In 2025, Japan and Brazil will celebrate the 130th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. Today’s friendship is due to the achievements of the Japanese-Brazilian community, which has overcome hardships and served as a bridge between the two countries. Rock singer Nanase Aikawa, who serves as the Goodwill Ambassador for Japan-Brazil Friendship Exchange, looks at the history and present day.
Nanase Aikawa sings enthusiastically at a Bon Odori dance in the Japanese town of Liberdade.
Young people enjoying Japanese anime cosplay
Digital Monster” and “Blade of the Oni no Kai” ……. Young people dressed in Japanese anime cosplay costumes can be seen everywhere downtown.
You can project yourself into the character.”
I learned courage from the cartoons.”
The Liberdade district of São Paulo City is known as one of the largest Japanese neighborhoods in the world. Manga illustration street vendors and maid café signs catch the eye. Everyone seems to be enjoying Japanese anime and pop culture.
Young people enjoying cosplay in the bustling center of Liberdade
There are approximately 2.7 million people of Japanese descent living in Brazil. This is the largest number in the world. The Nikkei community is a strong community and is part of Brazilian society,” said Roberto Nishio, president of the Brazilian Association of Japanese Culture and Welfare (Bunkyo), one of the main organizations of the Brazilian Nikkei community. The Bunkyo promotes the transmission and dissemination of Japanese culture in Brazil and also plays a role in introducing Brazilian culture to Japan.
Now, however, Nishio is faced with a challenge. Currently, most of the individual members of the Bunkyo are in their 60s. In order to further develop the Nikkei community, the participation of young people is essential. Nishio looked at the bustle of young people.
Struggles of First-Generation Immigrants
Inside the Bunkyo building in Liberdade is the “Japanese Emigration Archives,” which displays and stores some 97,000 historical documents that tell the history of Japan beginning with the first mass emigration in 1908.
Nanase Aikawa, who is studying folklore in graduate school in addition to her artistic activities, visited the archives with great interest. The photos, chronological tables, and implements used for farming and daily life were lined up, and one could feel the breath of the first-generation immigrants who had overcome hardships. Mr. Aikawa stopped to look at the exhibits with a serious expression on his face.
I believe that the immigrants cut down trees and cultivated land with just their hands and survived through much more hardship than we can imagine. There were people who went on for generations after them, and the Nikkei community as we know it today was formed. It is truly amazing.”
Nanase Aikawa visiting the Japanese Emigration Archives
We want to involve the younger generation.
Mr. Aikawa sat down with Chairman Nishio at the Archives to hear about current issues.
Chairman Nishio: The history of Japanese immigration to Brazil is celebrating its 117th anniversary. Although Nikkei organizations are well integrated into Brazilian society, the number of people supporting the organizations is decreasing.
Ms. Aikawa: Are there any ideas or innovations that you are thinking of right now to attract the younger generation?
Chairman Nishio: It is not only Nikkei who are interested in Japanese culture. Therefore, I think it is important to hold events that involve non-Nikkei people as well.
Ms. Aikawa: I am a singer, so I hope to help the development and friendship of the Nikkei community through song and culture, even if only a little.
Chairman Nishio: I am truly honored to hear Ms. Nanase Aikawa, a famous singer in Brazil, say so. Please accept my best regards.
Nanase Aikawa and Roberto Nishio, president of the Brazilian Japanese Culture and Welfare Association, discuss issues facing the Nikkei community in a dialogue.
Almost 60 years of history with JICA
JICA and the Brazilian Japanese community have a cooperative relationship that spans some 60 years.
It began in the 1960s, when JICA’s predecessor, the Migration Service Corporation, supported emigration and travel to Brazil, and also provided lateral support for the stability of life for Japanese emigrants who had traveled there by developing settlements and providing financial loans. Currently, JICA works with the Japanese American community to deepen bilateral relations between the two countries through its support programs for the Japanese American community.
Akihiro Miyazaki, Director of JICA’s Brazil Office, talks about the program.
