View source for Japanese Brazilians

{{short description|Ethnic group}}
{{Distinguish|Brazilians in Japan}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2017}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group            = Japanese Brazilians
| flag = {{flagicon|Japan}} {{flagicon|Brazil}}
| native_name      = {{native name|pt|Nipo-brasileiros}}<br />{{native name|ja|日系ブラジル人}}
| image            = [[File:20ª Festa do Imigrante (18193303784).jpg|300px]]<br><small>Japanese descendants in [[São Paulo]].</small>
| population       = 46.9 thousand (2023) Japanese citizens living in Brazil<ref name="statista"/> and an estimated 2 million (2022) Brazilian nationals of Japanese descent living in Brazil (about 1% of the [[Brazilians|Brazilian population]]).<ref name="mofa"/>
| popplace         = Japan:<br />211,840 (2023) Brazilian citizens living in Japan<ref name="moj">[https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/publications/press/13_00040.html 令和5年末現在における在留外国人数について]</ref> (most of whom are of Japanese descent).<br />0.2% of Japan's population
| langs            = [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] • [[Japanese language|Japanese]]
| rels             = '''Predominantly''':<br />[[Catholic Church|Roman Catholicism]]<ref>[http://www.adital.com.br/site/noticia.asp?lang=PT&cod=23402 Adital – Brasileiros no Japão<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060713165257/http://www.adital.com.br/site/noticia.asp?lang=PT&cod=23402 |date=July 13, 2006 }}</ref><br />'''Minority''':<br />[[Buddhism]] and [[Shinto]]ism<ref>{{cite web|url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2007/90244.htm|title=Brazil|website=state.gov|date=September 14, 2007|access-date=May 4, 2018|df=mdy-all}}</ref><br />[[Japanese new religions]]<br />[[Protestantism]]
| related          = Japanese, other [[Japanese diaspora|nikkei]] groups (mainly those from [[Asian Latin Americans|Latin America]] and [[Japanese Americans]]), [[Latin Americans]] in [[Japan#Demographics|Japan]], [[Asian Latin Americans]]
}}
{{Nihongo|'''Japanese Brazilians'''|日系ブラジル人|Nikkei Burajiru-jin|{{langx|pt|Nipo-brasileiros}}, {{IPA|pt|ˌnipobɾaziˈle(j)ɾus|}}|lead=yes}} are [[Brazilians|Brazilian citizens]] who are nationals or naturals of [[Japanese people|Japanese]] ancestry or Japanese immigrants living in [[Brazil]] or Japanese people of Brazilian ancestry.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/25/japanese-brazilians-straddling-two-cultures/?partner=rss&emc=rss|title=Japanese-Brazilians: Straddling Two Cultures|last=Gonzalez|first=David|date=September 25, 2013|work=Lens Blog|publisher=The New York Times|access-date=September 27, 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002202210/http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/25/japanese-brazilians-straddling-two-cultures/?partner=rss&emc=rss|archive-date=October 2, 2013|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Japanese immigration to Brazil peaked between 1908 and 1960, with the highest concentration between 1926 and 1935. In 2022, [[Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs]] stated that there were 2 million Japanese descendants in Brazil,<ref name="mofa">{{cite web|access-date=October 8, 2022 |language=en |title=Japan-Brazil Relations (Basic Data) |url=https://www.mofa.go.jp/region/latin/brazil/data.html}}<!-- auto-translated from Portuguese by Module:CS1 translator --></ref> making it the country with the largest population of Japanese origin outside Japan. However, in terms of Japanese citizens, Brazil ranked seventh in 2023, with 46,900 Japanese citizens.{{efn|"In 2023, 414,620 Japanese lived in the United States, 101,790 in China, 99,830 in Australia, 75,110 in Canada, 72,310 in Thailand, and 64,970 in the United Kingdom.<ref name="statista">[https://www.statista.com/statistics/1038496/japan-countries-with-highest-number-of-japanese-residents/ Countries with the highest number of Japanese residents in 2023 (in 1,000s)]</ref>}} Most of the Japanese-descendant population in Brazil has been living in the country for three or more generations and most only hold Brazilian citizenship. [[Japanese diaspora#Terminology|Nikkei]] is the term used to refer to Japanese people and their descendants.

Japanese immigration to Brazil officially began on June 18, 1908, when the ship ''[[Kasato Maru]]'' docked at [[Porto de Santos]], bringing 781 Japanese workers to the coffee plantations in the [[São Paulo state]] countryside. For this reason, June 18 was established as the national day of Japanese immigration.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20230614220917/https://www.promissao.sp.gov.br/portal/noticias/0/3/2658/dia-nacional-da-imigracao-japonesa Dia Nacional da Imigração Japonesa], Prefeitura Municipal de Promissão</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20230614220510/https://www.migalhas.com.br/quentes/109447/18-de-junho---dia-nacional-da-imigracao-japonesa 18 de junho, Dia Nacional da Imigração Japonesa], Migalhas</ref> Immigration to Brazil ceased by 1973, with the arrival of the last immigrant ship, the ''Nippon Maru''.<ref name="preimigracao">{{cite web |title=Site Oficial da ACCIJB - Centenário da Imigração Japonesa no Brasil - História da Imigração |trans-title=ACCIJB Official Website - Centenary of Japanese Immigration to Brazil - History of Immigration |url=http://www.centenario2008.org.br/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=17 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6SEsXCuX7?url=http://www.centenario2008.org.br/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=17 |archive-date=31 August 2014 |work=centenario2008.org.br |language=pt}}<!-- auto-translated from Portuguese by Module:CS1 translator --></ref> Between 1908 and 1963, 242,171 Japanese immigrants arrived in Brazil, making them the fifth-largest immigrant group after Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, and German immigrants.{{efn|Entre 1820 e 1963, entraram no Brasil 5.527.354 imigrantes, dos quais 1.767.334 portugueses, 1.624.725 italianos, 712.957 espanhóis, 256.566 alemães e 242.171 japoneses.<ref name="entrada-estr-bra_gifim">{{cite web|access-date=2022-12-10 |archive-date=2008-10-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081003061606/http://www.scielo.br/img/revistas/rsp/v8s0/03t2.gif |title=Entrada de estrangeiros no Brasil segundo as principais nacionalidades pelos 4 períodos constituídos |url=http://www.scielo.br/img/revistas/rsp/v8s0/03t2.gif}}<!-- auto-translated from Portuguese by Module:CS1 translator --></ref>}} Currently, most Japanese Brazilians live in the states of [[São Paulo (state)|São Paulo]] and [[Paraná (state)|Paraná]].<ref name="IBGEPerfil">{{cite book |last=Coelho |first=Magda Prates |url=https://biblioteca.ibge.gov.br/biblioteca-catalogo.html?id=238935&view=detalhes |title=Resistência & integração : 100 anos de imigração japonesa no Brasil |publisher=Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics |year=2008 |isbn=9788524040146 |location=Rio de Janeiro |page=64 |language=pt |trans-title=Resistance and Integration: 100 Years of Japanese Immigration in Brazil |access-date=2020-10-28 |via=biblioteca.ibge.gov.br}}<!-- auto-translated from Portuguese by Module:CS1 translator --></ref>

In the early 20th century, Japan was overpopulated, and its predominantly rural population experienced significant poverty. At the same time, the Brazilian government was encouraging immigration, especially to supply labor for coffee plantations in [[São Paulo (state)|São Paulo]]. [[Coffee]] was Brazil's main export product, and the country's financial health relied on it. Much of the labor on Brazilian coffee plantations came from [[Italian immigration to Brazil|Italian immigrants]], whose passage by ship was subsidized by the Brazilian government. However, in 1902, the Italian government issued the [[Prinetti Decree]], which banned subsidized immigration to Brazil due to reports that Italian immigrants were being exploited as laborers on Brazilian farms.<ref name="seculo">{{cite book |author=Trento |first=Angelo |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ncc7WLAXlmQC&q=P%C3%A1gina+0 |title=Do outro lado do Atlântico: um século de imigração italiana no Brasil |date=1989 |publisher=Livraria Nobel |isbn=852130563X |pages=574 |language=pt |trans-title=Across the Atlantic: A Century of Italian Immigration to Brazil}}<!-- auto-translated from Portuguese by Module:CS1 translator --></ref> Consequently, the São Paulo government sought new sources of labor from other countries, including Japan, and Japanese immigration to Brazil developed in this context.

Labor contracts on coffee plantations required immigrants to work for five years, but conditions were so poor that many left within the first year. Through great effort, some Japanese workers managed to save enough to buy their own land, with the first Japanese land purchase occurring in 1911 in the São Paulo countryside. Over the decades, Japanese immigrants and their descendants gradually moved from rural areas to Brazilian cities. By the early 1960s, the Japanese Brazilian urban population had surpassed the rural one. Many Japanese immigrants began working in small businesses or providing basic services. In Japanese tradition, the eldest son would continue the family business to help support his younger siblings' education. By 1958, Japanese and their descendants, though less than 2% of the Brazilian population, accounted for 21% of Brazilians with education beyond high school. A 2016 [[Institute of Applied Economic Research|IPEA]] study found that Japanese descendants had the highest average educational and salary levels in Brazil.<ref name="IPEA2">{{cite web |author=Monasterio |first=Leonardo |date=September 2016 |title=Sobrenomes e Ancestralidade No Brasil |trans-title=Surnames and Ancestry in Brazil |url=http://www.ipea.gov.br/portal/images/stories/PDFs/TDs/td_2229.pdf |access-date=17 November 2016 |publisher=IPEA |language=pt}}<!-- auto-translated from Portuguese by Module:CS1 translator --></ref> With Brazil's economic deterioration from the late [[1980s]], many Japanese descendants from Brazil began migrating to Japan, in search of better economic conditions. These individuals are known as [[Dekasegi]]s.

== History ==
=== Background ===
[[File:Affiche émigration JP au BR-déb. XXe s..jpg|thumb|right|A poster used in Japan to attract immigrants to Brazil and Peru. It reads: "Let's go to South America (Brazil highlighted) with your entire family."]]
Between the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries, [[coffee]] was the main export product of Brazil. At first, Brazilian farmers used African [[slave labour]] in the coffee [[plantation]]s, but in 1850, the slave trade was abolished in Brazil. To solve the [[Shortage|labour shortage]], the Brazilian elite decided to attract [[Ethnic groups in Europe|Europe]]an immigrants to work on the coffee plantations. This was also consistent with the government's push towards "whitening" the country. The hope was that through procreation the large African and Native American groups would be eliminated or reduced.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=dos Santos |first1=Sales Augusto |title=Historical Roots of the 'Whitening' of Brazil |journal=Latin American Perspectives |date=January 2002 |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=61–82 |doi=10.1177/0094582X0202900104 |jstor=3185072 |s2cid=220914100 }}</ref> The government and farmers offered to pay European immigrants' passage. The plan encouraged millions of Europeans, most of them [[Italian diaspora|Italians]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Brasil 500 anos |trans-title=Brazil 500 years |url=https://www.ibge.gov.br/brasil500/italianos/regdestino.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080530012836/http://www.ibge.gov.br/brasil500/italianos/regdestino.html |archive-date=May 30, 2008 |access-date= |website=www1.ibge.gov.br |language=pt-BR}}</ref> to [[Immigration to Brazil|migrate to Brazil]]. However, once in Brazil, the immigrants received very low salaries and worked in poor conditions, including long working hours and frequent ill-treatment by their bosses. Because of this, in 1902, Italy enacted the [[Prinetti Decree]], prohibiting subsidized emigration to Brazil.<ref>{{cite web |title=HISTÓRICA – Revista Eletrônica do Arquivo do Estado |trans-title=HISTORY – Electronic Magazine of the State Archives |url=http://www.historica.arquivoestado.sp.gov.br/materias/anteriores/edicao09/materia01/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170919072733/http://www.historica.arquivoestado.sp.gov.br/materias/anteriores/edicao09/materia01/ |archive-date=September 19, 2017 |access-date=May 4, 2018 |website=www.historica.arquivoestado.sp.gov.br |language=pt |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

Japan had been isolated from the rest of the world during the 265 years of the [[Edo period]] ([[Tokugawa Shogunate]]), without wars or epidemics brought in from abroad. With its agricultural techniques of the time, [[Japan]] produced only the food it needed and had practically no formal stocks for difficult periods. Any agricultural crop failure caused widespread famine.<ref name="InfoEscola">{{cite web|access-date=18 June 2012|archive-date=26 April 2013|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130426162314/http://www.infoescola.com/geografia/imigracao-japonesa-no-brasil/|date=22 December 2008|publisher=InfoEscola|title=Imigração Japonesa no Brasil|url=http://www.infoescola.com/geografia/imigracao-japonesa-no-brasil/|url-status=live}}<!-- auto-translated by Module:CS1 translator --></ref> The end of the Tokugawa Shogunate gave way to an intense project of modernization and opening to the outside world during the Meiji era. Despite the [[agrarian reform]], [[mechanization of agriculture]] made thousands of peasants unemployed. Thousands of other small peasants became indebted or lost their land because they could not pay the high [[tax]]es.

