Japanese Brazilian

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Flag of Japan Japanese Brazilian Flag of Brazil
"nikkei burajiru-jin"  · "Nipo-Brasileiro"

Japanese immigrants in Brazil
Total population

c. 1,500,000 Japanese Brazilians
0.5% of Brazil's population
Regions with significant populations
Japan:
   300,000 Japanese Brazilians.[1]
Languages
Predominantly Portuguese.
Minorities speak Japanese.
Religion
Predominantly Roman Catholic[2], Buddhism, Shintoism[3]
Related ethnic groups
Japanese American, Japanese people

A Japanese Brazilian (日系ブラジル人 in kanji and kana Japanese writing; nikkei burajiru-jin in rōmaji Japanese writing; nipo-brasileiro in Portuguese) is a Brazilian citizen of Japanese ethnic origin, or a Japanese immigrant living in Brazil.

The first Japanese immigrants arrived in Brazil a century ago. Nowadays, Brazil is home to the largest Japanese population outside of Japan, numbering an estimate of more than 1.5 million (including those of mixed-race or mixed-ethnicity),[4] more than that of the 1.2 million in the United States.[5]

The largest concentrations of Japanese in Brazil are mostly found in the state of São Paulo and in the state of Paraná.

Contents

[edit] History

A poster used in Japan to attract immigrants to Brazil. It says "Let's go to South America (Brazil) with the 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 plantations, but in 1850, slave traffic was abolished in Brazil. To solve the labour shortage, the Brazilian elite decided to attract European immigrants to work in the coffee plantations. The government and farmers offered to pay any European immigrant's passage. The plan encouraged thousands of Europeans, most of them Italians,[6] to migrate to Brazil. However, once in Brazil, the immigrants received a very low salary and worked in poor conditions, similar to the conditions faced by the black slaves: long working hours and frequent ill-treatment by their bosses. Because of this, in 1902, Italy enacted Decree Prinetti, prohibiting subsidized immigration to Brazil.[7]

The Brazilian elite thought only the European workers were able to develop the country. The promotion of European immigration was part of the "whitening project" (embranquecimento) of Brazil. Until 1892, Asians and Africans were forbidden to immigrate to Brazil. Asians began arriving only in 1908, as a result of the decrease in the Italian immigration to Brazil and a new labour shortage on the coffee plantations.[8]

[edit] The beginning

The Kasato Maru

The end of feudalism in Japan generated great poverty in the rural population, so many Japanese began to emigrate in search of better living conditions. In 1907, the Brazilian and the Japanese governments signed a treaty permitting Japanese migration to Brazil. The first Japanese immigrants (790 people - mostly farmers) came to Brazil in 1908 on the Kasato Maru from the Japanese port of Kobe, moving to Brazil in search of better living conditions. Many of them became laborers on coffee plantations.

In the first seven years, 3,434 more Japanese families (14,983 people) arrived. The beginning of World War I (1914) started a boom in Japanese migration to Brazil, such that between 1917 and 1940 over 164,000 Japanese came to Brazil, 75% of them going to São Paulo, since that was where most of the coffee plantations were.[9]

Japanese Immigration to Brazil by Period[10]
1908-1913 1914-1923 1924-1933 1934-1944 1945-1949 1950-1954 1955-1959
11,868 20,398 110,191 N/A 12 5,447 28,819

[edit] 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. The immigrants had a very low salary and worked long hours of exhausting work. Also, everything that the immigrants consumed had to be purchased from the landowner. Soon, their debts became very high.

A Japanese Brazilian woman during a festival in Curitiba.

The barrier of language, religion, dietary habits, clothing, lifestyles and differences in climate entailed a culture shock. Many immigrants tried to return to Japan but were prevented by Brazilian farmers, who required them to comply with the contract and work with the coffee.

Japanese children, born in Brazil, were educated in schools founded by the Japanese community. Most only learned to speak Japanese 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 interracial relationships. Immigrants rarely accepted to marry a non-Japanese person[11].

The third generation has completely changed the characteristics of the Japanese population of Brazil. Most left the rural area and migrated to Brazilian urban centres (mainly São Paulo city). Today, 90% of Japanese-Brazilians live in urban areas. The grandchildren of Japanese also began to integrate into Brazil. With the closing of Japanese schools in Brazil during World War II, the Japanese were forced to attend Brazilian schools and learn the Portuguese language. Earlier, the Japanese in Brazilian cities worked in small stores, selling vegetables, fish and fruit. Over time, they diversified their areas of activity.

