# Londrina - "Little London" or "Little Tokyo"?



## Yuri S Andrade (Sep 29, 2008)

*LONDRINA* was founded by British entrepreneurs in the middle of _Mata Atlântica_ (tropical/subtropical rain forest) in the 1930's. Few British were left and the city is mostly Italian, with strong German, Spanish, Portuguese and Arab communities. Anyhow, Londrina is regarded for its huge Japanese community: about *30,000* in the city (nearly *150,000* in northern Paraná state) which makes *Londrina the second biggest "Japanese" city in Brazil* and one of the largest outside Japan, along São Paulo (the largest), New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver and Honolulu. Till today is trivial to hear the Japanese language in the streets, particularly among the elderly.


*Tomi Nakagawa Square* inaugurated in 2008 to celebrate the *IMIN 100* (celebrations over the 100 years of Japanese immigration to Brazil) with the presence of the *Crown Prince of Japan, Naruhito*. The square is in the most decayed part of Downtown:

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_Flickr by Henrique Elache_

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_olgaleiria Flickr_

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_Flickr by olgaleiria_

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_Flickr by olgaleiria_

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_Bel Mercês Flickr_

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_lolalombardi Flickr_

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_Panoramio_

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_by Rei Santos_

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_by Rei Santos_

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_Flickr by Giancarlo Zortea_

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_Flickr by Amanda Truss_

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_Flickr by Amanda Truss_

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_Flickr by Amanda Truss_

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_Flickr by dirs_

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_Yuri S Andrade (SSC)_

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_Yuri S Andrade (SSC)_

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_Yuri S Andrade (SSC)_

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_Yuri S Andrade (SSC)_

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_Yuri S Andrade (SSC)_

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_SSC by damiao_

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_Flickr by Lunardelli 35_

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_Flickr by Erika_

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_Flickr by Pedro Laperuta_

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_Flickr by Pedro Laperuta_

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_Flickr by Pedro Laperuta_

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_Flickr by Pedro Laperuta_


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## Yuri S Andrade (Sep 29, 2008)

*Nishinomiya Square*, in front of Londrina's airport terminal, named after Londrina's sister city:

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_Flickr by Érre Ortega_



*IMIN 100* in *Rolândia* (Londrina Metro Area). The city is mainly German, but as Londrina, harbours a large Japanese community:

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_Panoramio by José Carlos Farina_ 

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_Panoramio by José Carlos Farina_ 

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_Flickr by Gilberto Abelha_

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_Flickr by Gilberto Abelha_

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_Flickr by Gilberto Abelha_



*IMIN 100* in *Londrina*. _Kasato Maru_ was the ship which brought the first Japanese immigrants to Brazil:

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_Erika Flickr_

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_Erika Flickr_


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## Yuri S Andrade (Sep 29, 2008)

The *Matsuri* is a large festival organized by the Japanese community that marks the arrival of spring. There are plenty of Japanese food, different kinds of exhibitions, traditional dancing performances and karaoke:

Matsuri 2008:
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Other Matsuri editions:
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_Flickr by bbonato_

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_Flickr by Amanda Truss_

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_Flickr by Amanda Truss_

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_Guero Flickr_

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_sebastiaobasso Flickr_

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_sebastiaobasso Flickr_

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_sebastiaobasso Flickr_

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_sebastiaobasso Flickr_

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_sebastiaobasso Flickr_

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_sebastiaobasso Flickr_

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_sebastiaobasso Flickr_


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## Yuri S Andrade (Sep 29, 2008)

*Baseball*, Brazil x Japan, at ACEL, a Londrina's Japanese club. Its name was changed during the Vargas dictatorship in the WWII years. AREL is the German club in London, which name was also changed:

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_Flickr by olgaleiria_

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_Flickr by olgaleiria_



*Sumo*

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_Flickr by AlexsTcho_

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_Flickr by AlexsTcho_



*Sansey*, a Japanese folk group from Londrina in a festival in São Paulo:

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_Alexandre Matsumoto Flickr_

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_Alexandre Matsumoto Flickr_

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_Alexandre Matsumoto Flickr_

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_Alexandre Matsumoto Flickr_

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_Alexandre Matsumoto Flickr_



*Miscellaneous*

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_@tefo Flickr_

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_Vinícius Portelinha Flickr_

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_Gilberto Abelha Flickr_


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## Yuri S Andrade (Sep 29, 2008)

And to say goodbye, the skyline:









_picasaweb - frazao_


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## Joás Santos (Sep 7, 2010)

Nice pics.


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## Yuri S Andrade (Sep 29, 2008)

^^
Thank you, Joás!


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## LADEN (Mar 8, 2011)

The city is only 3.6% Asian! :nuts:


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## igor_carlos (Jul 1, 2009)

^^ Just numbers and statistics because 3.6% of entire Londrina population means a large number comparing to aproximatelly half million inhabitants.