The [[Abolition of the han system|end of feudalism in Japan]] generated great poverty in the rural population, so many Japanese people began to emigrate in search of better living conditions. By the 1930s, [[Meiji Restoration|Japanese industrialisation]] had significantly boosted the population. However, prospects for Japanese people to migrate to other countries were limited. The [[United States]] had banned non-white immigration from some parts of the world<ref>{{cite book |last=Mosley |first=Leonard |title= Hirohito, Emperor of Japan |year=1966 |publisher=Prentice Hall International, Inc |location=London |pages=97–98}}</ref> on the basis that they would not integrate into society; this [[Exclusion clause|Exclusion Clause]], of the [[1924 Immigration Act]], specifically targeted the Japanese. At the same time in Australia, the [[White Australia policy]] prevented the immigration of non-whites to Australia.

=== First immigrants ===
[[File:Kasato Maru docked at warehouse 14 in Port of Santos 1908.png|thumb|right|The {{transliteration|ja|Kasato Maru}} docked in Port of Santos, 1908]]
In 1907, the Brazilian and the Japanese governments signed a treaty permitting Japanese migration to Brazil. This was due in part to the decrease in the [[Italian Brazilians#Italian immigration to Brazil|Italian immigration to Brazil]] and a new labour shortage on the coffee plantations.<ref>[http://www.imigracaojaponesa.com.br/naviodaesperanca.html Imigração Japonesa no Brasil<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071218164031/http://www.imigracaojaponesa.com.br/naviodaesperanca.html |date=December 18, 2007 }}</ref> Also, Japanese immigration to the [[United States]] had been barred by the [[Gentlemen's Agreement of 1907]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bMSBlwEACAAJ|title=Shaping Our Nation: How Surges of Migration Transformed America and Its Politics|last=Barone|first=Michael|date=2013|publisher=Crown Forum|isbn=9780307461513|language=en}}</ref> The first Japanese immigrants (781 people – mostly farmers) came to Brazil in 1908 on the {{transliteration|ja|[[Kasato Maru]]}}. About half of these immigrants were [[Ryukyuan people|Okinawans]] from southern [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]], who had faced 29 years of [[Ryukyuan assimilation policies|oppression by the Japanese government]] following the [[Ryukyu Islands]]'s [[Ryūkyū Disposition|annexation]], becoming the first [[Ryukyuans in Brazil|Ryukyuan Brazilians]].<ref name="bbc">{{Cite news |date=February 4, 2018 |title=A little corner of Brazil that is forever Okinawa |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-42859249 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180205184155/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-42859249 |archive-date=February 5, 2018 |access-date= |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref> They travelled from the Japanese port of [[Kobe]] via the [[Cape of Good Hope]] in South Africa.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Osada |first=Masako |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XmD52sveLMEC&pg=PA27 |title=Sanctions and Honorary Whites: Diplomatic Policies and Economic Realities in Relations Between Japan and South Africa |date=2002-02-28 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=978-0-313-31877-1 |pages=33}}</ref> Many of them worked on [[coffee plantation]]s.<ref name="A Imigração Japonesa em Itu">{{cite web|url=http://www.itu.com.br/colunistas/artigo.asp?cod_conteudo=15869|title=A Imigração Japonesa em Itu|website=itu.com.br|access-date=May 4, 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170106002659/http://www.itu.com.br/colunistas/artigo.asp?cod_conteudo=15869|archive-date=January 6, 2017|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

In the first seven years, 3,434 more Japanese families (14,983 people) arrived. The beginning of [[World War I]] in 1914 started a boom in Japanese migration to Brazil. Between 1917 and 1940, over 164,000 Japanese came to Brazil, with 90% of them going to [[São Paulo (state)|São Paulo]],<ref name="ibge500"/> where most of the coffee plantations were located.<ref name="Governo do Estado de São Paulo">{{cite web|url=http://www.saopaulo.sp.gov.br/imigracaojaponesa/historia.php|title=Governo do Estado de São Paulo|website=Governo do Estado de São Paulo|access-date=May 4, 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161231203754/http://saopaulo.sp.gov.br/imigracaojaponesa/historia.php/|archive-date=December 31, 2016|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Japanese immigration to Brazil by period, 1906–1993<ref name="ibge2">[http://www.ibge.gov.br IBGE – Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística] {{webarchive|url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/19961013202944/http://www.ibge.gov.br/ |date=October 13, 1996 }} (visitado 4 de setembro de 2008)</ref><ref>[http://jpsite.ccbj.jp/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=37&Itemid=53 日系移民データ – 在日ブラジル商業会議所 – CCBJ] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120605092146/http://jpsite.ccbj.jp/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=37&Itemid=53 |date=June 5, 2012 }}, which cites:
"1941年までの数字は外務省領事移住部
「我が国民の海外発展-移住百年のあゆみ(資料集)」【東京、1971年】p140参照.
1952年から1993年の数字は国際協力事業団「海外移住統計(昭和27年度〜平成5年度)」【東京、1994年】p28,29参照."</ref>
! Years !! Immigrants
|-
| 1906–1910 || 1,714
|-
| 1911–1915 || 13,371
|-
| 1916–1920 || 13,576
|-
| 1921–1925 || 11,350
|-
| 1926–1930 || 59,564
|-
| 1931–1935 || 72,661
|-
| 1936–1941 || 16,750
|-
| 1952–1955 || 7,715
|-
| 1956–1960 || 29,727
|-
| 1961–1965 || 9,488
|-
| 1966–1970 || 2,753
|-
| 1971–1975 || 1,992
|-
| 1976–1980 || 1,352
|-
| 1981–1985 || 411
|-
| 1986–1990 || 171
|-
| 1991–1993 || 48
|-
| Total || 242,643
|}

=== New life in Brazil ===
The vast majority of Japanese immigrants intended to work a few years in Brazil, make some money, and go home. However, "getting rich quick" was a dream that was almost impossible to achieve. This was exacerbated by the fact that it was obligatory for Japanese immigrants to Brazil prior to the [[World War II|Second World War]] to emigrate in familial units.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Nishida|first=Mieko|title=Diaspora and Identity: Japanese Brazilians in Brazil and Japan|publisher=[[University of Hawai'i Press]]|year=2018|isbn=9780824874292|location=Honolulu|pages=25–28}}</ref> Because multiple persons necessitated monetary support in these familial units, Japanese immigrants found it nearly impossible to return home to Japan even years after emigrating to Brazil.<ref name=":0" /> The immigrants were paid a very low salary and worked long hours of exhausting work. Also, everything that the immigrants consumed had to be purchased from the landowner (see [[truck system]]). Soon, their debts became very significant.<ref name="Governo do Estado de São Paulo"/> Contrary to the plan, only 10% of the nearly 190,000 Japanese who immigrated to Brazil before the Second World War returned to Japan.<ref name="osisseis" />
[[File:Japanese Brazilian Miko Curitiba Paraná.jpg|thumb|upright|A Japanese Brazilian [[miko]] during a festival in [[Curitiba]].]]

On 1 August 1908, ''[[The New York Times]]'' remarked that relations between Brazil and Japan at the time were "not extremely cordial", because of "the attitude of Brazil toward the immigration of Japanese labourers."<ref>An extensive quotation from this article appears in [[Minas Geraes-class battleship|{{lang|pt|Minas Geraes}}-class battleship]].</ref>

The landowners in Brazil still had a slavery mentality. Immigrants, although employees, had to confront the rigidity and lack of [[labour laws]]. Indebted and subjected to hours of exhaustive work, often suffering physical violence, suicide, {{transliteration|ja|yonige}} (to escape at night), and strikes were some of the attitudes taken by many Japanese because of the exploitation on coffee farms.<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 17, 2008 |title=Memoria Da Imigração Japonesa No Brasil |url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/7018121/Memoria-Da-Imigracao-Japonesa-No-Brasil |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510202109/http://www.scribd.com/doc/7018121/Memoria-Da-Imigracao-Japonesa-No-Brasil |archive-date=May 10, 2013 |access-date=June 14, 2009 |website=[[Scribd]]}}</ref> Even when they were free of their contractual obligations on Brazil's coffee plantations, it was often impossible for immigrants to return home due to their meager earnings.<ref name=":0" />

However, through a system called "partnership farming", in a contract with a landowner, in which the immigrants committed themselves to deforesting the land, sowing coffee, taking care of the plantation and returning the area in seven years' time, when the second harvest would be ready, the immigrants could keep the profits from the first harvest, taking into account that the coffee cultivation is biannual. They also kept everything they planted, in addition to coffee. In this way, many Japanese managed to save some money and buy their first pieces of land in Brazil.<ref name="osisseis">{{cite web|access-date=27 April 2014|archive-date=31 March 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130331023222/http://veja.abril.com.br/121207/p_082.shtml|title=Revista VEJA – Edição 2038 – 12 de dezembro de 2007|url=http://veja.abril.com.br/121207/p_082.shtml|work=veja.abril.com.br}}<!-- auto-translated by Module:CS1 translator --></ref> The first land purchase by the Japanese in Brazil took place in [[São Paulo (state)|São Paulo]], in [[1911]].<ref name="cronologia">{{cite web|access-date=17 August 2008|archive-date=3 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203124253/http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/fsp/mais/fs2004200805.htm|publisher=Uol|title=Cronologia da Imigração Japonesa ''in'' Folha de S.Paulo, 20 de abril de 2008|url=http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/fsp/mais/fs2004200805.htm}}<!-- auto-translated by Module:CS1 translator --></ref>

Many Japanese immigrants purchased land in rural Brazil, having been forced to invest what little capital they had into land in order to someday make enough to return to Japan. As independent farmers, Japanese immigrants formed communities that were ethnically isolated from the rest of Brazilian society. The immigrants who settled and formed these communities referred to themselves as {{transliteration|ja|shokumin}} and their settlements as {{transliteration|ja|shokuminchi}}.<ref name=":0" /> In 1940, the Superintendence of Coffee Business issued that even though the Japanese living in São Paulo made up only 3.5% of the state's population, they were responsible for 100% of the production of [[ramie]], [[silk]], [[peach]]es and [[strawberries]]; 99% of [[Mentha|mint]] and [[tea]]; 80% of [[potato]]es and [[vegetable]]s; 70% of [[egg]]s; 50% of [[banana]]s; 40% of the [[cotton]] and 20% of the coffee produced by the state of São Paulo.<ref name="algodao"/>

Japanese children born in Brazil were educated in schools founded by the Japanese community. Most only learned to speak the [[Japanese language]] and lived within the Japanese community in rural areas. Over the years, many Japanese managed to buy their own land and became small farmers. They started to plant [[strawberries]], tea and rice. Only 6% of children were the result of [[Miscegenation|interracial]] relationships. Immigrants rarely accepted marriage with a non-Japanese person.<ref name="ELB">[http://www.labeurb.unicamp.br/elb/asiaticas/japones.htm Enciclopédia das Línguas no Brasil – Japonês] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522012304/http://www.labeurb.unicamp.br/elb/asiaticas/japones.htm |date=May 22, 2011 }} (Accessed September 4, 2008)</ref>

By the 1930s, Brazilians complained that the independent Japanese communities had formed {{lang|pt|quistos raciais}}, or "racial cysts", and were unwilling to further integrate the Japanese Brazilians into Brazilian society.<ref name=":0" /> The Japanese government, via the Japanese consulate in São Paulo, was directly involved with the education of Japanese children in Brazil. Japanese education in Brazil was modeled after education systems in Japan, and schools in Japanese communities in Brazil received funding directly from the Japanese government.<ref name=":0" /> By 1933, there were 140,000–150,000 Japanese Brazilians, which was by far the largest Japanese population in any Latin American country.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Normano |first=J. F. |author-link=J.F. Normano |date=March 1934 |title=Japanese Emigration to Brazil |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2750689 |journal=[[Pacific Affairs]] |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=45 |doi=10.2307/2750689 |jstor=2750689 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

With Brazil under the leadership of [[Getúlio Vargas]] and the Empire of Japan involved on the [[Axis powers|Axis]] side in World War II, Japanese Brazilians became more isolated from their mother country. Japanese leaders and diplomats in Brazil left for Japan after Brazil severed all relations with Japan on 29 January 1942, leading Japanese Brazilians to fend for themselves in an increasingly hostile country. Vargas's regime instituted several measures that targeted the Japanese population in Brazil, including the loss of freedom to travel within Brazil, censorship of Japanese newspapers (even those printed in [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]), and imprisonment if Japanese Brazilians were caught speaking Japanese in public.<ref name=":0"/> Japanese Brazilians became divided amongst themselves, and some even turned to performing terrorist acts on Japanese farmers who were employed by Brazilian farmers.<ref name=":0"/> By 1947, however, following the end of World War II, tensions between Brazilians and their Japanese population had cooled considerably. Japanese-language newspapers returned to publication and Japanese-language education was reinstituted among the Japanese Brazilian population. World War II had left Japanese Brazilians isolated from their mother country, censored by the Brazilian government, and facing internal conflicts within their own populations, but, for the most part, life returned to normal following the end of the war.

