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Japanese-Brazilians Among Pretos-Velhos, Caboclos, Buddhist Monks, and Samurais: an Ethnographic Study of Umbanda in Japan

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Japanese-Brazilians Among Pretos-Velhos, Caboclos, Buddhist Monks, and Samurais: an Ethnographic Study of Umbanda in Japan JAPANESE-BRAZILIANS AMONG PRETOS-VELHOS, CABOCLOS, BUDDHIST MONKS, AND SAMURAIS: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY OF UMBANDA IN JAPAN Ushi Arakaki Introduction Umbanda was introduced to Japan by Brazilian Nikkeijin migrants.1 The first Umbanda groups appeared in Japan in the late 1990s, followed by a few centers established soon thereafter. Most Umbanda leaders migrated to Japan for economic reasons to work in the manufacturing plants. Only a few of them adhered to Umbanda prior to moving to Japan. Currently, there are about ten Umbanda centers in Japan. They are located in the Aichi, Mie, Gifu, Shiga, Shizuoka and Gunma prefectures, where there is a high concentration of Brazilian migrants. Accurate statistical data on the numbers of Umbanda followers is difficult to locate in Japan, given that migrants tend to be a fairly mobile population, frequently moving in search of better wages and in some cases returning to Brazil. While religious identities can transcend one or more nation-states, they can also become emblematic of specific social segments once they assume relevant local content. This is the case of Umbanda, which has been rein- vented by, among other things, adopting Japanese cultural icons to satisfy its followers’ demands. This study presents a peculiar case considering that the Brazilian Nikkeijin migrants’ demands are shaped by their original Japanese heritage and background. Although ethnicity2 tends to be signifi- cant in the lives of every transnational migrant, it has a special meaning for ethnic return migrants such as the Nikkeijin. This research will show the ways in which Umbanda may become an important instrument of ethno-cultural renegotiation for Japanese-Brazilians due to its capacity for reflecting Brazilian society and for transforming popular characters into symbols of Brazilianness. Umbanda is flexible enough to incorporate in its 1 Nikkeijin means a person of Japanese ancestry. 2 Ethnicity is a subjective belief in common descent experienced by a social group whose members share similar cultural customs and physical appearance (Weber 1961). 250 ushi arakaki cosmology the socio-cultural context of Japanese-Brazilians in Japan so that these immigrants can feel they belong to Brazil. The ethnographic data for this article was collected from 2002 to 2010, while I conducted fieldwork in the Brazilian community in Japan for my Masters Degree and Ph.D. at Osaka University. During this time, I con- ducted participant observation for four years in three Umbanda centres (one in the town of Karya and two in the town of Toki). I also conducted over five hundred interviews during the eight years of research in Japan. More Than a Century of Migratory History The migratory history between Brazil and Japan needs to be taken into account when analyzing the Brazilian Nikkeijin migration to their ances- tors’ homeland. The first Japanese immigrants arrived at the port of Santos in 1908, and many others came later due to the serious economic crisis in Japan (Shindo 2001). Japanese emigrants went to Brazil planning to make money and return to their homeland as soon as possible. However, return- ing to Japan became an impossible dream for most of them because Japan had lost the Second World War and because they were unable to save enough money. After a long period in Brazil, their descendants started call- ing Brazil home. The most relevant push factor impacting Brazilian Nikkeijin immigration to Japan is the same that inspired Brazilians to emigrate to developed countries in the late 1980s: a serious economic crisis in Brazil. The pull factor was the rapid economic growth of Japan which resulted in a shortage of labor. Subsequently, the flow of migrants between Brazil and Japan was reversed, with the descendants of the Japanese in Brazil starting to migrate to their parents’ and grandparents’ homeland. This process of ‘return migration’ (Takahashi 1995; Sellek 1997; Tsuda 1999; Brody 2002) gained currency following a revision of the Japanese government’s Immi- gration Control Law in 1990 which granted formal residence status to Nikkeijin up to the third generation and their spouses, thus paving the way for them to live and work in Japan legally. According to the Immigration Bureau of the Japanese Ministry of Justice (2012), in June 2011 there were 221,217 Brazilian migrants living in Japan.3 3 During the period I conduct most of my fieldwork over 300,000 Brazilian migrants lived in Japan. The global financial crisis of 2008 and 2009 meant that many Brazilians returned to .
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