Japan's Crown Prince Naruhito on Friday urged Brazil and his country to forge stronger ties and work together more closely to overcome challenges facing both countries.
Naruhito’s visit marks the 100th anniversary of the arrival of Brazil’s first Japanese immigrants, who spurred a migration that created the largest Japanese community outside Japan.
“One century ago, no one could have imagined that the ties between Japan and Brazil would be as strong as they are today,” Naruhito, speaking in Portuguese, told a group of University of Sao Paulo students.
PHOTO: AFP
“Today, each country plays an important role in the international community,” the prince said.
“A stronger partnership between Japan and Brazil is needed to overcome the challenges they face on the international scenario,” Naruhito said, without detailing those challenges.
After his brief speech Naruhito met some 40 students gathered at the university’s law school in downtown Sao Paulo.
“I greeted him in Japanese and he responded by saying gambatte kudasai, which means something like always move forward,” Marcio Yuji Matsumoto said.
“It was one of the most memorable moments of my life,” Matsumoto said.
“Greeting him made me even prouder of my Japanese heritage,” the 28-year-old grandson of Japanese immigrants said.
Earlier in the day, Naruhito toured the Japanese Immigration Museum in Sao Paulo’s Asian neighborhood of Liberdade — Portuguese for “freedom.” At the end of his tour he donated a check, the amount of which was not divulged.
Naruhito was also scheduled to visit the port of Santos, where nearly 800 Japanese immigrants arrived aboard the steamship Kasato Maru on June 18, 1908. Brazil’s Japanese community has since grown to 1.5 million.
He will also attend a show of taiko drummers and traditional awa odori and bon odori dances in Sao Paulo’s 25,000-seat “sambodromo” stadium, famous for its parades during Carnival.
Naruhito is scheduled to end his visit to Brazil on Wednesday, after visits to the states of Parana, Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais.
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