=== Prejudice and forced assimilation ===
On 28 July 1921, representatives [[Andrade Bezerra]] and [[Cincinato Braga]] proposed a law whose Article 1 provided: "The immigration of individuals from the black race to Brazil is prohibited." On 22 October 1923, representative [[Fidélis Reis]] produced another bill on the entry of immigrants, whose fifth article was as follows: "The entry of settlers from the black race into Brazil is prohibited. For Asian [immigrants] there will be allowed each year a number equal to 5% of those residing in the country..."<ref name="rios">[https://web.archive.org/web/20070808044737/http://www.movimentoafro.amazonida.com/branqueamento.htm RIOS, Roger Raupp. Text excerpted from a judicial sentence concerning crime of racism. Federal Justice of 10ª Vara da Circunscrição Judiciária de Porto Alegre, November 16, 2001] (Accessed September 10, 2008)</ref>
[[File:Brazil_-_Proibido_falar_alemão_1.jpg|234px|right|thumb|[[Caxias do Sul|Caxias]] police notice from 1942, stating a ban on speaking Italian, German and Japanese in public, as well as other limitations on citizens of Italy, Germany and Japan.]]
Some years before [[World War II]], the government of President [[Getúlio Vargas]] initiated a process of forced [[Cultural assimilation|assimilation]] of people of immigrant origin in Brazil. The Constitution of 1934 had a legal provision about the subject: "''The concentration of immigrants anywhere in the country is prohibited, the law should govern the selection, location and assimilation of the alien''". The assimilationist project affected mainly
Japanese, [[Italian Brazilians|Italian]], [[Jews in Brazil|Jewish]], and [[German Brazilians|German]] immigrants and their descendants.<ref>[https://www.scribd.com/doc/7018121/Memoria-Da-Imigracao-Japonesa-No-Brasil Memória da Imigração Japonesa] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510202109/http://www.scribd.com/doc/7018121/Memoria-Da-Imigracao-Japonesa-No-Brasil |date=May 10, 2013 }}</ref>

The formation of "ethnic cysts" among immigrants of non-Portuguese origin prevented the realization of the whitening project of the Brazilian population. The government, then, started to act on these communities of foreign origin to force them to integrate into a "Brazilian culture" with Portuguese roots. It was the dominant idea of a unification of all the inhabitants of Brazil under a single "national spirit". During World War II, Brazil severed relations with Japan. Japanese newspapers and teaching the Japanese language in schools were banned, leaving Portuguese as the only option for Japanese descendants. Newspapers in Italian or German were also advised to cease production, as Italy and Germany were Japan's allies in the war.<ref name="A Imigração Japonesa em Itu"/> In 1939, research of [[Estrada de Ferro Noroeste do Brasil]], from São Paulo, showed that 87.7% of Japanese Brazilians read newspapers in the Japanese language, a high figure for a country with many [[illiterate]] people like Brazil at the time.<ref name="suzuki">[http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/fsp/mais/fs2004200804.htm SUZUKI Jr, Matinas. História da discriminação brasileira contra os japoneses sai do limbo ''in'' Folha de S.Paulo, 20 de abril de 2008] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121015090047/http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/fsp/mais/fs2004200804.htm |date=October 15, 2012 }} (visitado em 17 de agosto de 2008)</ref>

The Japanese appeared as undesirable immigrants within the "whitening" and assimilationist policy of the Brazilian government.<ref name="suzuki"/> [[Oliveira Viana]], a Brazilian jurist, historian and sociologist described the Japanese immigrants as follows: "They (Japanese) are like sulfur: insoluble". The Brazilian magazine "[[O Malho]]" in its edition of 5 December 1908 issued a charge of Japanese immigrants with the following legend: "The government of São Paulo is stubborn. After the failure of the first Japanese immigration, it contracted 3,000 [[yellow people]]. It insists on giving Brazil a race diametrically opposite to ours".<ref name="suzuki"/> In 1941, the Brazilian Minister of Justice, [[Francisco Campos (jurist)|Francisco Campos]], defended the ban on admission of 400 Japanese immigrants in São Paulo and wrote: "their despicable standard of living is a brutal competition with the country's worker; their selfishness, their bad faith, their refractory character, make them a huge ethnic and cultural cyst located in the richest regions of Brazil".<ref name="suzuki"/>

The Japanese Brazilian community was strongly marked by restrictive measures when Brazil declared war against Japan in August 1942. Japanese Brazilians could not travel the country without [[safe conduct]] issued by the police; over 200 Japanese schools were closed and radio equipment was seized to prevent transmissions on [[short wave radio|short wave]] from Japan. The goods of Japanese companies were confiscated and several companies of Japanese origin had interventions, including the newly founded Banco América do Sul. Japanese Brazilians were prohibited from driving motor vehicles (even if they were [[Taxicab|taxi]] drivers), buses or trucks on their property. The drivers employed by Japanese had to have permission from the police. Thousands of Japanese immigrants were arrested or expelled from Brazil on suspicion of espionage. There were many anonymous denunciations of "activities against national security" arising from disagreements between neighbors, recovery of debts and even fights between children.<ref name="suzuki"/> Japanese Brazilians were arrested for "suspicious activity" when they were in artistic meetings or [[picnic]]s. On 10 July 1943, approximately 10,000 Japanese and German and Italian immigrants who lived in [[Santos (São Paulo)|Santos]] had 24 hours to close their homes and businesses and move away from the Brazilian coast. The police acted without any notice. About 90% of people displaced were Japanese. To reside in [[Baixada Santista]], the Japanese had to have a safe conduct.<ref name="suzuki"/> In 1942, the Japanese community who introduced the cultivation of pepper in [[Tomé-Açu]], in [[Pará]], was virtually turned into a "[[concentration camp]]". This time, the Brazilian ambassador in Washington, D.C., Carlos Martins Pereira e Sousa, encouraged the government of Brazil to transfer all the Japanese Brazilians to "internment camps" without the need for legal support, in the same manner [[Japanese American internment|as was done with the Japanese residents in the United States]]. No single suspicion of activities of Japanese against "national security" was confirmed.<ref name="suzuki"/>

During the National Constituent Assembly of 1946, the representative of [[Rio de Janeiro (state)|Rio de Janeiro]] [[Miguel Couto Filho]] proposed Amendments to the Constitution as follows: "It is prohibited the entry of Japanese immigrants of any age and any origin in the country". In the final vote, a tie with 99 votes in favour and 99 against. [[Senate of Brazil|Senator]] [[Fernando de Melo Viana]], who chaired the session of the [[Constituent Assembly of Brazil|Constituent Assembly]], had the casting vote and rejected the constitutional amendment. By only one vote, the immigration of Japanese people to Brazil was not prohibited by the Brazilian Constitution of 1946.<ref name="suzuki"/>

The Japanese immigrants appeared to the Brazilian government as undesirable and non-[[Cultural assimilation|assimilable]] immigrants. As Asian, they did not contribute to the "whitening" process of the Brazilian people as desired by the ruling Brazilian elite. In this process of forced assimilation the Japanese, more than any other immigrant group, suffered the [[Ethnocultural|ethno-cultural]] persecution imposed during this period.<ref name="suzuki"/>

=== Prestige ===
For decades, Japanese Brazilians were seen as a non-assimilable people. The immigrants were treated only as a reserve of cheap labour that should be used on coffee plantations and that Brazil should avoid absorbing their cultural influences. This widespread conception that the Japanese were negative for Brazil was changed in the following decades. The Japanese were able to overcome the difficulties along the years and drastically improve their lives through hard work and education; this was also facilitated by the involvement of the Japanese government in the process of migration. The image of hard working [[agricultural science|agriculturists]] that came to help develop the country and agriculture helped erase the lack of trust of the local population and create a positive image of the Japanese. In the 1970s, Japan became one of the richest countries of the world, synonymous with modernity and progress. In the same period, Japanese Brazilians achieved a great cultural and economic success, probably the immigrant group that most rapidly achieved progress in Brazil. Due to the powerful Japanese economy and due to the rapid enrichment of the [[Nisei]], in the last decades Brazilians of Japanese descent achieved a social prestige in Brazil that largely contrasts with the aggression with which the early immigrants were treated in the country.<ref name="suzuki"/><ref>Darcy Ribeiro. O Povo Brasileiro, Vol. 07, 1997 (1997), pp. 401.</ref>

In the early 1960s, the Japanese Brazilian population in the cities already surpassed that of the countryside. As the vast majority of families that moved to São Paulo and cities in Paraná had few resources and were headed by first and second-generation Japanese, it was imperative that their business did not require a large initial investment or advanced knowledge of the Portuguese language. Thus, a good part of the immigrants began to dedicate themselves to small trade or to the provision of basic services, where [[dyeing]] stood out. In the 1970s, 80% of the 3,500 establishments that washed and ironed the clothes of São Paulo citizens were Japanese. According to anthropologist Célia Sakurai: "The business was convenient for the families, because they could live at the back of the dye shop and do all the work without having to hire employees. In addition, the communication required by the activity was brief and simple".<ref name="osisseis"/>

In the Brazilian urban environment, the Japanese began to work mainly in sectors related to agriculture, such as traders or owners of small stores, selling fruit, vegetables or fish. Working with greengrocers and market stalls was facilitated by the contact that urban Japanese had with those who had stayed in the countryside, as suppliers were usually friends or relatives. Whatever the activity chosen by the family, it was up to the eldest children to work together with their parents. The custom was a Japanese tradition of delegating to the eldest son the continuation of the family activity and also the need to help pay for the studies of the younger siblings. While the older ones worked, the younger siblings enrolled in technical courses, such as [[Accountancy]], mainly because it was easier to deal with numbers than with the Portuguese language. As for college, the Japanese favored engineering, medicine and law, which guaranteed money and social prestige. In 1958, Japanese descendants already represented 21% of Brazilians with education above secondary. In 1977, Japanese Brazilians, who made up 2.5% of the population of São Paulo, added up to 13% of those approved at the [[University of São Paulo]], 16% of those who were admitted to the [[Technological Institute of Aeronautics]] (ITA) and 12% of those selected at the [[Getulio Vargas Foundation]] (FGV).<ref name="ossanseis">{{cite web|access-date=17 May 2014|archive-date=28 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140428210353/http://veja.abril.com.br/121207/p_088.shtml|publisher=Revista Made in Japan|title=Revista VEJA – Edição 2038 – 12 de dezembro de 2007|url=http://veja.abril.com.br/121207/p_088.shtml}}<!-- auto-translated by Module:CS1 translator --></ref> According to a 1995 research conducted by [[Datafolha]], 53% of adult Japanese Brazilians had a college degree, compared to only 9% of Brazilians in general.<ref name="lesser301">{{harvnb|Lesser|2001|p=301}}</ref>

According to the newspaper [[Gazeta do Povo]], in Brazil "common sense is that Japanese descendants are studious, disciplined, do well at school, pass the admission exams more easily and, in most cases, have great affinity for the exact science careers". According to a 2009 survey carried out with data from the University of São Paulo and [[Unesp]], even though Japanese descendants were 1.2% of the population of the city of São Paulo and made up less than 4% of those enrolled in the entrance exams, they were about 15% of those approved.<ref name="educacao">{{cite web|access-date=4 May 2014|archive-date=May 4, 2014|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140504192118/http://www.gazetadopovo.com.br/educacao/conteudo.phtml?id=920202|publisher=[[Gazeta do Povo]]|title=Valores impulsionam alunos nipo-brasileiros – Educação – Gazeta do Povo|url=http://www.gazetadopovo.com.br/educacao/conteudo.phtml?id=920202|url-status=bot: unknown}}<!-- auto-translated by Module:CS1 translator --></ref>

A 2017 survey revealed that Brazilians of Japanese descent are the wealthiest group in Brazil. The survey concluded that Brazilians with a Japanese surname are the ones who earn the most (73.40 reais per hour):<ref name="sobrenomes">[https://gauchazh.clicrbs.com.br/comportamento/noticia/2017/06/o-sobrenome-influencia-no-sucesso-profissional-de-um-brasileiro-9811312.html O sobrenome influencia no sucesso profissional de um brasileiro?]</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan="4" |Salary of Brazilians, according to their last name and color.<ref name="sobrenomes"/>
|-
!'''Ethnic origin (based on last name and color/race)'''
!'''Salary (in [[Brazilian real]] per hour)'''
|-
| Japanese
| 73,40
|-
| Italian
| 51,80
|-
| German
| 48,10
|-
| Eastern European
| 47,60
|-
| Iberian (whites)
| 33,90
|-
| [[Pardo]] (brown)
| 27,80
|-
| Black
| 26,50
|-
| Indigenous
| 26,10
|}