In the background of Brazil’s emergence as an agricultural powerhouse, Japanese farmers played an important role. Many of the early immigrants were farmers, and JICA provided development assistance to Brazil, including support for their farming activities, which enabled Brazil to produce soybeans on a large scale and become a major agricultural country. As a result, Brazil became a major agricultural powerhouse, making large-scale soybean production possible. The benefits of these efforts have reached the tables of Japanese consumers. The success of the Nikkei has also contributed to the expansion of Japanese companies into Brazil.
Akihiro Miyazaki, Director of JICA’s Brazil Office, discusses the history and contributions of Japanese Americans.
Training of Japanese-American leaders and support for hospitals are also available.
JICA supports the Nikkei community, which contributes to both Japan and Brazil and serves as a bridge between the two countries, in various ways. One of these is the development of human resources who will become leaders of the Nikkei community.
Brazil has prefectural associations for each of the 47 prefectures. When I visited a cooking class at the Mie Kaikan, Ms. Marcia Miyazaki, the head of the Women’s Department of the Mie Prefectural Association, was teaching how to make okonomiyaki, a Japanese-style pancake. I learned that food is culture, memory, and identity. In my classroom, I share Japanese culture through food.”
Mie Prefectural Women’s Association Cooking Class
In addition, JICA also supports Japanese-affiliated hospitals. When the new coronavirus spread around the world, JICA assisted in the operation of the Japan-Brazil Friendship Hospital.
Director Sergio Okamoto speaks.
We were able to continue our community health care program even when the coronary disaster made it difficult to see our investment plans for equipment, and we were very grateful to JICA, the Japanese government, and the Japanese people for their support in the post-corona crisis. We are very grateful to JICA, the Japanese government, and the people of Japan for their support in the post-corona disaster period.
Medical equipment with the Japanese flag and JICA logo in operation at the Japan-Brazil Friendship Hospital
Uniting our hearts with Matsuri Dance
In September 2025, the 1st Liberdade Bon Dance was held at Liberdade Square. The most popular attraction was a stage performance by Nanase Aikawa, who is also very popular in Brazil. The venue was filled with people who wanted to catch a glimpse of her.
In Brazil, there is a dance called “Matsuri Dance” that incorporates elements of street dance into the choreography of Bon Odori. Ms. Aikawa’s debut song, “Yumemiru Shoujo Jyoshirunai” (I Can’t Stay a Dreaming Girl), has been loved as its music for more than 20 years!
When Ms. Aikawa appeared on stage, the audience cheered loudly. Ms. Aikawa sang her new song “Wasshoi,” which expresses her wish to connect people to people and Japan to the world, as well as “Yumemiru shojo ja nai wa itai” (I can’t stay a dreaming girl). Below the stage, Bon Odori members of the Japanese American community danced in happi (happi are a traditional Japanese cloth worn by Japanese people of Japanese descent).
It was great!” “It made me want to know more about Japan,” the young people said excitedly. The young people spoke excitedly. Chairman Nishio felt that the performance was very successful. The songs were very energetic and loving. It brought not only the Nikkei community together, but also the various communities.
Aikawa, who had told Chairman Nishio that he wanted to help the Nikkei community through song, also has a big smile on his face. They say that music crosses borders, but I never thought my songs would cross borders.
Matsuri Dance at the Liberdade Bon Dance
Mr. Aikawa: “I want to expand interest in Brazil.”
This trip has deepened Mr. Aikawa’s understanding of the Nikkei community.
As a Japanese person, I am very happy to see how Japanese culture has been adopted in Brazil and how it has evolved into a new culture through fusion. I was also impressed by the fact that in the background there are people who crossed the sea nearly 120 years ago, and the trust that they have earned over the time they have accumulated, one by one, has taken root in Brazil.
At the same time, they also felt a strong desire for the future of the two countries.
In Brazil, Japanese culture has been accepted by non-Japanese people. However, Brazil is not that well known in Japan. As we move forward from the 130th anniversary of diplomatic relations to the 150th anniversary and beyond, I hope that interest in and understanding of Brazil will grow from Japan.
© Source JICA