This year marks 100 years of Japanese immigration in Brazil, and all over Brazil there are cultural events, news specials, and happenings celebrating this anniversary. The first Japanese immigrants arrived in Brazil in June 1908, and brought with them cultural traditions that have become a part of Brazilian culture, most notably their cuisine.

Globo has a number of featured articles celebrating the Japanese centennial, and today featured an interesting article not about the Japanese in Brazil, but about the Brazilians in Japan.

According to Globo, more than 300,000 Brazilians live in Japan. One of the hardest things for Brazilians to adapt to there is the lack of living space and the extremely cramped conditions that many Japanese live in. Many people live in apartments of about 30 square meters, approximately 98 square feet. Most apartments have a banheiro  (bathroom), cozinha (kitchen), and quarto (bedroom) that doubles as a sala (living room). Many people sleep on futons on the floor, which they roll up during the day.

Brazilians have trouble with the lack of space especially because it doesn’t allow them space to entertain friends and to have parties. Since social interaction is a fundamental part of Brazilian culture, the sudden reduction of social space can come as a shock. They also have trouble adapting to the lack of space to keep their personal belongings, and as a result learn to live a simpler existence.

One Brazilian in Japan says, “O mais difícil aqui no Japão foi me acostumar a jogar coisas fora,
porque não tenho espaço para nada, mas pelo menos eu aprendi a não me
apegar aos bens materiais.” “The most difficult thing here in Japan was that I had to get used to throwing things away, because I don’t have space for anything, but at least I learned not to become too attached to material things.”