Chapter 5 Pinheiros District - The Setting Sun of a Japantown
In and around São Paulo city, there are many areas referred to as “Japantowns.” Before and after World War II, the area known as the “Conde District” was the largest of the Japantowns. The Pinheiros Region followed in Nikkei population with around 200 Nikkei residents (Hanada, 1970, p.573). And after that, the area around the Municipal Central Market, which was named “Cantareira-gai” after the street (Reference Map 5-1).
The Pinheiros District is around 7km from the city center and from long ago, functioned as an inn town along the highway towards Sorocaba and Paraná. From the 19th century, …