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115 years ago, the first Japanese immigrants arrived in Brazil to work on the coffee plantations. Today close to two million Japanese-Brazilians live in the largest country in Latin America. In fact, it is the largest Japanese community outside of Japan. The Liberdade neighborhood, in the center of São Paulo, is famous for its decoration and its restaurants, but there is another lesser-known diaspora. It is made up of migrants who left Okinawa, a tropical island located 1,600 km. from Tokyo.
Before the invasion of Japan in 1879, Okinawa was an independent kingdom with its own language and religion. In 1945, during World War II, this island was the scene of the bloodiest battle in the Pacific. It is estimated that more than 100,000 civilians died. With 90% of the buildings destroyed, emigration skyrocketed to Bolivia, Argentina, Peru and Brazil. An entire generation was marked by a true collective trauma.
Today, Okinawans are concentrated in the Vila Carrão neighborhood, on the outskirts of São Paulo. Food is a strong hallmark of their culture. It is no coincidence that in this region of the largest city in Brazil there are many traditional restaurants. “Okinawan dishes are very different, they have another flavor. They combine healthy ingredients like ginger with tempura,” says Matheus Pereira Campos, a businessman.
A curious fact reveals a reversal in the demographic trend. On the one hand, the population of Japan has been declining in the last 12 years. In 2022 alone, it lost 556,000 inhabitants. In contrast, the Japanese community in Brazil grew by 40% in two decades. The result is that Okinawans represent 1% of the Japanese population, while in Brazil they account for 10% of the diaspora.
The owner of the Shima Izakaya restaurant acknowledges that in Brazil the Japanese have more children.
“Today in Japan the people are colder, more individualistic. Here in Brazil we live in a tropical climate, in a totally different environment, with warm people. This has made people more comfortable raising their children”, explains Luiz Kanashiro.
Like their Japanese ancestors, the Japanese-Brazilians are also long-lived. To keep fit, they play gateball, the national sport, every day in front of the Okinawa Association of Vila Carrão. In addition, they venerate their ancestors in rituals that survive to the third generation of migrants.
The vice president of the Okinawa Association, Terio Uehara, opened the doors of his house to France 24 to show one of the most sacred traditions: the rite of celebration of the first anniversary of the death of his father, who led the community of Okinawans in São Paulo. To follow the tradition to the letter, he has invited a shaman, who frequently travels to Okinawa to study the funeral rituals and reproduce them in Brazil.
“Our rites are being lost. Today people travel all over the world and do not value things from Okinawa, but we value our ancestors a lot”, says Cecília KazukoTakara.
Terio’s family has spent several days preparing for this event. A dozen relatives have cooked traditional Okinawan dishes, to offer them to the spirits of their ancestors. “It’s our way of expressing our gratitude so that my father can stay calm, don’t worry, because everything is on the right track,” Terio clarifies. Gathered in the kitchen, they pray together under the spiritual guidance of the yuta, or shaman, who has prepared several prayers in uchināguchi, the Okinawan language.
After the invasion of Japan, this language was discriminated against by the Japanese government and reduced to the status of a dialect. However, in the Okinawa Association of São Paulo, conversation classes are taught to keep this language alive. “When we travel to Okinawa and start speaking, people are shocked, because we speak the same language as 50 years ago,” reveals Professor Hiroshi Uehara.
Okinawans boast of being the most party people in Japan. Every five years, diasporas of Okinawans from Latin America, Hawaii, and other countries around the world gather in Okinawa for a massive festival. In addition, in São Paulo every year there is a cultural and gastronomic meeting, where there are even guest artists from Okinawa.
