venustiano Carranza's government asked the Japanese to send more skilled workers ; doctors, veterinarians, and dentists arrived. In return, the Americans closed their borders, forcing travelers to move to South American countries.

The Japanese created small businesses; they brought shaved ice to Sinaloa, making it with ice-crushing machines imported from Asia. In Sonora, they also promoted businesses that modernized the industry to export cotton , the researcher stated.

At that time, jacaranda trees arrived in Mexico after the government of Pascual Ortiz Rubio (1930-1932) asked the Japanese to donate cherry trees to plant on the city's main avenues as a symbol of friendship. However, for them to bloom, a much more abrupt change in temperature between winter and spring was required.

Tatsugoro Matsumoto, a migrant who had traveled between Peru and Mexico, popular during the Mexican Revolution for his designs that blended the harmony of vegetation with construction, brought jacaranda trees from Brazil that closely resembled falling cherry blossoms. This is how the Roma neighborhood, one of Mexico City's most exclusive neighborhoods, became a colorful place thanks to the trees that now cover the Alameda Central in the Historic Center.

During World War II, Japanese residents of the United States were persecuted and interned in camps. Mexico was asked to do the same, but President Manuel Ávila Camacho refused, requiring only that they register on a list to determine their activities and legal status.

In the town of Ures, the Tanaka family, specialized in sweets, created jamoncillo, and in San Luis Potosí, businessman Kiso Tsuru developed a pharmaceutical industry that led to the invention of Vitacilina.

The investor was also instrumental in the support Mexico received from Japan after the nationalization of oil, following the boycott by the United States and the United Kingdom, as the Japanese did not give up buying fuel from Mexico.

In the 1940s, Yoshigei Nakatani, a worker at the Nuevo Japón stores in downtown Mexico City, created Japanese peanuts, which led to his opening of the Nippon company. The product was a worldwide success. Another Japanese brand, Nishikawa, is still in circulation today.

During the 1960s, chamoy arrived in Mexico when several families, most notably the Hasugas, experimented with the recipe for umeboshi (a popular sweet in Asia) and adapted it: instead of ume plum, they used apricot.

Photography also changed. With the arrival of companies like Fuji in 1963 and Canon in 1968, photography became more accessible to the public. That year, during the Olympic Games, the Japanese company Kay built the iconic rings for the competition; its inflatable pool life preservers also became popular.

Gastronomy was transformed with the arrival of sushi, whose popularity exploded in the 1980s. Previously, only specific dishes contained raw fish, but now it's one of the most sought-after foods.

“At the end of the 20th century, the Japanese government focused on creating a policy known as Cool Japan; it began to export a friendly vision of the country, a tourist attraction that would generate income after the crisis unleashed by the economic bubble of the 1990s. This new cultural push highlighted the art of manga, anime, and the video game industry, which remains at the forefront today.

These discoveries are examples of the cultural closeness between Japanese and Mexicans , concluded Sergio Hernández Galindo.