Hello from Sao Paulo! This is a great city. Eclectic food, awesome graffiti everywhere, soccer fans, lots of PDA, and a big-city vibe comparable to the kind you feel in Tokyo, Paris, and New York. Yesterday, our gracious hosts from Mouses took us to Liberdade, the biggest Japanese district outside of Japan. Very cool. I took lots of pics. Keep reading for a short photo tour.
The streets in Liberdade are lined with these Japanes-style lamps and torii gates. The traffic is kinda crazy, but I managed to jump in front of a cab to snap this photo.
A takoyaki and yakisoba stand. The octopuses are cute in Brazil, just like the women.
A good Japanese-Brazilian follows news of Imperial offspring, like Princess Aiko above, even in Portugese.
One of the best things about Sao Paulo is that it is so multiethnic that I kinda fit right in. At least until I open my mouth and start babbling in English. But I do think I could pass more as a Japanese-Brazilian than a Tokyo office lady or a Japanese housewife.
This is a nice little write up. I was surprised when I first learned about the number of Japanese immigrants and subsequent descendants that live in Brazil and how long they have been there. I think I was reading about some Japanese/Brazilian politician and stumbled onto the details. No wait, I saw whichever politician on TV and realized, that guy doesn't look "Brazilian" and then did some research.
I always know Portuguese when I hear it because it sounds like French and Spanish to me, but I can't understand it.
Posted by: vagrant | May 19, 2008 at 09:23 PM
Very nice post, I live in Brazil and I´ve been to Sao Paulo a few times, although I have never visited Liberdade. I loved your post!
Posted by: ZHK | May 20, 2008 at 08:37 AM
More photos of Liberdade graffiti here: http://www.eveandersson.com/brazil/
Posted by: Mitchell | May 21, 2008 at 01:08 AM
I went to Sao Paulo in February. I also took a pic of the takoyaki dude! My photo essay is on the Discover Nikkei website. http://www.discovernikkei.org/nikkeialbum/en/node/7189
The graffiti artist is a Japanese Brazilian guy named TitiFreak. check out his cool artwork: www.tfreak.com
Posted by: bokinaka | May 28, 2008 at 11:02 PM
More about Sao Paulo graffiti:
http://eyesonbrazil.wordpress.com/2008/07/22/sao-paulo-graffiti-creative-urban-art/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/sp/pool/
Posted by: Saint Isaac | August 02, 2009 at 04:21 PM