<gallery>
File:Família Japonesa em Bastos 1930.jpg|<div style="text-align: center;">Japanese family in [[Bastos, Brazil|Bastos]], [[São Paulo (state)|SP]]</div>
File:Japanese Workers in Coffee Plantation.jpg|<div style="text-align: center;">Japanese immigrants working on coffee plantation</div>
File:Japanese Workers in Coffee Sieving.jpg|<div style="text-align: center;">Japanese immigrants working on coffee plantation</div>
File:Japanese Immigrants disembarkment in Brazil 1937.jpg|<div style="text-align: center;">Japanese immigrants arriving to the [[Port of Santos]]</div>
File:Japanese Immigrants in tea Plantation 02.jpg|<div style="text-align: center;">Japanese Immigrants on tea plantation in [[Registro]], [[São Paulo (state)|SP]]</div>
File:Japanese Immigrants with silkworm breeding 01.jpg|<div style="text-align: center;">Japanese immigrants with silkworm breeding</div>
File:Commerce japonais, São Paulo-années 1940.jpg|<div style="text-align: center;">Japanese store in São Paulo</div>
File:Fábio Riodi Yassuda, Ministro da Indústria e Comércio..tif|alt=Fábio Riodi Yassuda, a Nisei who became the first Brazilian minister of Japanese descent.|<div style="text-align: center;">{{Interlanguage link|Fábio Riodi Yassuda|pt}}, a [[Nisei]] who became the first Brazilian minister of Japanese descent.</div>
</gallery>

== Integration and intermarriage ==
===Assimilation into Brazilian society===
The majority of Japanese immigrants who arrived before [[World War II]] did not intend to stay permanently in Brazil; they simply wanted to work for a few years, save money, and return to Japan.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lesser |first=Jeffrey |title=A discontented diaspora: Japanese-Brazilians and the meanings of ethnic militancy, 1960 - 1980 |date=2007 |publisher=Duke Univ. Press |isbn=978-0-8223-4060-7 |location=Durham, NC}}</ref> As a result, they did not care about assimilating into Brazilian society. The immigrants' children attended Japanese schools, in rural Brazil, where they learned not only the Japanese language but also how to be Japanese<ref name="osnisseis">{{cite web|access-date=17 May 2014 |archive-date=28 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140428210533/http://veja.abril.com.br/121207/p_086.shtml |publisher=veja.abril.com.br |title=Revista VEJA - Edição 2038 - 12 de dezembro de 2007 |url=http://veja.abril.com.br/121207/p_086.shtml}}<!-- auto-translated from Portuguese by Module:CS1 translator --></ref> After World War II, Japan resurfaced as an economic dominant force, developing a reconstructed identity for the Japanese people in Brazil. The Nikkei were seen as the "common capitalist identity" and many children of immigrant farming communities travelled to the city of São Paulo to pursue liberal professions.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lesser |first=Jeff |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/123766831 |title=A discontented diaspora: Japanese Brazilians and the meanings of ethnic militancy, 1960-1980 |date=2007 |publisher=Duke University Press |isbn=978-0-8223-4060-7 |location=Durham |pages=32 |oclc=123766831}}</ref> In these schools, they studied Japan's history and geography but knew little about Brazil's history and geography. They tried to live as if they had never left Japan.<ref name="redalyc">[https://www.redalyc.org/journal/770/77066579001/html/#fn76 SER OU NÃO SER JAPONÊS? UM PROCESSO IDENTITÁRIO EM CONSTRUÇÃO]</ref>

This pattern changed with Japan's defeat in World War II. At that time, many Japanese immigrants realized they were deeply rooted in Brazil and that returning to a war-ravaged Japan was no longer worth it. On the other hand,  Japanese who immigrated to Brazil after the war arrived with different goals; having experienced the horrors of war, they aimed not to return to Japan but to make Brazil their new homeland. Consequently, Japanese immigrants who arrived after the war assimilated into Brazilian society more easily and tended not to transmit Japanese culture and language to their children as much as those who had arrived before the war.<ref name="ibge500"/><ref name="redalyc"/>

Convinced that they would no longer return to Japan, Japanese immigrants changed their expectations for their children as well, and the community stopped condemning Nisei (Brazilian-born children of Japanese immigrants) who did not speak Japanese.<ref name="redalyc"/> However, even before World War II, many Japanese immigrants had realized they would not return to Japan, beginning the initial movement toward "Brazilianization." In the 1920s, many Japanese immigrants converted to [[Catholicism]], Brazil's predominant religion. The [[godparents]] chosen by the Japanese were almost always Brazilians, thus creating a link with the Brazilian people.<ref>[https://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/8/8157/tde-20102010-145639/publico/2010_PatriciaTamikoIzumi.pdf Envelhecimento e etnicidade: o processo de aculturação dos imigrantes japoneses]</ref>

Successive generations of Japanese descendants, Sansei (third generation) and Yonsei (fourth generation), showed a greater degree of assimilation into Brazilian society than the Nisei (second generation), as the latter remained more immersed in their parents' Japanese culture compared to later generations, who were increasingly integrated into Brazilian culture.<ref name="ibge500">{{cite web|access-date=19 September 2024 |title=IBGE. Brasil: 500 anos de povoamento. Rio de Janeiro: IBGE, 2000 |url=https://biblioteca.ibge.gov.br/index.php/biblioteca-catalogo?id=26687&view=detalhes}}<!-- auto-translated from Portuguese by Module:CS1 translator --></ref>

However, "Brazilianization" did not mean a complete abandonment of Japanese values and traditions by the descendants. Japanese influence continued to manifest in various aspects, such as [[cuisine]]. Other values preserved by the descendants included an emphasis on discipline and education. According to a [[IBGE]] publication:<ref name="ibge500"/>

{{quote2|A large part of the new generations does not speak Japanese. Rarely, however, is there an absence among the descendants of certain strong traditional values, such as the spirit of [[Bushido]], the warrior's sense of self-control. These are teachings passed down by Meiji-era immigrants that have shaped the conduct of later generations in their approach to work and family, and in some way have helped create the image of Japanese descendants as "studious," "intelligent," and "disciplined."}}

Despite assimilating into Brazilian society, even today Brazilians of Japanese descent are often not perceived as fully Brazilian and continue to be called — and to call themselves — "Japanese," even though many are third or fourth generation in Brazil, have never set foot in Japan, do not speak Japanese, and do not hold Japanese citizenship. Thus, being "Japanese" in Brazil has little to do with nationality or culture but rather with physical traits.<ref name=oliveira/> Brazilian society was historically formed by Indigenous, European, and African peoples and the [[miscegenation]] of these three groups. Therefore, what is conventionally considered "Brazilian physical appearance" was inherited from these three origins. In Brazil, no one questions that a [[Black people|Black]] person could be Brazilian, nor that the child of Italian or Spanish immigrants is also Brazilian.<ref name=tuzzi>TRUZZI, O. M. S. Patrícios. Sírios e libaneses em São Paulo. 2. ed. São Paulo, Ed. UNESP, 2008.</ref><ref name="Lesser">Jeffrey Lesser. Negotiating National Identity: Immigrants, Minorities, and the Struggle for Ethnicity in Brazil.</ref> By contrast, descendants of Japanese people, because of their physical features reminiscent of the Asian country from which their ancestors came, carry the distinction of continuing to be seen as "Japanese" in the country where they were born. This occurs even among people of mixed heritage, or those who have only one Japanese parent. Mixed-heritage individuals who inherit more Japanese features continue to be labeled "Japanese," while those with more non-Japanese features are more easily seen as "Brazilian." Even individuals with origins in other countries of the [[Far East]], such as China and Korea, are often called "Japanese" in Brazil. Ultimately, physical appearance, rather than nationality or culture, defines someone as "Japanese" in Brazil.<ref name=oliveira/>

This differentiation is often reinforced by the descendants of Japanese themselves, as they may refer to other Brazilians as "Brazilian" or "gaijin" (foreigner, in Japanese), associating Brazilian identity with negative aspects, such as trickery and laziness. Yet, when they go to Japan, Brazilians of Japanese descent realize they are not considered Japanese, as they are not seen as such by native Japanese, shattering the illusion that they are "Japanese." Thus, Japanese Brazilians experience a duality, being regarded as "Japanese" in Brazil but as "Brazilians" in Japan.<ref name=oliveira>OLIVEIRA, Adriana Capuano de. Japanese in Brazil or Brazilian in Japan: The trajectory of an identity in a migratory context Campinas, 1997. 207f. Dissertation (Master's in Sociology) - School of Philosophy and Human Sciences, State University of Campinas.</ref>

===Generations and intermarriage===
{| class="wikitable" style="float: right; text-align=center; margin: 1em 1em 1em 1em"
|-
!colspan="5"|Intermarriage in the Japanese Brazilian community (data from 1987)<ref name="ELB"/>
|-
!rowspan="2"|Generation || colspan="2"|Denomination in || rowspan="2" width="20" | Proportion of each generation in all community (%)|| rowspan="2" width="20" | Proportion of mixed-race in each generation (%)
|-
! Japanese || English
|-
| align="center"|1st || Issei || Immigrants || align="right"|12.51% || align="right"|0%
|-
| align="center"|2nd || Nisei || Children|| align="right"|30.85% || align="right"|6%
|-
| align="center"|3rd || Sansei || Grandchildren|| align="right"|41.33% || align="right"|42%
|-
| align="center"|4th || Yonsei || Great-grandchildren || align="right"|12.95% || align="right"|61%
|}

As of 1987, many Japanese Brazilians belonged to the third generation ([[sansei]]), who made up 41.33% of the community. First generation ([[issei]]) were 12.51%, second generation ([[nisei]]) were 30.85% and fourth generation ([[Yonsei (fourth-generation Nikkei)|yonsei]]) 12.95%.<ref name="ELB"/>

A census conducted in the late 1950s, with around 400,000 members of the Japanese Brazilian community, revealed that marriages between Japanese and non-Japanese represented less than 2% among first-generation immigrants and less than 6% in the whole Japanese Brazilian community.<ref name="lesser182">{{harvnb|Lesser|2001|p=182}}</ref> Japanese immigrants rarely married a non-Japanese person; however, their descendants, starting from the second and third generations, increasingly began to marry people of non-Japanese origin.<ref name="lesser182"/> By 1989, the rate of interethnic marriage was 45.9%.<ref name="KOJIMA">SHIGERU KOJIMA. [http://www.brazzil.com/2005-mainmenu-79/155-august-2005/9382.htmlhttp://dspace.c3sl.ufpr.br/dspace/bitstream/handle/1884/24621/D%20-%20KOJIMA,%20SHIGERU.pdf?sequence=1 A STUDY ON JAPANESE AND THEIR DESCENDANTS IN CURITIBA]{{Dead link|date=October 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}.}</ref>

By 1987, most Japanese Brazilians were still of full Japanese descent, with 28% having some non-Japanese ancestry. Only 6% of second-generation Japanese Brazilians (children) were mixed-race, but 42% of third-generation (grandchildren) were mixed and a majority of 61% of fourth-generation (great-grandchildren) were mixed.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hiramatsu |first1=Daniel Afonso |last2=Franco |first2=Laércio Joel |last3=Tomita |first3=Nilce Emy |title=Influência da aculturação na autopercepção dos idosos quanto à saúde bucal em uma população de origem japonesa |trans-title=Influence of acculturation on self-perceived oral health among Japanese-Brazilian elderly |language=pt |journal=Cadernos de Saúde Pública |date=November 2006 |volume=22 |issue=11 |pages=2441–2448 |doi=10.1590/S0102-311X2006001100018 |pmid=17091181 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
[[File:22_-_Sabrina_Sato-002_(17133105395).jpg|thumb|right|Brazilian television presenter [[Sabrina Sato]] is the granddaughter of Japanese on her mother's side, and of a Swiss and a Lebanese on her father's side.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Cardoso |first=Rodrigo |date=2014-01-31 |title=Sabrina Sato: "A análise me ajudou a decidir pela Record" |trans-title=Sabrina Sato: "The analysis helped me decide on Record" |url=https://istoe.com.br/345940_SABRINA+SATO+A+ANALISE+ME+AJUDOU+A+DECIDIR+PELA+RECORD+/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170619073959/https://istoe.com.br/345940_SABRINA+SATO+A+ANALISE+ME+AJUDOU+A+DECIDIR+PELA+RECORD+/ |archive-date=2017-06-19 |access-date=2023-06-24 |work=[[IstoÉ]] |language=pt-BR}}</ref> By 1987, 42% of third-generation Japanese Brazilians were of mixed heritage.]]
Most of the fourth-generation Japanese Brazilians no longer have significant ties with the Japanese community. According to a 2008 study, only 12% of fourth-generation people lived with their grandparents and only 0.4% of them lived with their great-grandparents. In the past generations, many Japanese Brazilians lived in the countryside and it was common for at least three generations to live together, thus preserving Japanese culture. In a rural environment, the proximity between community members and the strength of family relationships meant that Japanese traditions remained more alive. However, over 90% of fourth-generation Japanese Brazilians live in urban areas, where relationships are generally more impersonal, and they tend to assimilate Brazilian customs more than Japanese ones.<ref name="osyonseis"/>

