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Port of Call |
LAST UPDATE March 12, 2008
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| February 24, 2008 |
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - A Cultural Exchange with Brazilians of Japanese Descent |
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| Visiting a Funchal guava orchard |
On June 18, 1908, a ship of Japanese immigrants arrived in Brazil after braving a long and dangerous sea voyage in the hope of finding better living conditions abroad. They faced the challenges of adapting to a new climate and unfamiliar culture, and underwent countless hardships to create new lives in Brazil. However, perseverance led to success for many of these immigrants, and this year marks the centennial anniversary of the arrival of the ship Kasato Maru and its 791 Japanese passengers to Port Santos, Brazil. The small mountain community of Funchal, settled originally by Japanese immigrants who arrived in 1961 and place a high level of importance on their Japanese identity, welcomed Peace Boat participants on February 24, 2008, for a day of exchange to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of Japanese immigration to Brazil. |
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Peace Boat participants and Funchal residents dancing the Tankou Bushi, a dance traditionally performed at the summer Obon festival in Japan |
Peace Boat participants were uncertain of what to expect as they left the ship to make the 100-kilometer journey from Rio de Janeiro to Funchal. They wondered whether the Brazilians of Japanese descent would seem more Japanese or more Brazilian, what their lives were like, and how much Japanese they would speak. However, their concerns disappeared when they arrived at the Funchal community center. Community members greeted Peace Boat enthusiastically and welcomed them inside for a delicious home cooked meal that included Japanese dishes like inari-zushi, chirashi-zushi, nimono, somen noodles, fresh tofu, and onigiri. After the meal, people enjoyed singing Japanese songs, dancing an Obon dance, listening to an Okinawan sanshin performance, and sharing stories about their respective lives in Brazil and Japan. |
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| Getting to know each other over a home cooked meal at the Funchal community center |
Many of the Funchal members who met Peace Boat were first generation immigrants, some of whom arrived before and some after World War II. Maintaining a connection to Japan is important for many Funchal residents, who watch NHK (Japan’s national television broadcasting network) to follow current events in Japan, maintain Japanese customs, and celebrate Japanese holidays in their homes. They say staying connected to Japan used to be more difficult, but that being able to purchase ingredients to prepare Japanese foods and watch NHK in their homes these days is a real comfort. Funchal residents said that they look forward to meeting Peace Boat participants as a way to reconnect with their roots and to celebrate some of the traditions that they miss in their day to day Brazilian lives, like dancing, singing and eating traditional foods. |
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| Enjoying a freshly picked star fruit at an orchard in Funchal, where agricultural products include guava, cassava, star fruit, mango, jackfruit and coconut |
The majority of Japanese who immigrated to Brazil became laborers on coffee or potato plantations in answer to the Brazilian government’s call for immigrants to support Brazil’s growing economy. While many of the 1.5 million Brazilians with full or mixed Japanese heritage today have relocated to metropolises like San Paolo and Rio de Janeiro in search of better jobs, small communities of immigrant families like Funchal continue to dot the countryside of Brazil as well. Rural communities are growing smaller due to this urban migration, and in Funchal the number of families of Japanese descent has dropped from 50 to 15 in recent years. While a a Japanese presence remains in many areas, identification with Japanese language and culture is fading, especially among younger generations who are born and raised in Brazil. |
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| Ripening guavas |
Marking the 100-year anniversary of Japanese immigration to Brazil made the Peace Boat's visit particularly special for all. For Peace Boat participants, it was also one of the few opportunities during the global voyage where they could communicate directly in Japanese with people in port, and participants were excited to learn that a little piece of Japan thrives on the opposite side of the globe from them. Though younger generations of people of Japanese descent living in Brazil may identify with their Japanese heritage on a different level than their parents as they become more removed from their roots in Japan, Peace Boat hopes to maintain a connection to this community of Brazilians with whom they share a common Japanese heritage. |
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