Manaus Japan Culture
If you walk through the Liberdade district of Sao Paulo, you will think you are in Tokyo. If you're on a cruise to South America, you won't want to miss Manaus, a city deep in the heart of the Amazon basin. Its location on the Amazon rainforest attracts Brazilian and foreign tourists who want to see the wildlife, the land and the river.
May is a popular time to visit Manaus, the time when Rio de Janeiro receives the most tourists in Brazil. The Boi Manus is one of the most important cultural events in the city and a major tourist attraction. It is usually held on October 24, its anniversary.
Learn about Brazilian culture, taste the must - try food and drinks and experience natural phenomena while exploring the area. Pack your bags, mingle with the locals and explore Brazilian culture to experience the full Manaus experience.
Lidia Yamashita, 63, is bedded by her husband Yuki and their two children Lidia, 16, from Tokyo, Japan, and daughter Kiyoshi, 14, in Manaus.
According to Nishikido, the ingredients are entirely immaterial, but the emotions and aspirations of Japanese and Brazilians, Nishikido says, have created a strong sense of identity and a desire to help them adapt to their new country. An example of this adaptation is Umbanda, a plant of enormous cultural and symbolic value in the region, but not widely used as a food source in Brazil. Brazilian it's a simple one - part of nature, and its values, attitudes and respect for ancestors are Japanese, "he says. It started in Rio de Janeiro in the late 1920s and has spread to urban areas of the country and is one of the most popular fruits and vegetables in Manaus, as well as in many other cities.
Japanese influence is not limited to agriculture; even the national drink caipirinha is sometimes mixed with Japanese rice wine instead of cachaca to produce a safari. Early settlers popularized the martial art and helped create Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and as industrialization brought factories and cars to Brazil, its importance grew. After the gold boom of the 18th century, which concentrated on the city of Rio de Janeiro and the nearby state of Minas Gerais in the north of the country, the capital moved to Manaus, where it remained until the founding of Brazil in 1960.
Many ended up in the tropical new homeland, and Brazil now has the largest Japanese population outside Japan. Many people of Japanese descent live in Manaus, where their ancestors came to work, but many of them live outside the city. The Amazon Natural History Museum has now acquired the reputation of being one of the most renowned natural history museums in the world. Since the founding of nature, visitors from other countries, including Japan, have made up a large part of its clientele.
From the 1890s to the 1920s, Manaus became the centre of a Brazilian rubber boom that led to the development of the world's largest rubber plantations and the creation of many other industries. Due to its harsh climate and lack of natural resources, the Amazon region has been isolated from national culture for many centuries.
At the time, this contrast led to a sense of isolation for the people of Manaus and the rest of the Amazon region. Foreign visitors, Brazilians themselves, were drawn to the city because of its racial and cultural diversity, which many people now consider one of our nation's strengths. Those who thought they were urban refiners, like the elite of Sao Paulo, were unlucky enough to be vilified and called "illiterate hicks" or "hillbillies."
Brazil's ideology of "racial paradise" has long helped dampen Afro-Brazilian social and political movements. Despite these initial difficulties, the contributions of Japanese immigrants to Manaus and the Amazon region as a whole were far-reaching.
Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world with a population of more than 1.5 billion people and Latin America's third largest economy.
Industrial activity in Brazil is concentrated in the north of the country, mainly in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Rio Grande Do Sul. Despite the poor south, the north has a number of popular cities that combine economy and culture and act as gateways to the Amazon for many tourists. Manaus is the cultural centre of the Amazon region and its many museums reflect the rich history of its people, culture, art and crafts. Due to its proximity to the Brazilian capital Brasilia, it is also one of the most visited regions in Brazil, including the southeast.
If you're looking for a taste of local culture before embarking on an adventure in the Amazon, you can explore this urban oasis of the Brazilian jungle. Discover Manaus rich history and cultural heritage by following the lead of a host who wants it all.