Some Japanese habits, however, resist – and culinary habits are among the most stubborn, as shown by a 2002 survey, which highlighted the influence of culture of origin on Nikkei students at the Federal University of Paraná (a third of them, yonsei). According to this study, although Brazilian dishes predominate on the menu of members of the fourth generation, they maintain the habit of frequently eating gohan (Japanese white rice, without seasoning) and consuming soy sauce, greens and vegetables cooked in the traditional way. The research also showed that the majority of the fourth generation do not speak Japanese, but understand basic domestic words and expressions. Some practices linked to the cult of ancestors, one of the pillars of Buddhism and Shintoism, also survive: many of them keep the [[butsudan]] at home, an [[altar]] on which photos of the family's dead are placed, to whom relatives offer water, food and prayers.<ref name="osyonseis">{{cite web|access-date=24 May 2014 |archive-date=28 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140428210316/http://veja.abril.com.br/121207/p_090.shtml |publisher=veja.abril.com.br |title=Revista VEJA - Edição 2038 - 12 de dezembro de 2007 |url=http://veja.abril.com.br/121207/p_090.shtml}}<!-- auto-translated from Portuguese by Module:CS1 translator --></ref>

In 2005, a boy named Enzo Yuta Nakamura Onishi was the first sixth-generation person of Japanese descent to be born in Brazil.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/fsp/cotidian/ff0902200826.htm |title=Menino inicia 6ª geração de descendentes japoneses}}</ref> By 2022, less than 5% of Brazil's Japanese-origin population was Japanese-born (down from 12.51% in 1987), given that Japanese immigration to Brazil practically ceased in the 1970s.<ref name="preimigracao"/><ref name="periodicos.uff.br">[https://periodicos.uff.br/antropolitica/article/view/47586/31817 The Descendants of Japanese Immigrants in Brazil and "Eye Westernization Surgery"]</ref>

=== Religion ===
Immigrants, as well as most Japanese, were mostly followers of [[Shinto]] and [[Buddhism]]. In the Japanese communities in Brazil, there was a strong effort by Brazilian priests to [[Proselytism|proselytize]] the Japanese. More recently, intermarriage with [[Catholics]] also contributed to the growth of Catholicism in the community.<ref name=panib>{{cite web
|url=http://www.panib.org.br/
|title=PANIB – Pastoral Nipo Brasileira
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080629122026/http://www.panib.org.br/
|archive-date=2008-06-29
}}</ref> Currently, 60% of Japanese-Brazilians are Roman Catholics and 25% are adherents of a Japanese religion.<ref name=panib/>

=== Martial arts ===
The Japanese immigration to Brazil, in particular the immigration of the [[judoka]] [[Mitsuyo Maeda]], resulted in the development of one of the most effective modern martial arts, [[Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu]]. Japanese immigrants also brought [[sumo]] wrestling to Brazil, with the first tournament in the country organized in 1914.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/27/world/americas/brazils-japanese-preserve-sumo-and-share-it-with-others.html?_r=0|title=Brazil's Japanese Preserve Sumo and Share It With Others|last=Benson|first=Todd|date=January 27, 2005|work=The New York Times|access-date=November 21, 2016}}</ref> The country has a growing number of [[Sumo#Amateur sumo|amateur sumo]] wrestlers, with the only purpose-built sumo arena outside Japan located in [[São Paulo]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/brazil-female-sumo-wrestlers-1.3703178|title='Sumo feminino': How Brazil's female sumo wrestlers are knocking down gender barriers|last=Kwok|first=Matt|date=August 2, 2016|work=CBC News|access-date=November 21, 2016}}</ref> Brazil also produced (as of January 2022) sixteen professional wrestlers, with the most successful being [[Kaisei Ichirō]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Find Rikishi – Brazil Shusshin |url=http://sumodb.sumogames.de/Rikishi.aspx?shikona=&heya=-1&shusshin=49&b=-1&high=-1&hd=-1&entry=-1&intai=-1&sort=1 |website=Sumo Reference |access-date=13 January 2022}}</ref>

=== Language ===
[[File:CuritibaPracaDoJapaoCerejeira.JPG|thumb|right|[[Cherry blossom]] in Japan's Square in [[Curitiba]], Paraná.]]
The knowledge of the Japanese and [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] languages reflects the integration of the Japanese in Brazil over several generations. Although first generation immigrants will often not learn Portuguese well or not use it frequently, most second generation are [[bilingual]]. The third generation, however, are most likely [[monolingual]] in Portuguese or speak, along with Portuguese, non-fluent Japanese.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Birello |first1=Verônica Braga |last2=Lessa |first2=Patrícia |title=A Imigração Japonesa do Passado e a Imigração Inversa, Questão Gênero e Gerações Na Economia |trans-title=The Japanese Immigration From the Past and the Inverse Immigration, Gender and Generations Issues in the Economy of Brazil and Japan |language=pt |journal=Divers@! |date=31 December 2008 |volume=1 |issue=1 |doi=10.5380/diver.v1i1.34039 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

A study conducted in the Japanese Brazilian communities of [[Nova Aliança|Aliança]] and [[Suzano|Fukuhaku]], both in the state of São Paulo, released information on the language spoken by these people. Before coming to Brazil, 12.2% of the first generation interviewed from Aliança reported they had studied the Portuguese language in Japan, and 26.8% said to have used it once on arrival in Brazil. Many of the Japanese immigrants took classes of Portuguese and learned about the [[history of Brazil]] before migrating to the country. In Fukuhaku only 7.7% of the people reported they had studied Portuguese in Japan, but 38.5% said they had contact with Portuguese once on arrival in Brazil. All the immigrants reported they spoke exclusively Japanese at home in the first years in Brazil. However, in 2003, the figure dropped to 58.5% in Aliança and 33.3% in Fukuhaku. This probably reflects that through contact with the younger generations of the family, who speak mostly Portuguese, many immigrants also began to speak Portuguese at home.

The first Brazilian-born generation, the Nisei, alternate between the use of Portuguese and Japanese. Regarding the use of Japanese at home, 64.3% of Nisei informants from [[Aliança]] and 41.5% from [[Fukuhaku]] used Japanese when they were children. In comparison, only 14.3% of the third generation, Sansei, reported to speak Japanese at home when they were children. It reflects that the second generation was mostly educated by their Japanese parents using the Japanese language. On the other hand, the third generation did not have much contact with their grandparent's language, and most of them speak the national language of Brazil, Portuguese, as their [[mother tongue]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ota |first1=Junko |last2=Gardenal |first2=Luiz Maximiliano Santin |title=As línguas japonesa e portuguesa em duas comunidades nipo-brasileiras: a relação entre os domínios e as gerações |trans-title=The Japanese and Portuguese languages in two Japanese-Brazilian communities: the relationship between domains and generations |language=pt |journal=Lingüísticos |volume=35 |year=2006 |pages=1062–1071 }}</ref>

Japanese Brazilians usually speak Japanese more often when they live along with a first generation relative. Those who do not live with a Japanese-born relative usually speak Portuguese more often.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Doi |first1=Elza Taeko |title=O ensino de japonês no Brasil como língua de imigração |trans-title=Japanese teaching in Brazil as an immigration language |language=pt |journal=Estudos Lingüísticos |volume=35 |year=2006 |pages=66–75 }}</ref> Japanese spoken in Brazil is usually a mix of different [[Japanese dialects]], since the Japanese community in Brazil came from all regions of Japan, influenced by the Portuguese language. The high numbers of Brazilian immigrants returning from Japan will probably produce more Japanese speakers in Brazil.<ref name="ELB"/>

===Demographics===
In 1934, there were 131,639 Japanese immigrants living in Brazil, of whom 10,828 lived in urban areas and 120,811 in the countryside.<ref name="algodao">{{cite web|access-date=24 January 2015 |archive-date=24 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150124141125/http://www.revistas.usp.br/rieb/article/viewFile/69775/72433 |publisher=usp.br |title=São Paulo, o algodão e o japonês na década de trinta |url=http://www.revistas.usp.br/rieb/article/viewFile/69775/72433}}<!-- auto-translated from Portuguese by Module:CS1 translator --></ref>  In Brazil's 1940 census, 144,523 Japanese immigrants were counted, more than 91% of whom were in the state of São Paulo. In the 1950 census, 129,192 Japanese were recorded, with 84.3% in São Paulo and 11.9% in Paraná. The data is shown in the table below:

{| class="wikitable" style="float: center; margin: 1em 0em 1em 2em"
! colspan="5" |Distribution of immigrants from Japan, <br /> natives and Brazilians, by Federative Units - 1940/1950<ref name="ibge500"/>
|-
! rowspan="2"|Federative Unit || colspan="2"|Absolute Data || colspan="2"|Proportions (%)
|-
!1940 || 1950 || 1940 || 1950
|- align="right"
| align="left"|Pernambuco || 636 || 836 || 0.351 || 0.456
|- align="right"
| align="left"|Pará || 467 || 421 || 0.323 || 0.326
|- align="right"
| align="left"|Minas Gerais || 893 || 917 || 0.618 || 0.710
|- align="right"
| align="left"|Rio de Janeiro || 380 || 1,086 || 0.263 || 0.841
|- align="right"
| align="left"|[[Federal District of Brazil (1891–1960)|Federal District]] || 538 || 392 || 0.372 || 0.303
|- align="right"
| align="left"|São Paulo || 132,216 || 108,912 || 91.484 || 84.302
|- align="right"
| align="left"|Paraná || 8,064 || 15,393 || 5.580 || 11.915
|- align="right"
| align="left"|Mato Grosso do Sul || 1,128 || 1,172 || 0.780 || 0.907
|- align="right"
| align="left"|Brazil || 144,523 || 129,192 || 100 || 100
|}

The maximum number of Japanese residents in Brazil was recorded in the 1970 census: 154,000. The states with at least one thousand Japanese residents were: São Paulo (116,566), Paraná (20,644), Mato Grosso (3,466), Pará (3,349), Rio Grande do Sul (1,619), Rio de Janeiro (1,451), Minas Gerais (1,406), and [[Guanabara (state)|Guanabara]] (1,380).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lesser |first=Jeff |title=Negotiating national identity: immigrants, minorities, and the struggle for ethnicity in Brazil |date=1999 |publisher=Duke University Press |isbn=978-0-8223-2260-3 |location=Durham, N.C}}</ref><ref name=papel>[https://www.scielo.br/j/rsp/a/gSZkx3b5kCrf8TkWjGRxmfx/# O papel da migração internacional na evolução da população brasileira (1872 a 1972)]</ref>  Since Japanese immigration to Brazil practically ceased in the 1970s, by 2022 less than 5% of Brazil's Japanese-origin population was Japanese-born, with over 95% being Brazilians whose Japanese ancestors immigrated to Brazil over the last five generations.<ref name="preimigracao"/><ref name="periodicos.uff.br"/>
[[File:File_by_Peteris_P1170252_(3666895189).jpg|thumb|[[Liberdade (district of São Paulo)|Liberdade]] neighborhood, in São Paulo city. As of 1988, there were 290,000 people of Japanese origin living in the city, the largest number in Brazil. São Paulo's Japanese influence is more visible in the Liberdade region.]]

