A historiographic review of Japanese immigration to Brazil (1908-2000)

Zusammenfassung

In this paper I explore the existing historiography on Japanese immigration to Brazil throughout the twentieth century. The main topics of analysis are: race, identity, culture, integration, and resistance. This research is divided into three periods as defined by the current historiography. The first period comprises from 1908 to 1945, characterized by the arrival of Japanese workers in Brazil, that triggered a myriad of debates between intellectuals and Brazilian political authorities about the suitability of this type of immigration, and its integration into society. The second stage covers the years of World War II from 1939 to 1945, marked by a fear of the Japanese immigrants, who were considered a threat to Brazil. The third phase extends from 1945 to the end of the twentieth century, when the Japanese workers adopted several strategies of integration to the Brazilian culture. In this paper I argue that despite the great variety of topics examined by the historiography, there is an absence of studies that explain the constant negative view of the Brazilian population by the Japanese immigrants from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present day.