[edit] World War II

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 German or Italian were also advised to cease production, as Germany and Italy were Japan's allies in the war. When the conflict was over, many Japanese refugees decided to settle in Brazil, thus creating a large Japanese community. Second or higher generation Brazilians are often monolingual in Portuguese. Some Japanese schools provide education in Japanese and Portuguese.

Japanese family in Bastos, SP
Japanese immigrants working in coffee plantation
Japanese immigrants working in coffee plantation
Japanese immigrants arriving to the Port of Santos
Japanese Immigrants in tea plantation in Registro, SP
Japanese immigrants with silkworm breeding
Japanese immigrants with silkworm breeding
Japanese store in São Paulo, SP

[edit] Integration and Intermarriage

Intermarriage in the Japanese-Brazilian community[11]
Generation Denomination in Proportion of each generation in all community (%) Proportion of mixed-race in each generation (%)
Japanese English
1st Isseis Immigrants 12.51% 0%
2nd Nisseis Children 30.85% 6%
3th Sanseis Grandchildren 41.33% 42%
4th Yonseis Great-grandchildren 12.95% 61%

Nowadays, most Japanese Brazilians belong to the third generation (sanseis), who make up 41.33% of the community. First generation (isseis) are 12.51%, second generation (nisseis) are 30.85% and fourth generation (yonseis) 12.95%[11].

A more recent phenomenon in Brazil is intermarriages between Japanese Brazilians and non-Japanese. Though people of Japanese descent make up only 0.5% of the country's population, they are the largest Japanese community outside of Japan, with over 1.5 million people. In areas with large numbers of Japanese, such as São Paulo and Paraná, since the 1970s, large numbers of Japanese-descendants started to marry into other ethnic groups. Although interracial relationships are not well accepted in Japan, immigrants in Brazil seem to be relatively more inclined towards integration with Brazilian culture.

Nowadays, among the 1.5 million Brazilians of Japanese descent, 40% have some non-Japanese ancestry.[12] This number reaches only 6% among children of Japanese immigrants, but 61% among great-grandchildren of Japanese immigrants.

[edit] Religion

Immigrants, as well as most Japanese, were mostly followers of Buddhism and Shinto. In the Japanese communities in Brazil, there was a strong performance of Brazilian priests to convert the Japanese. More recently, intermarriage with Catholics also contributed to the growth of Catholicism in the community. Currently, 60% of Japanese-Brazilians are Roman Catholics.[13]

[edit] Language

Japan's Square in Curitiba, Paraná.

Nowadays, Japanese Brazilians speak mostly Portuguese. First generation Japanese can speak original Japanese dialects, with many of them only speaking Japanese. Second generation is usually bilingual in Japanese and Portuguese. In a poll, 53% of second generation reported that only spoke Japanese when they were children. Nowadays, 13.3% speak only Japanese, 18.1% only Portuguese and 68.8% both languages. The third generation is mainly Portuguese-speaking, with 39.3% speaking only Portuguese, 58.9% both languages and 1.8% only Japanese.

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 more often Portuguese.[14]

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[11].

[edit] The Dekasegi

During the 1980s, the Japanese economic situation improved and achieved stability. Many Japanese Brazilians went to Japan as contract workers due to economic and political problems in Brazil, and they were termed "Dekasegi". Working visas were offered to Brazilian Dekasegis in 1990, encouraging more immigration from Brazil.

In 1990, the Japanese government authorized the legal entry of Japanese and their descendants until the third generation in Japan. Many Japanese Brazilians began to immigrate. The influx of Japanese descendants from Brazil to Japan was and continues to be large: there are over 300,000 Brazilians living in Japan today, mainly as workers in factories.[15]

They also constitute the largest number of Portuguese speakers in Asia, greater than those of formerly Portuguese East Timor, Macau and Goa combined. Nevertheless, Brazil maintains its status as home to the largest Japanese community outside of Japan.

