NOTE--The word Nikkei could best be described as the Japanese
equivalent of the hyphenated American or, rather, its opposite. It
refers to a mix of Japanese blood and non-Japanese culture. Thus,
Japanese people would refer to such a person living in Brazil as
Nikkei-Brazilian. One further note is that the term is more
comprehensive than nisei, which literally just means "second
generation--" the second generation of Japanese living abroad.

Soccer. Carnival. The tango. Mention Latin
America to many Japanese, and this is the
full scope of the image that will spring to
mind. It is a problem of distance. The region
is a full 24-hour flight from Tokyo and the
resulting remoteness is not only physical, but
emotional.

However, there are said to be 2,500,000 nikkei
living outside of Japan. More than half--
1,400,000--live in Brazil, Peru and other
Latin American countries.(1) The region is
host to more people of Japanese descent than
any other outside of Japan.

Japan itself is host to roughly 310,000 foreigners of Japanese
descent.(2) Moreover, of the estimated 270,000 Brazilians living
here, most are of Japanese descent.(3) Brazilians are the third
largest group of foreigners in Japan, behind Koreans and Chinese.(4)This degree of interaction shows that, at an extremely
fundamental level, the ties between Latin America and Japan are
very close.

Japanese emigration began more than 100 years ago, and today
Brazil is home to 1.3 million Nikkei--the largest population in
the world. Other Latin American countries with sizable groups
include Peru (80,000), Argentina (32,000), and Mexico
(12,000).(5)

There are a plethora of reasons for emigration. But 100 years ago,
the first people to move overseas were mainly farmers. Since then,
in every country they have lived in, Nikkei have built a
reputation for diligence and honesty. Today, after more than a
century, the progeny of these immigrants are passing from the
second and third into the fourth and even the fifth generations.
They have branched out and are playing important roles in many
fields.

It is only natural that people born and raised overseas gradually
lose fluency in Japanese. In many cases as well, it has grown
impossible to recognize their Japanese lineage. In spite of this,
however, the fact remains that many of these young people maintain
feelings for their Japanese roots.

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* The sources of this data can be found through the links on the next page.