According to a publication by the Japanese-Brazilian Studies Center in 1988, there were 1,167,000 Japanese descendants in Brazil that year, of whom 290,000, or 24.8%, lived in the [[city of São Paulo]], 156,000 (13.3%) in the [[Greater São Paulo]] area, and 382,000 (32.7%) in the rest of the state of São Paulo. Thus, 70.8% of the Japanese Brazilian population, or 828,000 people, lived in São Paulo state. In southern Brazil, mainly in Paraná, there were 142,000 Japanese descendants, or 12.2% of the total.<ref name="ibge500"/>

In 2008, IBGE published a book about the [[Japanese diaspora]] and it estimated that, as of 2000 there were 70,932 Japanese-born immigrants living in Brazil (compared to the 158,087 found in 1970). Of the Japanese, 51,445 lived in São Paulo. Most of the immigrants were over 60 years old, because the Japanese immigration to Brazil has ended since the mid-20th century.<ref>[http://www.ibge.gov.br/home/presidencia/noticias/noticia_visualiza.php?id_noticia=1167&id_pagina=1 Japoneses IBGE] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090219145951/http://ibge.gov.br/home/presidencia/noticias/noticia_visualiza.php?id_noticia=1167&id_pagina=1 |date=February 19, 2009 }}</ref> By 2023, the number of Japanese citizens living in Brazil had dropped further to 46,900.<ref name="statista"/>

Throughout Brazil, with more than 1.4 million people of Japanese descent, the highest percentages were found in the states of São Paulo (1.9% of Japanese descendants), Paraná (1.5%), and [[Mato Grosso do Sul]] (1.4%). The lowest percentages were found in [[Roraima]] and [[Alagoas]] (with only 8 Japanese residents). The percentage of Brazilians with Japanese roots increased especially among children and adolescents. In 1991, 0.6% of Brazilians aged 0 to 14 were of Japanese ancestry; in 2000, they were 4%, as a result of the return of [[dekassegui]] (Brazilians of Japanese descent working in Japan) to Brazil.<ref name="IBGE traça perfil dos imigrantes">{{cite web|url=http://madeinjapan.uol.com.br/2008/06/21/ibge-traca-perfil-dos-imigrantes/ |title=IBGE traça perfil dos imigrantes |trans-title=IBGE does a profile of immigrants |language=pt |publisher=madeinjapan.uol.com.br |date=June 21, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080624140253/http://madeinjapan.uol.com.br/2008/06/21/ibge-traca-perfil-dos-imigrantes |archive-date=June 24, 2008 }}</ref>

In the [[2022 Brazilian census]], 850,130 people identified as "yellow," a designation by the [[IBGE]] for people of Asian descent: Japanese, Chinese, Korean.<ref>[https://exame.com/brasil/censo-2022-populacao-que-se-declara-amarela-diminui-60-em-uma-decada/ Censo 2022: população que se declara amarela diminui 60% em uma década]</ref>  All municipalities with the highest proportions of yellow individuals were in the states of São Paulo (SP) and Paraná (PR), namely: [[Assaí]] (PR) – 11.05% of the population; [[Bastos, Brazil|Bastos]] (SP) – 10.3%; [[Uraí]] (PR) – 5.9%; [[São Sebastião da Amoreira]] (PR) – 4.8%; [[Pereira Barreto]] (SP) – 4.2%; [[Nova América da Colina]] (PR) – 3.8%; and [[Mogi das Cruzes]] (SP) – 3.7%. In numerical terms, the municipalities with the most yellow residents were [[São Paulo (city)|São Paulo]] (238,603 people), [[Curitiba]] (23,635), [[Londrina]] (18,026), and [[Maringá]] (13,465).<ref name="IBGE_Cidade@">{{cite web|access-date=22 December 2023 |publisher=G1 |title=Censo 2022: veja quais são os municípios mais amarelos, brancos, indígenas, pardos e pretos do Brasil |date=December 22, 2023 |url=https://g1.globo.com/economia/censo/noticia/2023/12/22/censo-2022-veja-quais-sao-os-municipios-mais-amarelos-brancos-indigenas-pardos-e-pretos-do-brasil.ghtml}}<!-- auto-translated from Portuguese by Module:CS1 translator --></ref>

In 2022, Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that there were 2 million people of Japanese origin in Brazil, but only 47,472 had Japanese nationality.<ref name="mofa"/>

The Japanese-origin population in Brazil is extremely urban. Whereas at the beginning of immigration almost all Japanese were in rural areas, by 1958, 55.1% were already in urban centers. In 1988, 90% resided in urban areas. This early [[rural exodus]] directly influenced the occupational profile and high education level of this group. While in 1958, 56% of the Nikkei population worked in [[agriculture]], by 1988, that number had dropped to only 12%. Meanwhile, the percentages of technical (16%) and administrative (28%) workers in the secondary and tertiary sectors increased.<ref name="gerflint.fr">[http://gerflint.fr/Base/Bresil7/ota.pdf A língua falada nas comunidades rurais nipo-brasileiras do estado de São Paulo – considerações sobre koronia-go]</ref>

== Image gallery ==
{{Cleanup gallery|date=October 2011}}
<gallery>
File:Japanese Immigrants logging.jpg|Japanese in a Brazilian forest.
File:Japanese Immigrants in their own Potato Farm.jpg|Japanese immigrants with their planting of potatoes.
File:Japanese immigrant family in Brazil 01.jpg|Japanese family in Brazil.
File:Japanese immigrant family in Brazil c1930, Museu Histórico da Imigração Japonesa.png|Japanese family on a banana plantation in Brazil (c1930)
File:Japanese Immigrants in a train.jpg|A train taking Japanese immigrants from [[Santos (São Paulo)|Santos]] to [[São Paulo]] (1935).
File:Japanese Workers in Coffee Gathering.jpg|Japanese on coffee plantation (1930).
File:Desembarque_Kasato_Maru.jpg|The first immigrants on the {{transliteration|ja|Kasato Maru}} ship (1908).
File:Japoneses_no_brasil.jpg|Japanese immigrants in Brazil.
File:Masaji Ishida and Kiyono Watanabe.jpg|Marriage of Japanese immigrants at São Paulo state, Brazil.
File:Norimiti ishida e Francisca Ribeiro da Silva.jpg|Brazilian couple. Inter-racial couple in Brazil; unusual during the '60s in rural areas.
File:Oomoto in Brazil.jpg|Japanese in São Paulo-Brazil, Liberdade neighborhood, in a Shinto chapel.
File:Massaji Ishida.jpg|Brazilian issei, (first generation of Japanese immigrant), reading newspaper in Portuguese, while the shown title is about [[Kardecist spiritism|Kardec spiritism]] (a French–Brazilian sect) which is quite similar to Shinto and Buddhist principles.
File:Zé Ocada.jpg|Group of Japanese descendants with Brazilians working resting after tree cutting, to clear areas for coffee plantations in Brazil, '50s and '60s.
File:Norimiti.jpg|Brazilians, second generation after Japanese immigration (sanseis) in rural areas, coffee plantations, São Paulo state, Brazil.
</gallery>

=== Japanese from Maringá ===
A 2008 census revealed details about the population of Japanese origin from the city of [[Maringá]] in Paraná, making it possible to have a profile of the Japanese-Brazilian population.<ref>[ Japoneses e descendentes em Maringá passam de 14 mil {{cite web |url=http://www.jusbrasil.com.br/politica/3103034/japoneses-e-descendentes-em-maringa-passam-de-14-mil |title=Japoneses e descendentes em Maringá passam de 14 mil :: Notícias JusBrasil |access-date=2009-08-22 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721022317/http://www.jusbrasil.com.br/politica/3103034/japoneses-e-descendentes-em-maringa-passam-de-14-mil |archive-date=July 21, 2011 |df=mdy-all }}]</ref>
* '''Numbers'''
There were 4,034 families of Japanese descent from Maringá, comprising 14,324 people.
* '''Dekasegi'''
1,846 or 15% of Japanese Brazilians from Maringá were working in Japan.
* '''Generations'''
Of the 12,478 people of Japanese origin living in Maringá, 6.61% were Issei (born in Japan); 35.45% were Nisei (children of Japanese); 37.72% were Sansei (grandchildren) and 13.79% were Yonsei (great-grandchildren).
* '''Average age'''
The average age was of 40.12 years old
* '''Gender'''
52% of Japanese Brazilians from the city were women.
* '''Average number of children per woman'''
2.4 children (similar to the average Southern Brazilian woman)
* '''Religion'''

Most were Roman Catholics (32% of Sansei, 27% of Nisei, 10% of Yonsei and 2% of Issei). [[Protestantism|Protestant]] religions were the second most followed (6% of Nisei, 6% of Sansei, 2% of Yonsei and 1% of Issei) and next was [[Buddhism]] (5% of Nisei, 3% of Issei, 2% of Sansei and 1% of Yonsei).
* '''Family'''
49.66% were married.
* '''Knowledge of the Japanese language'''
47% can understand, read and write in Japanese. 31% of the second generation and 16% of the third generation can speak Japanese.
* '''Schooling'''
31% elementary education; 30% secondary school and 30% higher education.
* '''Mixed-race'''
A total of 20% were mixed-race (have some non-Japanese origin).

== Reversal in the migration flow (Dekasegi) ==
{{See also|Brazilians in Japan}}
[[File:Primeira turma de brasileiros.jpg|200px|thumb|A group of Brazilians in Japan. Most Brazilian immigrants in Japan are the descendants of Japanese who immigrated to Brazil throughout the 20th century.]]
Starting in the late 1980s, there was a reversal in the migration flow between Brazil and Japan. Brazil entered an economic crisis, known as "[[Década Perdida]]", with [[inflation]] reaching 1,037.53% in 1988 and 1,782.85% in 1989. At the same time, Japan's economy was experiencing impressive growth, making it one of the wealthiest countries in the world. The 1980s were called "baburu keizai" (the Japanese economic bubble). The crisis in Brazil and prosperity in Japan led approximately 85,000 Japanese and their descendants living in Brazil to move to Japan between 1980 and 1990. Brazilians who went to work in Japan became known as "[[Dekasegi]]s."<ref name="ossanseis"/><ref name="redalyc"/>

In the 1990s, the migration flow of Brazilians to Japan grew even more, thanks to the 1990 reform of Japan's Immigration Control Law. With this law, Japan allowed Japanese descendants born abroad, up to the third generation (children and grandchildren of Japanese), to work in Japan with long-term residence visas. This was a way for the Japanese government to address the labor shortage in Japan without disrupting the country's ethnic homogeneity, with a clear preference given to Latin Americans, mostly Brazilians, of Japanese descent. At that time, Japan was receiving a large number of illegal immigrants from [[Pakistan]], [[Bangladesh]], [[China]], and [[Thailand]]. The legislation of 1990 was intended to select immigrants who entered Japan, giving a clear preference for Japanese descendants from South America, especially Brazil. Consequently, between 1990 and 2000, the number of Brazilians in Japan quintupled, reaching 250,000 people. This law also allowed Japanese descendants to bring their spouses without Japanese ancestry.<ref>Yamanaka, K. Theory versus Reality in Japanese Immigration Policy. In: Cornelius, P. M.; Hollifield, J. (Ed.) Controlling Immigration: a global Perspective. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1994. p.411-4.</ref><ref>KOMAI, H. Are Foreign Trainees in Japan Disguised Cheap Labores? Migration World, v.20, p.13-17, 1992.</ref><ref>Morita, K.; Sassen, S. The New Illegal Immigration in Japan, 1980-1992. International Migration Review, v. 28, n. 1, p. 153-163, Spring 1994.</ref>

Because of their Japanese ancestry, the Japanese government presumed that Brazilians would be more easily integrated into Japanese society. In fact, this easy integration did not happen, since Japanese Brazilians and their children born in Japan are treated as foreigners by native Japanese.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sugimoto |first1=Luiz |title=Parece, mas não é |trans-title=It seems, but it is not |language=pt |journal=Jornal da Unicamp |date=June 2002 |url=https://www.unicamp.br/unicamp_hoje/ju/junho2002/unihoje_ju178pag11.html |access-date=November 15, 2020 |archive-date=June 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210614120605/https://www.unicamp.br/unicamp_hoje/ju/junho2002/unihoje_ju178pag11.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.comciencia.br/reportagens/migracoes/migr19.htm|title=Brasil: migrações internacionais e identidade |author1=Carlos Vogt |author2=Mônica Macedo |author3=Anna Paula Sotero |author4=Bruno Buys |author5=Rafael Evangelista |author6=Marianne Frederick |author7=Marta Kanashiro |author8=Marcelo Knobel |author9=Roberto Belisário |author10=Ulisses Capozoli |author11=Sérgio Varella Conceicao |author12=Marilissa Mota |author13=Rodrigo Cunha |author14=Germana Barata |author15=Beatriz Singer |author16=Flávia Tonin |author17=Daisy Silva de Lara |website=www.comciencia.br|access-date=May 4, 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160819165640/http://www.comciencia.br/reportagens/migracoes/migr19.htm|archive-date=August 19, 2016|df=mdy-all}}</ref> This apparent contradiction between being and seeming causes conflicts of adaptation for the migrants and their acceptance by the natives.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Beltrão |first1=Kaizô Iwakami |last2=Sugahara |first2=Sonoe |title=Permanentemente temporário: dekasseguis brasileiros no Japão |journal=Revista Brasileira de Estudos de População |date=June 2006 |volume=23 |issue=1 |doi=10.1590/S0102-30982006000100005 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

