In 2008, the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the Japanese immigration to Brazil resulted in the spread of a celebratory discourse on the idea of "Japanese culture." However, this discourse was based on an essentialist view, which neglected the several conflicts inherent to this issue. One of the reasons is the absence in Brazil of a discussion about the debates involving the main social thinkers working on the study of the construction, transformation, and critique of the concept of Japanese culture. This article aims at proposing a sketch of these major debates on the notion of Japanese culture, as well as its historical context. Based on this overview, I briefly reflect on how the Japanese culture has been approached in Brazil, as well as the consequences that the current discourse has had for both Brazilian and Japanese societies.
Japan; Japanese culture; Japanese immigration; National identity; Intellectual history