Latest news with #JapaneseBrazilians
Yomiuri Shimbun
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Princess Kako Attends Welcome Ceremony in Brazil; Greeted with Japanese Music, Dance Performance
The Yomiuri Shimbun Princess Kako interacts with Japanese Brazilians in Maringa, Brazil, on Sunday. MARINGA, Brazil – Princess Kako, the second daughter of Crown Prince Akishino and Crown Princess Kiko, attended a welcome ceremony held by a Japanese Brazilian organization in Maringa, Brazil, on Sunday after traveling by air from Sao Paulo. Princess Kako touched on the history of Japanese people who emigrated to Brazil, saying, 'I thought about the difficult journey taken by your ancestors, and I carry in my heart the history of Japanese Brazilians.' Fourth-generation Japanese Brazilian children performed wadaiko Japanese drum music and soran-bushi dance at the ceremony. 'I could feel your energy,' Princess Kako said.
Yomiuri Shimbun
5 days ago
- Politics
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Princess Kako Interacts with Japanese Brazilians at Ceremony
Jiji Press Princess Kako gives a speech in Sao Paulo on Friday. SAO PAULO (Jiji Press) — Princess Kako, who is on an official visit to Brazil, gave a speech at a welcome ceremony held by a group of Japanese Brazilians in Sao Paulo on Friday. With some 2.7 million people of Japanese origin living in Brazil, the South American country hosts the largest community of Nikkei Japanese immigrants and their descendants in the world. Princess Kako, the second daughter of Crown Prince Akishino and Crown Princess Kiko, interacted with children with high-fives at the entrance of the ceremony venue. Referring to her visit to a Sao Paulo museum on history of Japanese immigration to Brazil on Thursday, the princess praised the efforts made by people of Japanese descent in the country, saying in the speech that they have 'worked hard amid a host of challenges.' Roberto Yoshihiro Nishio, head of the Brazilian society of Japanese culture and social assistance, which hosted the event, welcomed Princess Kako's ongoing visit, which he said symbolizes Japan-Brazil friendship as this year marks the 130th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the nations. After the ceremony, Princess Kako communicated directly with attendees. 'We don't have opportunities to meet with Imperial family members in Japan, so I would like to show my respect to Princess Kako],' said Masafumi Kase, 89, who is from Chiba City and immigrated to Brazil at the age of 25. Asked how he spends his time at a retirement home, Kase said he likes to go to library.
5 days ago
- Entertainment
Princess Kako Interacts with Japanese Brazilians at Ceremony
News from Japan Society Jun 7, 2025 15:35 (JST) Sao Paulo, June 7 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Princess Kako, who is on an official visit to Brazil, gave a speech at a welcome ceremony held by a group of Japanese Brazilians in Sao Paulo on Friday. With some 2.7 million people of Japanese origin living in Brazil, the South American country hosts the largest community of "Nikkei" Japanese immigrants and their descendants in the world. Princess Kako, the second daughter of Japanese Crown Prince Akishino and Crown Princess Kiko, interacted with children with high-fives at the entrance of the ceremony venue. Referring to her visit to a Sao Paulo museum on history of Japanese immigration to Brazil on Thursday, the princess praised the efforts made by people of Japanese descent in the country, saying in the speech that they have "worked hard amid a host of challenges." Roberto Yoshihiro Nishio, head of the Brazilian society of Japanese culture and social assistance, which hosted the event, welcomed Princess Kako's ongoing visit, which he said symbolizes Japan-Brazil friendship as this year marks the 130th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the nations. [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.] Jiji Press
Yomiuri Shimbun
03-06-2025
- Politics
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Princess Kako's Brazil Visit to Shed Light on Emigrants, Including Dark Period of Persecution Around World War II
Courtesy of Associacao Nipo-Brasileira Princess Kako visits the Kobe Center for Overseas Migration and Cultural Interaction in Kobe in April. Princess Kako, the second daughter of Crown Prince Akishino and Crown Princess Kiko, will visit Brazil from Wednesday as this year marks the 130th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Japan and Brazil. Brazil has the largest population of people of Japanese descent in the world, at 2.7 million. A Japanese Brazilian academic is trying to record the steps of his forebears — including a time when they were persecuted — and is gathering testimony from many people for that purpose. He hopes that Princess Kako's visit will also shed light on the dark side of Japanese emigrees' history. The mass emigration of Japanese people to Brazil was promoted as national policy after the emigrant ship Kasato-maru arrived at the port of Santos in Sao Paulo state in 1908. The number of Japanese immigrants in Brazil reached about 189,000 in 1941. However, as Brazil sided with the Alies during World War II, moves to expel Japanese immigrants intensified. In the city of Santos, about 6,500 people received deportation orders and were put in an internment camp. 'We must not put a lid on the past,' said Japanese Brazilian scholar Akira Miyagi, 87, who studies the history of immigration. A native of Okinawa Prefecture, Miyagi emigrated to Brazil during the 1990s. Since then, he has collected testimonies about the internment, in cooperation with fellow members of an association of people from Okinawa. Living standards were poor in the internment camp. Even the elderly, children and pregnant women were forced to sleep on the ground, and meals were served only once a day. A second-generation Japanese-Brazilian man who was 7 at the time recalled how his family's furniture and other household belongings were confiscated. 'It was humiliating,' he told Miyagi. Courtesy of Akira Miyagi Akira Miyagi Receiving an appeal from Miyagi and others, the Brazilian government admitted to past mistreatment of Japanese Brazilians and made an official apology for the persecution of Japanese immigrants in July last year. Princess Kako will visit Sao Paolo and seven other cities in Brazil, where she will meet and converse with Japanese Brazilians. Her trip is scheduled to last for 14 days. 'I hope the princess will see the hardships experienced by Japanese immigrants. At the same time, I hope she will communicate with people in younger generations who will carry our future, so that the ties between Japan and Brazil will be deepened,' he said. Ahead of the trip, Princess Kako attended a lecture by an expert, and visited the Japanese Overseas Migration Museum in Yokohama and the Kobe Center for Overseas Migration and Cultural Interaction in Kobe. Hirochika Nakamaki, a professor emeritus of the National Museum of Ethnology, served as the princess' guide at both facilities. According to Nakamaki, Princess Kako took notes as she listened to his explanations on the characteristics of each Brazilian city she will visit and on the history of Japanese Brazilians. She also asked many questions, he said. The Kobe center used to be a base for people emigrating to Brazil to receive instruction in a Westernized style of living. The princess reportedly sat on a replica of a bed from those days, imagining people who aspired to go to a new world.