Most Brazilians who go to work in Japan are not poor, but rather middle-class individuals, who were particularly affected by Brazil's economic crises. This population, attempting to maintain or improve their standard of living, began seeking better economic conditions in Japan, the country of their ancestors.<ref name="scielo2"/> These people were lured to Japan to work in areas that the Japanese refused (the so-called "three K": {{transliteration|ja|Kitsui}}, {{transliteration|ja|Kitanai}} and {{transliteration|ja|Kiken}} – hard, dirty and dangerous).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200805030045.html|title=asahi.com : EDITORIAL: Brazilian immigration – ENGLISH|date=May 6, 2008|access-date=May 4, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080506061352/http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200805030045.html|archive-date=May 6, 2008|df=mdy-all}}</ref>
<ref name="scielo2">[https://www.scielo.br/j/ea/a/SR7JB55btD6H5x8x8t3QqND/ A imigração para o Japão]</ref> Many Brazilians go to Japan intending to work temporarily and later return with financial savings. However, these intentions are not always fulfilled, and many Brazilians opted to stay permanently in Japan.<ref name="scielo2"/>

By 2007, there were 313,770 Brazilians legally residing in Japan.<ref>[https://www.statista.com/statistics/876470/japan-brazilians-foreign-resident-numbers/ Number of foreign residents from Brazil living in Japan from 1984 to 2022]</ref> Cities and prefectures with the most Brazilians in Japan were [[Hamamatsu]], [[Aichi]], [[Shizuoka, Shizuoka|Shizuoka]], [[Kanagawa]], [[Saitama, Saitama|Saitama]], and [[Gunma]]. Brazilians in Japan are usually educated. However, they are employed in the Japanese automotive and electronics factories.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.estadao.com.br/ext/especiais/2007/07/imigracaojaponesa/4.htm|title=Estadao.com.br :: Especiais :: Imigração Japonesa|website=www.estadao.com.br|access-date=May 4, 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924050002/http://www.estadao.com.br/ext/especiais/2007/07/imigracaojaponesa/4.htm|archive-date=September 24, 2015|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Many Brazilians are subjected to hours of exhausting work, earning a small salary by Japanese standards.<ref name=autogenerated2>{{cite web|url=http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/folha/bbc/ult272u42891.shtml|title=Folha Online – BBC – Lula ouve de brasileiros queixas sobre vida no Japão – 28/05/2005|website=www1.folha.uol.com.br|access-date=May 4, 2018}}</ref> Nevertheless, in 2002, Brazilians living in Japan sent US$2.5&nbsp;billion to Brazil.<ref>[http://www.portaldekassegui.com/tabelanuncio.htm Untitled Document<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120912064239/http://www.portaldekassegui.com/tabelanuncio.htm |date=September 12, 2012 }}</ref>

Due to the severe financial crisis that hit Japan starting in 2008, many Brazilians returned to Brazil. By 2014, the Brazilian community in the country had decreased to 177,953 people. On the other hand, in 2023, the Brazilian community in Japan grew again, totaling 211,840 people.<ref>{{cite web |access-date=2020-10-19 |title=Eles não pensam em retornar ao Japão .::. Dekassegui NippoBrasil |url=https://www.nippo.com.br/dekassegui/564b.shtml |website=www.nippo.com.br |archive-date=October 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019111216/https://www.nippo.com.br/dekassegui/564b.shtml |url-status=dead }}<!-- auto-translated from Portuguese by Module:CS1 translator --></ref><ref>{{cite web|access-date=2020-10-19 |publisher=Consulado-Geral do Brasil em Tóquio |title=Estatísticas sobre a comunidade brasileira no Japão - 2018 |url=http://cgtoquio.itamaraty.gov.br/pt-br/estatisticas_e_bibliografia.xml |website=cgtoquio.itamaraty.gov.br}}<!-- auto-translated from Portuguese by Module:CS1 translator --></ref><ref name="moj">[https://www.moj.go.jp/isa/publications/press/13_00040.html 令和5年末現在における在留外国人数について]</ref>

In 2018, there was a new amendment to the Japanese immigration law, allowing descendants of Japanese born abroad up to the fourth generation (great-grandchildren) to work in Japan. However, for great-grandchildren, the law established stricter requirements, including an age limit and proof of Japanese language proficiency. As a result, few visas were issued: the Japanese government expected to grant 4,000 visas annually, but only 43 applications were approved in the first year of the new legislation, 17 of them to Brazilians.<ref>[https://g1.globo.com/mundo/noticia/2019/11/27/japao-aprova-apenas-1-dos-vistos-previstos-para-bisnetos-de-japoneses.ghtml Japão aprova apenas 1% dos vistos previstos para bisnetos de japoneses]</ref>

In 2022, Brazilians formed the fourth-largest community of foreign workers residing in Japan, after the Chinese, Koreans and Filipinos.<ref name="mainichi.jp">[https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20231025/p2a/00m/0na/011000c Origins of Japan's foreign residents shift over 3 decades, further change expected: expert]</ref> In 2023, the Brazilian community in Japan was the fifth-largest Brazilian community outside Brazil, surpassed only by the communities in the United States, Portugal, Paraguay, and the United Kingdom.<ref name="mainichi.jp"/>

=== Brazilian identity in Japan ===
In Japan, many Japanese Brazilians suffer prejudice because they do not know how to speak Japanese fluently. Despite their Japanese appearance, Brazilians in Japan are culturally Brazilians, usually only speaking Portuguese, and are treated as foreigners.<ref name="onishi">Onishi, Norimitsu. [https://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/world/asia/02japan.html?scp=1&sq=enclave+of+brazilians&st=nyt  "An Enclave of Brazilians Is Testing Insular Japan,"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202063015/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/world/asia/02japan.html?scp=1&sq=enclave+of+brazilians&st=nyt |date=February 2, 2017 }} ''New York Times.'' November 1, 2008.</ref>

The children of {{transliteration|ja|Dekasegi}} Brazilians encounter difficulties in Japanese schools.<ref>[[Hiroko Tabuchi|Tabuchi, Hiroko]]. "Despite Shortage, Japan Keeps a High Wall for Foreign Labor," ''New York Times.'' January 3, 2011; excerpt, "...the government did little to integrate its migrant populations. Children of foreigners are exempt from compulsory education, for example, while local schools that accept non-Japanese-speaking children receive almost no help in caring for their needs."</ref> Thousands of Brazilian children are out of school in Japan.<ref name="onishi"/>

The Brazilian influence in Japan is growing. [[Tokyo]] has the largest carnival parade outside of Brazil itself. Portuguese is the third most spoken foreign language in Japan, after Chinese and Korean, and is among the most studied languages by students in the country. In [[Oizumi]], it is estimated that 15% of the population speak Portuguese as their native language. Japan has two newspapers in the Portuguese language, besides radio and television stations spoken in that language. The Brazilian fashion and [[Bossa Nova]] music are also popular among Japanese.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.correiodoestado.com.br/noticias/japao-imigrantes-brasileiros-popularizam-lingua-portuguesa/43355/|title=Japão: imigrantes brasileiros popularizam língua portuguesa|website=correiodoestado.com.br|access-date=May 4, 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011053337/http://www.correiodoestado.com.br/noticias/japao-imigrantes-brasileiros-popularizam-lingua-portuguesa/43355/|archive-date=October 11, 2017|df=mdy-all}}</ref> In 2005, there were an estimated 302,000 Brazilian nationals in Japan, of whom 25,000 also hold Japanese citizenship.

== 100th anniversary ==
In 2008, many celebrations took place in Japan and Brazil to remember the centenary of Japanese immigration.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.centenario2008.org.br/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogsection&id=0&Itemid=83|title=Site Oficial da ACCIJB – Centenário da Imigração Japonesa no Brasil – Comemorações|website=www.centenario2008.org.br|access-date=May 4, 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170925010826/http://www.centenario2008.org.br/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogsection&id=0&Itemid=83|archive-date=September 25, 2017|df=mdy-all}}</ref> [[Naruhito|Then-Prince Naruhito of Japan]] arrived in Brazil on 17 June to participate in the celebrations. He visited [[Brasília]], São Paulo, [[Paraná (state)|Paraná]], [[Minas Gerais]] and [[Rio de Janeiro (state)|Rio de Janeiro]]. Throughout his stay in Brazil, the Prince was received by a crowd of Japanese immigrants and their descendants. He broke the protocol of the Japanese Monarchy, which prohibits physical contact with people, and greeted the Brazilian people. In the São Paulo [[sambódromo]], the Prince spoke to 50,000 people and in Paraná to 75,000. He also visited the [[University of São Paulo]], where people of Japanese descent make up 14% of the 80,000 students.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.reitoria.usp.br/reitoria/files/discurso/discurso_principe_japao_20_06_08.pdf |title=Discurso da Profa. Dra. Suely Vilela na visita oficial de sua alteza príncipe Naruhito, do Japão – Faculdade de Direito |date=June 20, 2008 |access-date=2008-10-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081030195842/http://www.reitoria.usp.br/reitoria/files/discurso/discurso_principe_japao_20_06_08.pdf |archive-date=October 30, 2008 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> [[Naruhito, Crown Prince of Japan|Naruhito]], then the crown prince of Japan, gave a speech that he concluded with a thank you in Portuguese.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.centenario2008.org.br/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=351&Itemid=161|title=Site Oficial da ACCIJB – Centenário da Imigração Japonesa no Brasil – Festividade no Sambódromo emociona público|first=Alyne|last=Kumasaka|website=www.centenario2008.org.br|access-date=May 4, 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160327130240/http://www.centenario2008.org.br/index.php?id=351&itemid=161&option=com_content&task=view|archive-date=March 27, 2016|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>[http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/folha/cotidiano/ult95u415992.shtml Após visita, príncipe Naruhito deixa o Brasil]</ref>

== Media ==
In [[São Paulo]] there are two Japanese publications, the ''[[São Paulo Shimbun]]'' and the ''[[Nikkey Shimbun]]''. The former was established in 1946 and the latter was established in 1998. The latter has a Portuguese edition, the {{lang|pt|[[Jornal Nippak]]}}, and both publications have Portuguese websites. The {{lang|pt|Jornal Paulista}}, established in 1947, and the {{lang|pt|Diário Nippak}}, established in 1949, are the predecessors of the ''Nikkey Shimbun''.<ref name=MatheusTatOutro>Matheus, Tatiane. "[http://www.estadao.com.br/noticias/suplementos,o-outro-lado-da-noticia,122034,0.htm O outro lado da notícia] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140317184502/http://www.estadao.com.br/noticias/suplementos,o-outro-lado-da-noticia,122034,0.htm |date=March 17, 2014 }}." ''[[Estadão]]''. February 9, 2008. Retrieved on March 17, 2014. "O primeiro jornal japonês no País foi o Nambei,[...]"</ref>

The ''Nambei'', published in 1916, was Brazil's first Japanese newspaper. In 1933 90% of East Asian-origin Brazilians read Japanese publications, including 20 periodicals, 15 magazines, and five newspapers. The increase of the number of publications was due to Japanese immigration to Brazil. The government banned publication of Japanese newspapers during [[World War II]].<ref name=MatheusTatOutro/>

[[Tatiane Matheus]] of {{lang|pt|[[Estadão]]}} stated that in the pre-[[World War II]] period the ''[[Nippak Shimbun]]'', established in 1916; the {{transliteration|ja|[[Burajiru Jiho]]}}, established in 1917; and two newspapers established in 1932, the {{transliteration|ja|[[Nippon Shimbun]]}} and the {{transliteration|ja|[[Seishu Shino]]}}, were the most influential Japanese newspapers. All were published in São Paulo.<ref name=MatheusTatOutro/>

