One of World's Biggest Japan Festivals Kicks Off in Brazil

   Sao Paulo, July 11 (Jiji Press)--One of the world's largest festivals featuring Japanese culture kicked off Friday in Brazil, which hosts the biggest Japanese community outside of the Asian country.
   The 26th "Festival do Japao" in Sao Paulo is set to run for three days until Sunday. The annual festival aims to be a bridge connecting Brazil and Japan. The South American country is home to some 2.7 million people of Japanese descent.
   This year marks the 130th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Princess Kako, the second daughter of Japan's Crown Prince Akishino and Crown Princess Kiko, visited Brazil last month.
   This year's festival is expected to attract about 180,000 visitors, according to the organizers.
   Sixteen-year-old Mariana Freire visited the festival after becoming interested in Japanese culture through a family trip to the country last year. There were many kinds of dishes at the food court, which offers a variety of traditional Japanese cuisine, she said. Freire also said that she is a big fan of Hello Kitty series characters from Sanrio Co., a major Japanese entertainment company.

(2025/07/12-14:08)