The number of Japanese immigrants in the 20th century.

20 14 World Cup in Brazil, Brazil, with nearly10.5 million Japanese, almost became the second home of the Japanese national team. In all the group matches that the Japanese team participated in, local Japanese Brazilians dressed in Japanese kimonos and waving Japanese flags cheered for the Japanese team together with Japanese fans from afar, which became a beautiful scenery in the World Cup.

Now Japanese people can be seen everywhere on the streets of Brazil, scattered in all corners of the country. With a population ratio of nearly 1%, they make Brazil the country with the largest Japanese population in the world.

(Japanese on the streets of Brazil)

Geographically, Brazil and Japan span two hemispheres and are almost the farthest countries on earth. What kind of historical origin can make such a huge Japanese group exist in Brazil on the other side of the globe?

First, the vast land is eager for labor.

As the largest country in South America, Brazil has a vast land of one million square kilometers, but its population is extremely sparse. Historically, it was a colony of Portugal.

1822, Brazil broke away from Portuguese rule and declared its independence. At that time, there were only a few million indigenous people in Brazil, and the labor force was seriously insufficient, and a large area of fertile land was not developed. 1888 the abolition of slavery made the labor shortage in Brazil more serious.

The Brazilian government began to seek labor from all over the world. But the European immigrants they longed for did not care about this difficult place at all, and all flocked to the United States for gold. So the Brazilian government turned its attention to East Asia. They first found the populous Qing Dynasty, hoping to introduce immigrants from China.

Kang Youwei, the core cadre of the Reform Movement of 1898, remonstrated with Emperor Guangxu, and emigrated to open up wasteland to benefit the country and the people, which not only solved the problem of population explosion, but also calmed the social unrest caused by famine. But the decadent Qing court still rejected Brazil with the old idea that many people were good at fighting.

When the Brazilian envoy returned, he visited the island country of Japan by the way. At that time, Japan was in the Meiji Restoration period, and a large number of large-scale modern industrial enterprises spawned by the industrial revolution all relied on exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes from farmers for construction investment.

A large number of overwhelmed farmers went bankrupt and had to leave the countryside to enter the city. However, it is difficult for cities that have not yet risen to digest the influx of population, which makes social problems increasingly acute. The troubled Meiji government began to consider emigrating overseas to ease the population pressure in Japan.

(Kang Youwei)

Second, Japanese immigrants flocked to Brazil.

The Brazilian emissary hit it off with Japan, and the Meiji government also set up the Royal Immigration Company to describe Brazil's free vast land, rich agricultural products, charming scenery and attractive income to those landless farmers.

1928 the first batch of 78 1 Japanese farmers boarded? Lin Guangwan? Passenger ship. With longing for a better life, I set out from Kobe to Sao Paulo, Brazil. The pioneering funds provided by the Japanese government and the convenience provided by the Brazilian government to attract immigrants in various aspects have made these Japanese immigrants who first arrived in Brazil gain a lot.

The news that immigrants made a fortune in Brazil was sent back to Japan, and the Japanese media spared no effort to publicize it, which made the farmers who were watching regret it, and the real immigration tide began. From 1925 to 194 1, more than 300,000 Japanese immigrated to Brazil in more than ten years. After countless generations, the total population of these people has reached more than 654.38+0.5 million today.

(Japanese women who immigrated to Brazil)

Third, Japanese immigrants who are constantly striving for self-improvement.

When Japanese immigrants first arrived in Brazil, most of them were assigned to work in the coffee garden in S? o Paulo. Unlike rice cultivation in Japan, Japanese immigrants need to learn coffee harvesting technology from scratch. I can't get used to foreign food and get a low salary. Although nominally a free man, he is no different from a slave in the past. These Japanese, who dreamed of getting rich quickly and returning to China in rags, soon fell into a cruel reality.

After the decline of Brazil's coffee economy, in order to survive, Japanese immigrants living in other places had to advance into the undeveloped areas in the west of S? o Paulo and make a living by reclaiming wasteland. At that time, there were many weeds here, and crocodiles and wild animals often appeared in the valley.

However, the Japanese did not escape to neighboring countries or villages like the Italians. They hold the attitude of taking root in Brazil and want to carve out a path for themselves and future generations.

Compared with those European immigrants, Japanese immigrants were not accepted in Brazil at first, which made them suffer from discrimination. Especially in the 1930s, the nationalist trend of thought among Brazil's political elites intensified. Under the background that white and black people in Brazil constitute the main ethnic group, the Japanese have become a marginalized group.

With the constant adaptation to the environment, Japanese immigrants began to lease white land, plant high-value crops such as rice and cotton that were not available locally, and introduce soybeans, which have been Brazil's main export commodities so far. Some people go out of the farm, become drivers, cook and set up stalls to do small business.

In order to get rid of the predicament of low status, Japanese youth studied hard and successfully entered Brazilian politics through knowledge, and a number of senior government officials at ministerial level appeared one after another. Japanese federal parliamentarians and state legislators also account for a considerable proportion. In the Brazilian army, there are more than 500 Japanese Brazilians at all levels, from captains to generals.

In addition, there are nearly 1000 engineers, more than 2,600 doctors, 1200 famous journalists and Japanese university professors in Brazil. A dozen court presidents, prosecutors and hundreds of lawyers are also descendants of Japanese immigrants.

It can be seen that Japanese descendants who immigrated to Brazil have successfully integrated into Brazilian society with their own efforts. And Brazilians have gradually developed a good impression on the Japanese, thinking that they are hardworking, responsible and trustworthy.