Paraguay 2024
5,441 Japanese nationals
10,000 Paraguayans of Japanese descent
“Eastern and Cultural Religions” (excl Islam)*** 2566
First-generation Japanese Paraguayans were generally followers of Shinto and Buddhism. The first Japanese settlers at La Colmena brought a piece of stone from the Ise Shrine which was gazetted as a monument mark the settlement’s founding. Japanese religious festivals were celebrated within the first few decades among the first and second-generation Japanese settlers and in the late 1960s, a majority identified themselves with the Buddhist and Shinto faiths. Conversion to Roman Catholic Christianity increased from the late 1970s onwards.
Brazil 2024
Among the 1.4 million Brazilians of Japanese descent, 28% have some non-Japanese ancestry.[38] This number reaches only 6% among children of Japanese immigrants, but 61% among great-grandchildren of Japanese immigrants.
Currently, 60% of Japanese-Brazilians are Roman Catholics and 25% are adherents of a Japanese religion.
Although first generation immigrants will often not learn Portuguese well or not use it frequently, most second generation are bilingual. The third generation, however, are most likely monolingual in Portuguese or speak, along with Portuguese, non-fluent Japanese. 47% can understand, read and write in Japanese. 31% of the second generation and 16% of the third generation can speak Japanese.
Fertility - 2.4 children (similar to the average Southern Brazilian woman)
The influx of Japanese descendants from Brazil to Japan was and continues to be large: there are over 300,000 Brazilians living in Japan today, mainly as workers in factories.