Japan’s Princess Kako, a niece of Emperor Naruhito, visited a nursing home near Sao Paulo on Saturday to interact with locals of Japanese descent, as part of her official visit to Brazil to commemorate this year’s 130th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Welcomed by the residents of the facility, which houses migrants from Japan and their descendants, the 30-year-old younger daughter of Crown Prince Fumihito and Crown Princess Kiko asked how they are doing and called on them to look after themselves.
Established in 1958 as the first nursing facility for the Japanese community, it is home to some 60 people aged from their 60s to 100.
Japan’s Princess Kako speaks with Chizue Yuasa (R) at a nursing home for people of Japanese origin near Sao Paulo in Brazil on June 7, 2025. (Kyodo)
The daughter of Japanese immigrants, 92-year-old Chizue Yuasa handed the princess a bouquet of flowers, while Koki Kumada, a 93-year-old migrant, expressed his excitement at meeting the imperial member.
“I’m happy that she came all the way to Brazil. This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance, I was deeply moved,” said Kumada, who used to work at a coffee farm in the state of Sao Paulo.
Brazil is home to the largest Japanese community outside Japan, with about 2.7 million people living there.
The first group of Japanese immigrants arrived in Brazil in 1908 under a government policy at the time to encourage emigration in the wake of an economic downturn and a growing population. But many died due to the harsh living conditions and exposure to malaria.
Princess Kako arrived in Sao Paulo on Thursday, kicking off her nearly two-week long trip that will take her to a total of eight cities in Brazil, including the capital Brasilia and Rio de Janeiro.
“I express my deep honor to immigrants from Japan and their descendants who have carried on every day despite facing various difficulties, and contributed to Brazilian society,” she said during a welcome ceremony on Friday in Sao Paulo in front of some 1,000 people from the Japanese community.
After her visit to the nursing home on Saturday, the princess visited a school that many Japanese-Brazilians attend and watched students perform traditional Brazilian dances.
She also interacted with young people who are learning Japanese and have visited Japan at her hotel.
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