== Education ==
{{Location map+|Brazil|width=300|float=right|caption=Locations of Japanese international schools, day and supplementary, in Brazil recognized by [[MEXT]] (grey dots are for closed facilities)|places=
{{Location map~|Brazil|lat=-23.645|long=-46.765833|marksize=5|link=Escola Japonesa de São Paulo|label=<small>[[Escola Japonesa de São Paulo|São Paulo]]</small>|position=left}}
{{Location map~|Brazil|lat=-22.939518|long=-43.20423099|marksize=5|link=Associação Civil de Divulgação Cultural e Educacional Japonesa do Rio de Janeiro|label=<small>[[Associação Civil de Divulgação Cultural e Educacional Japonesa do Rio de Janeiro|Rio de Janeiro]]</small>|position=right}}
{{Location map~|Brazil|lat=-3.0718126|long=-59.9826178|marksize=5|link=Japanese School of Manaus|label=<small>[[Japanese School of Manaus|Manaus]]</small>|position=right}}
{{Location map~|Brazil|lat=-25.4244287|long=-49.265381899999966|mark = green pog.svg|marksize=5|label=<small>Curitiba</small>|position=right}}
{{Location map~|Brazil|lat=-19.8455139|long=-43.97960039999998|mark = Black pog.svg|marksize=5|label=<small>Belo Horizonte</small>|position=left}}<!--R. das Canárias, 2171 - Santa Branca, Belo Horizonte - MG, 31560-050, Brazil-->
{{Location map~|Brazil|lat=-1.4557794|long=-48.490196800000035|mark = Black pog.svg|marksize=5|label=<small>Belém</small>|position=bottom}}<!--Address reflects city center, not the school's address-->
{{Location map~|Brazil|lat=-20.2976178|long=-40.2957768|mark = Black pog.svg|marksize=5|label=<small>Vitória</small>|position=right}}<!--Address reflects city center, not the school's address-->
{{Location map~|Brazil|lat=-30.0346471|long=-51.2176584|mark = black pog.svg|marksize=5|label=<small>Porto Alegre</small>|position=right}}
{{Location map~|Brazil|lat=-12.9730401|long=-38.50230399|mark = black pog.svg|marksize=5|label=<small>Salvador</small>|position=right}}
}}
[[Image:Centro de Ação Social Enkyo.jpg|thumb|Beneficência Nipo-Brasileira de São Paulo Building. The Association owns hospitals and social institutions across Brazil.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.enkyo.org.br/|title=Enkyo – Beneficência Nipo-Brasileira de São Paulo|first=DIN|last=DIGITAL|website=ENKYO|access-date=May 4, 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180322131756/http://enkyo.org.br/|archive-date=March 22, 2018|df=mdy-all}}</ref>]]

[[Nihonjin gakko|Japanese international day schools]] in Brazil include the [[Escola Japonesa de São Paulo]] ("São Paulo Japanese School"),<ref>[http://world.nethall.com.br/spescolajp/index.html Home page] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140317182432/http://world.nethall.com.br/spescolajp/index.html |date=March 17, 2014 }}. [[Escola Japonesa de São Paulo]]. Retrieved on March 18, 2014. "Estrada do Campo Limpo,1501, São Paulo-SP"</ref> the [[Associação Civil de Divulgação Cultural e Educacional Japonesa do Rio de Janeiro|Escola Japonesa do Rio de Janeiro]] in the [[Cosme Velho]] neighborhood of [[Rio de Janeiro]],<ref>"[http://rio-nichigaku2.p2.weblife.me/profile.html 学校紹介] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150112152622/http://rio-nichigaku2.p2.weblife.me/profile.html |date=January 12, 2015 }}." [[Associação Civil de Divulgação Cultural e Educacional Japonesa do Rio de Janeiro]]. Retrieved on March 18, 2014. "Rua Cosme Velho,1166, Cosme Velho RIO DE JANEIRO, R.J, BRASIL, CEP22241-091"</ref> and the [[Escola Japonesa de Manaus]].<ref>[http://cliente.argo.com.br/~ass-japao/ Home page] {{webarchive|url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20150506114920/http://cliente.argo.com.br/~ass-japao/ |date=May 6, 2015 }}. [[Escola Japonesa de Manaus]]. Retrieved on March 18, 2014. "Caixa Postal 2261 Agencia Andre Araujo Manaus AM. Brasil CEP69065-970"</ref> The Escola Japonesa de [[Belo Horizonte]] (ベロ・オリゾンテ日本人学校),<ref>[http://www.geocities.co.jp/NeverLand/1312/ Home page] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150507120307/http://www.geocities.co.jp/NeverLand/1312/ |date=May 7, 2015 }}. Escola Japonesa de Belo Horizonte. Retrieved on January 15, 2015.</ref> and Japanese schools in [[Belém]] and [[Vitória, Espírito Santo|Vitória]] previously existed; all three closed, and their certifications by the [[MEXT|Japanese education ministry]] (MEXT) were revoked on March 29, 2002 (Heisei 14).<ref>"[http://www.mext.go.jp/a_menu/shotou/clarinet/002/1338806.htm 過去に指定・認定していた在外教育施設]" ([https://web.archive.org/web/20150115030344/http://www.mext.go.jp/a_menu/shotou/clarinet/002/1338806.htm Archive]). [[Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology]]. Retrieved on January 15, 2015.</ref>

There are also [[supplementary school]]s teaching the Japanese language and culture. As of 2003, in southeast and south regions of the country there hundreds of Japanese supplementary schools. The Japan Foundation in São Paulo's coordinator of projects in 2003 stated that [[São Paulo (state)|São Paulo State]] has about 500 supplementary schools. Around 33%<!--one third--> of the Japanese supplementary schools in southeastern Brazil are in the city of São Paulo. As of 2003 almost all of the directors of the São Paulo schools were women.<ref name=CarvalhoPT46>Carvalho, Daniela de. ''Migrants and Identity in Japan and Brazil: The Nikkeijin''. [[Routledge]], August 27, 2003. {{ISBN|1135787654}}, 9781135787653. [https://books.google.com/books?id=7nlxybOVae8C&pg=PT46 Page number unstated] ([[Google Books]] PT46).</ref>

MEXT recognizes one [[Hoshuko|part-time Japanese school]] (hoshu jugyo ko or hoshuko), the [[Escola Suplementar Japonesa de Curitiba]] in [[Curitiba]].<ref>"[http://www.mext.go.jp/a_menu/shotou/clarinet/002/006/001/002/003.htm 中南米の補習授業校一覧(平成25年4月15日現在)]" ([https://web.archive.org/web/20140330190050/http://www.mext.go.jp/a_menu/shotou/clarinet/002/006/001/002/003.htm Archive]). [[Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology]] (MEXT). Retrieved on May 10, 2014.</ref> MEXT-approved hoshukos in [[Porto Alegre]] and [[Salvador, Brazil|Salvador]] have closed.<ref>"[https://web.archive.org/web/20001029142110/http://www.naec.go.jp/kaigai/hsoutha.html 中南米の補習授業校一覧]." [[MEXT]]. October 29, 2000. Retrieved on January 11, 2017. "ポルト・アレグレ 休 校 中 サルバドール 休 校 中 " (states the Porto Alegre and Salvador schools closed)</ref>

=== History of education ===
The [[Taisho School]], Brazil's first Japanese language school, opened in 1915 in São Paulo.<ref>Goto, Junichi ([[Kyoto University]]). ''Latin Americans of Japanese Origin (Nikkeijin) Working in Japan: A Survey''. [[World Bank Publications]], 2007. p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=vTzUFpa10z0C&pg=PA7 7]-[https://books.google.com/books?id=vTzUFpa10z0C&pg=PA8 8].</ref> In some areas full-time Japanese schools opened because no local schools existed in the vicinity of the Japanese settlements.<ref name=LaughtonKurap10>Laughton-Kuragasaki, Ayami, [[VDM Publishing]], 2008. p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=jHwRAQAAMAAJ&q=Japanese+Supplementary+School+of+Singapore 10]. "The immigrants opened Japanese schools for their children as they were living in the rural areas where there were no local schools for their children and no support from the local authorities. About 600 Japanese schools were open by 1938. The children were full-time students,[...]"</ref> In 1932 over 10,000 Nikkei Brazilian children attended almost 200 Japanese supplementary schools in São Paulo.<ref>Goto, Junichi ([[Kyoto University]]). ''Latin Americans of Japanese Origin (Nikkeijin) Working in Japan: A Survey''. [[World Bank Publications]], 2007. p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=vTzUFpa10z0C&pg=PA8 8].</ref> By 1938 Brazil had a total of 600 Japanese schools.<ref name=LaughtonKurap10/>

In 1970, 22,000 students, taught by 400 teachers, attended 350 supplementary Japanese schools. In 1992 there were 319 supplementary Japanese language schools in Brazil with a total of 18,782 students, 10,050 of them being female and 8,732 of them being male. Of the schools, 111 were in São Paulo State and 54 were in [[Paraná (state)|Paraná State]]. At the time, the [[São Paulo Metropolitan Area]] had 95 Japanese schools, and the schools in the city limits of São Paulo had 6,916 students.<ref name=CarvalhoPT46/>

In the 1980s, São Paulo Japanese supplementary schools were larger than those in other communities. In general, during that decade a Brazilian supplementary Japanese school had one or two teachers responsible for around 60 students.<ref name=CarvalhoPT46/>

Hiromi Shibata, a PhD student at the [[University of São Paulo]], wrote the dissertation {{lang|pt|As escolas japonesas paulistas (1915–1945)}}, published in 1997. Jeff Lesser, author of ''Negotiating National Identity: Immigrants, Minorities, and the Struggle for Ethnicity in Brazil'', wrote that the author "suggests" that the Japanese schools in São Paulo "were as much an affirmation of Nipo-Brazilian identity as they were of Japanese nationalism."<ref>Lesser, Jeff. ''Negotiating National Identity: Immigrants, Minorities, and the Struggle for Ethnicity in Brazil''. [[Duke University Press]], 1999. {{ISBN|0822322927}}, 9780822322924. p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=8g_NduoKW3MC&pg=PA231 231].</ref>

== See also ==
* [[South America Hongwanji Mission]]
* [[List of Japanese Brazilians]]
* [[Asian Latin Americans]]
* [[Brazilians in Japan]]
* [[Brazil–Japan relations]]
* [[Japanese Peruvians]]
* [[Japanese Argentines]]
* [[Shindo Renmei]]
* [[Japanese immigration in Brazil]]

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|group=nt}}
{{Notelist}}

== References ==
* Masterson, Daniel M. and Sayaka Funada-Classen. (2004), ''[[The Japanese in Latin America: The Asian American Experience]].'' Urbana, Illinois: [[University of Illinois Press]]. {{ISBN|978-0-252-07144-7}}; {{OCLC|253466232}}
* {{Cite book |last=Lesser |first=Jeffrey |title=Negociando a Identidade Nacional: Imigrantes, Minorias e a Luta pela Etnicidade no Brasil |publisher=UNESP |year=2001}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20101213005249/http://history.emory.edu/home/people/faculty/lesser.html Jeffrey Lesser], A Discontented Diaspora: Japanese-Brazilians and the Meanings of Ethnic Militancy, 1960–1980 (Durham: Duke University Press, 2007); Portuguese edition: Uma Diáspora Descontente: Os Nipo-Brasileiros e os Significados da Militância Étnica, 1960–1980 (São Paulo: Editora Paz e Terra, 2008).
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20101213005249/http://history.emory.edu/home/people/faculty/lesser.html Jeffrey Lesser], Negotiating National Identity: Immigrants, Minorities and the Struggle for Ethnicity in Brazil (Durham: Duke University Press, 1999); Portuguese edition: Negociando an Identidade Nacional: Imigrantes, Minorias e a Luta pela Etnicidade no Brasil (São Paulo: Editora UNESP, 2001).

== Further reading ==
* Shibata, Hiromi. ''As escolas Japonesas paulistas (1915–1945)'' (Ph.D. dissertation, [[University of São Paulo]], 1997).
* {{cite journal |last1=Sasaki |first1=Elisa |title=A imigração para o Japão |journal=Estudos Avançados |date=August 2006 |volume=20 |issue=57 |pages=99–117 |doi=10.1590/S0103-40142006000200009 |doi-access=free }}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Japanese diaspora in Brazil}}
* [http://bunkyo.bunkyonet.org.br/ Sociedade Brasileira de Cultura Japonesa] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110307153007/http://www.bunkyo.bunkyonet.org.br/ |date=March 7, 2011 }}
* [http://www.fjsp.org.br Fundação Japão em São Paulo]
* [http://centenario2008.org.br Centenário da Imigração Japonesa no Brasil (1908–2008)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511220351/http://www.centenario2008.org.br/ |date=May 11, 2008 }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080104172855/http://www2.mre.gov.br/dai/b_japa_01_2881.htm Tratado de Amizade Brasil-Japão]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080104163950/http://www2.mre.gov.br/dai/japmigr.htm Tratado de Migração e Colonização Brasil-Japão]
* [http://www.imigracaojaponesa.com.br Site da Imigração Japonesa no Brasil]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071218164031/http://www.imigracaojaponesa.com.br/naviodaesperanca.html Leia sobre os navios de imigrantes que aportaram no Porto de Santos]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071202025657/http://www.100anosjapaobrasil.com.br/ Site comemorativo do Centenário da Imigração Japonesa que coleta histórias de vida de imigrantes e descendentes]
* [http://www.cenb.org.br/ Center for Japanese-Brazilian Studies (Centro de Estudos Nipo-Brasileiros)]

{{Ancestry and ethnicity in Brazil}}
{{Brazil topics}}
{{Japanese diaspora}}
{{Portal bar|Brazil|Japan}}

[[Category:Japanese diaspora in Brazil|*]]
[[Category:Japanese diaspora by country|Brazilian]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Brazil]]