*Londrina is an Amazing city to live or invest* kay:

I´m one of 1.5 million Brazilian Japanese around the world, this number means less than 1% of Brazilian Population almost 191 million in 2010 census.

More statistcs because Yuri loves it  Brazilian Japanese living in Japan in 2008: 312.582
in 2009 during economy crisis: 267.456 

Prefecture- 2009 - 2008
Aichi ----- 67.162 - 79.156
Shizuoka - 42.625 - 51.441
Mie ------ 18.667 - 21.668
Gifu ------ 17.018 - 20.481
Gunma ----15.324 - 17.522


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## shiroshima (Nov 10, 2010)

Wonderful thread!
I´m a member of the Japanese community in Brazil and I'm very proud to see our culture shown here!
Congratulations Yuri!


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## FHC (Feb 22, 2011)

^^


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## sebvill (Apr 13, 2005)

Amazing the Jap community over their. There are a lot of japanese descendants here in Lima too.... althought very few preserve their original culture.


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## Yuri S Andrade (Sep 29, 2008)

igor_carlos said:


> ^^ Just numbers and statistics because 3.6% of entire Londrina population means a large number comparing to aproximatelly half million inhabitants.
> 
> *Londrina is an Amazing city to live or invest* kay:


Exactly. That's because the Brazilian Statistical Office still uses the word _amarelo_ (yellow), for Asians. So, in some parts of the country, some mixed people state they are "yellow" and many Asians don't feel confortable to label themselves "yellow". 

3.6% (5% to be more accurate) is an impressive figure for a 500,000 inhabitants city. Londrina harbours the 5th or the 6th largest Japanese community in the world outside Japan. If we regard the metro area, the community is around 40,000-50,000 people.



igor_carlos said:


> I´m one of 1.5 million Brazilian Japanese around the world, this number means less than 1% of Brazilian Population almost 191 million in 2010 census.
> 
> More statistcs because Yuri loves it  Brazilian Japanese living in Japan in 2008: 312.582
> in 2009 during economy crisis: 267.456
> ...


Thank you for posting, Igor! Londrina and the whole Northern Paraná are experiencing the émigrés' comeback. I, for one, welcome this new trend.





shiroshima said:


> Wonderful thread!
> I´m a member of the Japanese community in Brazil and I'm very proud to see our culture shown here!
> Congratulations Yuri!


Thank you, shiroshima! And when the page turn, I'd like to post the pics of your newest thread over the Japanese immigration in Paraná.





sebvill said:


> Amazing the Jap community over their. There are a lot of japanese descendants here in Lima too.... althought very few preserve their original culture.


Yes, Peru is home of one of the largest Japanese communities in the world. If I'm not mistaken, is the 3rd largest, behind Brazil and the US.


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## Yuri S Andrade (Sep 29, 2008)

I elaborated this *map* to show the *Japanese presence in Brazil*:



Almost all of them live inside the black cone through *São Paulo* and *Paraná* states. More people in the east and much less in west, into *Mato Grosso do Sul* state. The red circles represent the biggest concentrations: *São Paulo*, *Londrina*, *Maringá* and *Presidente Prudente*. In small cities like Bastos (PP area) and Assaí (Ldna area), the Japanese community is more than 25% of the cities total population. The black circle around *Curitiba* represents the local Japanese community (the 3rd largest in Brazil, around 20,000 people), arisen in the late 1970's, after the _Black Frost_ in northern Paraná state, which driven 2 million people in 5 years out of the region, including the Japanese.

Relatively, *northern Paraná* is the *second most "Japanese" region in the world* (about *3-4%* of the total population), after *Hawaii* (about *12%*). However, northern Paraná is far more populated: 3.6 million inhabitants against 1.2 million in Hawaii.


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## shiroshima (Nov 10, 2010)

Yuri S Andrade said:


> Thank you, shiroshima! And when the page turn, I'd like to post the pics of your newest thread over the Japanese immigration in Paraná.



Ok Yuri! 
You can take every pic as you want!


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## Yuri S Andrade (Sep 29, 2008)

^^
Thank you!


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## Fakroef (Mar 9, 2007)

Impressive. are you sure this is Brazil?

in proportion, there are more brazilian-japaneses in Londrina or Sao Paulo?


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## Alexpilsen (May 3, 2009)

^^

Of cors its Brazil!


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## Yuri S Andrade (Sep 29, 2008)

Fakroef said:


> Impressive. are you sure this is Brazil?
> 
> in proportion, there are more brazilian-japaneses in Londrina or Sao Paulo?


*Londrina* Japanese-Brazilian population is about 4-5% of the total ( Maringá and Presidente Prudente has similar figures). In *São Paulo*, they are around 2-3%. 

*Assaí* (16,000 inhabitants, Paraná state, near Londrina) and *Bastos* (20,000 inhabitants, São Paulo state, near Presidente Prudente) have the largest communities in Brazil, relatively speaking: 25% of the total population.


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## Yuri S Andrade (Sep 29, 2008)

Turning the page...


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