Cities with the most Brazilians in Japan are: Hamamatsu, Aichi, Shizuoka, Kanagawa, Saitama and Gunma. Brazilians in Japan are usually educated. However, they are employed in the Japanese automotive and electronics factories, a trade considered below native Japanese.[16] Most Brazilians go to Japan attracted by the recruiting agencies (legal or illegal) in conjunction with the factories. Many Brazilians are subjected to hours of exhaustive work, earning a small salary by Japanese standards.[17] Nevertheless, in 2002, Brazilians living in Japan sent US$ 2.5 billion to Brazil. [18]

[edit] Brazilian identity in Japan

In Japan, many Japanese Brazilians suffer prejudice because they do not know how to speak Japanese correctly. Despite their Japanese appearance, Brazilians in Japan are culturally Brazilians, usually only speaking Portuguese, and are treated as foreigners. The children of Brazilians suffer prejudice in Japanese schools for not knowing the Japanese language. Thousands of Brazilian children are out of school in Japan.[17] Scholars report that many Japanese Brazilians felt (and were often treated) as Japanese in Brazil. But when they move to Japan, they realize that they are totally Brazilian. In Brazil, Japanese Brazilians rarely heard the samba and participated in a carnival parade. However, once in Japan, Japanese Brazilians often promote carnivals and samba festivities in the Japanese cities to demonstrate their pride of being Brazilians.[19]

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 Portuguese language, besides radio and television stations spoken in that language. The Brazilian fashion and Bossa Nova music are also popular among Japanese.[20]

In 2005, there were an estimated 302,000 Brazilian nationals in Japan, of whom 25,000 also hold Japanese citizenship. Each year, 4,000 Brazilian immigrants return to Brazil from Japan.[21]

[edit] 100th anniversary

In 2008, many celebrations took place in Japan and Brazil to remember the centenary of Japanese immigration. [22] Prince Naruhito of Japan arrived in Brazil on June 17 to participate in the celebrations. He visited Brasília, São Paulo, Paraná, Minas Gerais and 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 has 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.[23] Naruhito did a speech in Portuguese language.[24][25]

[edit] Notable persons

Liberdade, São Paulo.

[edit] Arts

[edit] Politics

  • Getúlio Hanashiro, politician;
  • Luiz Gushiken, politician;
  • Cássio Taniguchi, politician, former mayor of Curitiba;
  • Mauricio Yamakawa, politician, former mayor of Paranavaí.

[edit] Sports

[edit] Research

  • Alfredo Kojima, informatics programmer;
  • Célia Takada, journalist;
  • Kokei José Uehara, hydraulic engineer and professor of University of São Paulo (pt);
  • Marly Yanaze, executive marketing strategist for Fortune companies in the USA, and private companies in Brazil and Japan. Graduated with a BA in Communications and Advertising from UMESP, and MBA from the University of Texas at Austin;
  • Shigeaki Ueki, lawyer and businessman, former president of Petrobrás;
  • Tizuko Kishimoto, University of São Paulo researcher in kids education, teachers formation, games and toys.

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Asahi.com - EDITORIAL: Brazilian immigration
  2. ^ Adital - Brasileiros no Japão
  3. ^ U.S. State Department - International Religious Freedom Report 2007
  4. ^ Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Japan-Brazil Relations
  5. ^ US Census data 2005
  6. ^ Brasil 500 anos
  7. ^ HISTÓRICA - Revista Eletrônica do Arquivo do Estado
  8. ^ Imigração Japonesa no Brasil
  9. ^ História | Imigração Japonesa | Governo do Estado de São Paulo
  10. ^ IBGE - Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (visitado 4 de setembro de 2008)
  11. ^ a b c d Enciclopédia das Línguas no Brasil - Japonês (Accessed September 4, 2008)
  12. ^ Duffy, Gary (17 June 2008). "Lasting legacy of Brazil's Japanese", BBC News. 
  13. ^ PANIB - Pastoral Nipo Brasileira
  14. ^ http://www.gel.org.br/4publica-estudos-2006/sistema06/etd.pdf
  15. ^ Asahi.com. Editorial: Brazilian immigration
  16. ^ O caminho de volta ainda é atraente
  17. ^ a b Folha Online - BBC - Lula ouve de brasileiros queixas sobre vida no Japão - 28/05/2005
  18. ^ Untitled Document
  19. ^ a09v2057.pdf
  20. ^ JAPÃO: IMIGRANTES BRASILEIROS POPULARIZAM LÍNGUA PORTUGUESA[1]
  21. ^ Filhos de dekasseguis: educação de mão dupla [2]
  22. ^ Comemorações[3]
  23. ^ DISCURSO DA PROFA. DRA. SUELY VILELA NA VISITA OFICIAL DE SUA ALTEZA PRÍNCIPE NARUHITO, DO JAPÃO - FACULDADE DE DIREITO - 20/06/08 [4]
  24. ^ Festividade no Sambódromo emociona público [5]
  25. ^ Após visita, príncipe Naruhito deixa o Brasil [6]

[edit] External links

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