Japanese Migration to Brazil : How Japanese Immigrants Assimilated into Brazilian Society while Preserving their Culture

This research will follow the migration of Japanese individuals to Brazil in the early 1900s after a shortage of manual labor in Brazilian plantations and a lack of work in Japan. The Japanese established in Brazil and their hard labour resulted in them becoming farm owners. Nowadays, Japanese Brazilians are responsible for great empires of production in the countryside and contribute significantly to the national economy. Through the analysis of journal articles and primary sources such as documents of application to citizenship and photographs, I will analyse whether Japanese Brazilians created an isolated community within Brazil or successfully integrated into Brazilian culture and society. I will argue that Japanese immigrants in Brazil chose structural methods of self-isolation to preserve their culture, referring to the creation of Japanese schools, religious temples, country clubs, and commerce, while being open to the Brazilian population and customs. Is the creation of Japanese neighbourhoods a reality of self-isolation, external segregation, or a method of preserving the Japanese culture and faith?Arts and Social Sciences, Irving K. Barber Faculty of (Okanagan)History and Sociology, Department of (Okanagan)UnreviewedUndergraduat