30). Even so, some immigrants settled in less-developed agricultural areas of the Brazilian Western-Center and Amazonia, as well as in Paraguay and Bolivia (Sakurai 2008: 255–257). They were known as “new Japan” (Japão-Novo) among Japanese Brazilians (Vieira 1973: 152).
The data is not precise but we can estimate that there are currently 1,500,000 people of Japanese origin in Brazil, mostly living in São Paulo (Sakurai and Kosminsky 2006). They are the descendants of the almost 250,000 Japanese immigrants who arrived in Brazil between 1908 and 1972 (Levy 1974; Quoted by Bassanezi 1996: 8).
Japanese Settlements in Brazilian States
Before focusing on São Paulo State, I will describe Japanese settlements in some Brazilian states that were arranged by Japanese emigration companies with the support of the Japanese government.
Japanese Immigrants in the Amazon Region
The first Japanese immigrants arrived in the Amazon region, in the state of Pará, in 1929. They settled in Acará colony, now called Tomé-Açu. The immigrants had a terrible life and those who didn’t die from deprivation and tropical diseases eventually moved to south Brazil.
In 1929, forty-three Japanese immigrant families arrived at the port of Santos. From there they went by ship to the colony of Acará inhabited by Native Brazilians, which was located 200 km from Belém, the capital of Pará state. The 1929 Great Depression affected the Amazon region very badly. The Amazon elite hoped that the immigrants would work in agriculture in order to improve the area’s economy. Therefore, they gave extensive land concessions to Japanese immigrants and to whoever wanted to cultivate the soil. Nanbei-Takushoku-Kaisha (Natanku), a branch of the company Kaneboo, received a concession of one million hectares of land located in several parts of Pará State, including the colony of Acará. This colony was the only one established by that colonization company. Tsukasa Uetsuka and Kotaro Tuji later received a concession of land in 1931. This second concession of land saw a group of young male students, who had graduated from Koto Takushoku Gakoo or Kotaku, a college of colonization, settle in the Amazon area.
The immigrants intended to cultivate cocoa in order to develop the colony and for subsistence they would cultivate rice, corn, manioc, and other cereals and fruits. However, the cocoa crop failed, perhaps due to the lack of experience of the immigrants or due to the lack of time and resources that could support its adaptation to the soil. Moreover, many immigrants died from malaria, yellow fever, and other tropical diseases. Even cultivating plants for subsistence proved difficult, because the plants needed to adjust to the climate and soil. After cocoa failed, the immigration company abandoned them in 1935, helping them only with transportation, medical care, and education. Impoverished and sickened, the immigrants decided to leave the colony and most went to São Paulo. From 1929 onward, the colonization company brought 352 families or 2,104 people, but by the end of World War II in 1945, only 60 families remained.
Immigrants who came through the second concession of land faced similar problems. From 1931 onward, 270 families arrived in that area, but only 50 or so families remained. This group cultivated jute, but when World War II started, they abandoned the crop and scattered in outposts along the Amazon River. Some of their leaders were sent to the Acará (Thomé-Açu) internment camp.
The colony of Thomé-Açu began to prosper due to the cultivation of black pepper, which was sold throughout the country and eventually exported. This boom lasted from 1950 to 1970. At the same time, the second group of Japanese immigrants succeeded in cultivating jute. In 1953, a new flow of Japanese immigrants started arriving in Thomé-Açu and within ten years 700 families lived in the Amazon region. As the economic basis of the colony was the monoculture of black pepper, all subsistence products had to be brought from outside. Typically, the eldest sons followed their parents’ agricultural occupation. The younger children including those who were born in the colony were sent to college in Belém, the capital of Pará State.
In the 1950s, more colonies were established through the Uetsuka/Tuji company, and eventually with the financial support of JAMIC (under the name of Japanese Immigration and Colonization Ltda. in Brazil), a Japanese government enterprise. All the colonies failed for reasons similar to those that affected the earlier immigrants before World War II with the exception of the second Thomé-Açu colony. Most immigrants moved to the colony of Thomé-Açu, some went to big cities such as São Paulo and Belém, and others settled as small horticulturalist and poultry farmers in the outskirts of these big cities. The immigrants eventually cultivated black pepper, too. Others emerged as intermediaries selling these products in the cities. Other colonies appeared in Belém’s suburbs in the 1960s.
In 1967, a disease decimated all the black pepper plants in Thomé-Açu and the Belém suburbs, compelling Japanese immigrants and their families to move to western Pará State, where they cultivated black pepper in small colonies. When the disease reached the plants as well, the immigrants finally decided to stop monoculture and began cultivating several crops. Among these crops, melon and papaya were successful and were sold in the south of Brazil. Thus, immigrants and their families cultivated fruit plants on the outskirts of cities and left their residences in the distant countryside. Several immigrants and their children moved to Belém, where parents opened small stores, and children attended college and worked in professional occupations. After 1965, very few immigrants arrived in the Amazon area. There was also a temporary immigration of Japanese technicians and company administrators, who came to work in the company’s branches in Belém and Manaus (Koyama 1980: 11–37).
Japanese Immigrants in the Northeast
Japanese immigrants established eight colonies in the following northeast states: Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Pernambuco, and Bahia, comprising 115 families. The immigrants in Bahia had probably migrated there from São Paulo and Paraná States. All of them grew agricultural crops and raised poultry. They cultivated green peppers, carrots, tomatoes, chayote, and squash, and watermelons, melons, bananas, passion fruit, papayas, and oranges. Their cereal crops included rice and corn. Besides these crops, they planted sugarcane and black pepper. They also cultivated flowers. This produce was sold directly to consumers or through intermediaries or cooperatives. The immigrants also created new agricultural techniques, such as hybrid crops.
Almost all Japanese immigrants were able to read and write. Although children worked in the field, they attended school too, despite having to walk two hours each way through a forest in order to attend classes at a junior high school and college located in the closest city (Valente 1980: 29–37).
Japanese Immigrants in the South: Rio Grande do Sul
Japanese immigrants, totaling 2,249 people, arrived in Rio Grande do Sul State before World War II. They moved to this state due to the availability of public land, government support, favorable environmental conditions, a developing economy, and rich soil. Italian and German immigrants had inhabited this state since the 1800s. Japanese immigrants and their descendants settled in cities located on the border between Brazil and Argentina and on the border between Brazil and Uruguay, as well as in nearby suburbs. They settled among Italian, German, and Polish immigrants and their descendants. They spread throughout the state, scattered in small numbers, even on the coast and in the cattle-raising areas.
Most Japanese immigrants rented land to cultivate; others quickly became landowners. These Japanese immigrants and their descendants came in small groups traveling from the São Paulo countryside. They understood that the social environment allowed them to become landowners or easily rent a plot of land, so few worked as wage laborers at the beginning of colonization. Many of them cultivated fruit and vegetable in the suburbs, thus supplying nearby cities with produce. Most also raised poultry. Other farmers cultivated flowers. A few immigrants also arrived in Rio Grande do Sul directly from Japan between 1955 and 1963 (Laytano 1980: 39–65).
Japanese Immigration to São Paulo State
São
