was a
terrorist
Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
organization composed of Japanese immigrants. It was active in the state of
São Paulo
São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...
, Brazil during the 1940s. Refusing to believe the news of
Japan's surrender
The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally signed on 2 September 1945, bringing the war's hostilities to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy ( ...
at the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, some of its most fanatic members used violence against those who did surrender. Shindo Renmei killed at least 23 people, all of whom were
Japanese-Brazilians, and wounded 147 others.
Background
The first Japanese emigrated to Brazil in 1908, hoping to amass wealth and then return to Japan. They found themselves in a foreign country with different languages, religions, climate, food, and customs. As a result, they were relatively isolated from the culture around them, and few learned Portuguese. As a result, the general public regarded them with suspicion. By the 1930s, Brazil had the world's largest Japanese immigrant community.
The
Estado Novo regime established by
Getúlio Vargas
Getúlio Dornelles Vargas (; 19 April 1882 – 24 August 1954) was a Brazilian lawyer and politician who served as the 14th and 17th president of Brazil, from 1930 to 1945 and from 1951 to 1954. Due to his long and controversial tenure as Brazi ...
, aiming to promote Brazilian nationalism,
repressed the Japanese Brazilians, Italian Brazilians and German Brazilians. The decree 383 of April 18, 1938 mandated that foreigners were not allowed to take part in political activities
or speak foreign languages in public. Additionally, the first language taught to children had to be Portuguese. Radio broadcast in foreign languages was also forbidden. Publishing in foreign languages was only allowed in bilingual editions.
At the time, almost 90% of the Japanese immigrants were subscribers of Japanese language newspapers, which indicates a much higher literacy rate than the general populace at the time. Decree 383, which made bilingual editions obligatory, in effect required such newspapers to stop printing due to the resulting high costs. As a significant number of Japanese immigrants could not understand Portuguese, it became exceedingly difficult for them to obtain any extra-communal information.
When Brazil sided with the Allies in 1942, all communication with Japan was cut off and the entry of new Japanese immigrants was forbidden. Letters from Japan would no longer arrive to their recipients. Japanese-Brazilians were unable to travel freely or live in certain regions, such as coastal areas, without
safe conduct from the authorities. Radio receivers were also confiscated, making it almost impossible for Japanese-Brazilians to listen to shortwave transmissions from Japan. Even bilingual newspapers were prohibited during this period.
Foundation
Shindo Renmei was not the only, nor the first, political organization founded by Japanese-Brazilians. Most of these organizations provided mutual support for the community. None of them, except for Shindo Renmei, was ever involved in terrorism.
The Japanese Catholics
Keizo Ishihara,
Margarida Watanabe, and
Massaru Takahashi founded the Pia ("pious"), a charity created with the approval of the church and the Brazilian government to help the poorer members of the diaspora. A former Japanese army colonel,
Junji Kikawa, was active in the Pia. In 1942, after a violent altercation between Japanese and Brazilians in
Marília
Marília () is a Brazilian municipality in the midwestern region of the state of São Paulo. Its distance from the state capital São Paulo is by highway, by railway and in a straight line. It is located at an altitude of 675 meters. The popula ...
, Kikawa founded Shindo Renmei, and campaigned for the Japanese community to commit acts of sabotage. He distributed pamphlets urging Japanese-Brazilian farmers to cease producing silk (used at time to make parachutes) and peppermint (menthol was used in the production of explosives). As Pia's directors opposed this campaign, Kikawa left Pia in 1944.
Shindo Renmei had its headquarters in São Paulo, with 64 local offices in the states of São Paulo and
Paraná. It was sponsored by donations from its affiliates.
With the end of World War II, Shindo Renmei refused to believe the official news of Japan's defeat. Believing it to be nothing but American propaganda, Shindo Renmei's members established new goals: to punish the defeatists, to declare that Japan had won or was winning the war, and defend the
emperor's honor.
In Shindo Renmei's eyes, the Japanese-Brazilian community was divided in two groups:
* ''Kachigumi'', or "the victorious", who believed the war was still going on, or that Japan had won. They were the majority mostly from the poorer members of the community and those who still intended to return to Japan.
* ''Makegumi'', or "the defeated" pejoratively called "dirty hearts", who had accepted the news of Japan's defeat. They were usually the wealthier members of the community who were more informed and better adapted to Brazilian society.
Compounding the confusion, a number of deceivers produced fake Japanese newspapers and magazines with news stories about the "great victory" and started selling land in the "conquered territories". Others sold yen, the Japanese currency nearly worthless at the time, to those who intended to return to Japan. This drove many Kachigumis into bankruptcy and even to suicide in some cases.
[Gargantas Cortadas ''in'' IstoÉ Online (visitada em 17 de agosto de 2008)](_blank)
Terrorist actions
Shindo Renmei's members believed that the news regarding Japan's defeat was false, and they created a communication system to declare that Japan had actually won. Underground Japanese-language newspapers and magazines were published and secret radio stations were established to push this view.
The group also wrote lists with the names of ''makegumis'' who should die for betraying the emperor.
Kamegoro Ogasawara, owner of a dry cleaner in São Paulo, coordinated the punitive actions. Many Japanese-owned boarding houses served as hideouts for the killers after their actions.
Shindo Renmei's killers, or ''
tokkotai'', were always young people. They sent letters to their intended targets before a murder, urging them to commit
seppuku – ritual suicide by sword – so that they could "regain their lost honor". The letters started by saying: "You have a dirty heart, so you must have the throat washed"; this essentially means to be cut by a
katana
A is a Japanese sword characterized by a curved, single-edged blade with a circular or squared guard and long grip to accommodate two hands. Developed later than the '' tachi'', it was used by samurai in feudal Japan and worn with the edge f ...
.
Not one of those who received such a letter complied with the request. Thus, they were killed with firearms or katanas. From 1946 to early 1947, Shindo Renmei killed 23 and wounded 147 Japanese-Brazilians, according to official data. The killers often surrendered to the police soon after their crimes, explaining that they had nothing against Brazil or its people, and that they were not common criminals, for they killed only as part of their duty.
Repression and end
Tales of murder, especially by katana sword, spread fear among Japanese-Brazilians. The general Brazilian population was not directly affected, though it was left with the impression that all Japanese were nationalist fanatics.
Bursts of violence against Japanese immigrants, belonging to Shindo Renmei or not, occurred mostly in towns on the countryside where they had large communities, such as in the region of
Tupã, São Paulo.
After two attacks by Shindo Renmei and the murder of a Brazilian truck driver by a Japanese truck driver on 31 July 1946, a massive crowd in
Osvaldo Cruz
Osvaldo Cruz is a municipality in the Brazilian state of São Paulo
São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilia ...
rioted and was willing to lynch any Japanese they found. The riot was contained only with the arrival of army troops.
[SUZUKI Jr, Matinas. História da discriminação brasileira contra os japoneses sai do limbo](_blank)
in ''Folha de S.Paulo
''Folha de S.Paulo'' (sometimes spelled ''Folha de São Paulo''), also known as simply ''Folha'' (, ''Sheet''), is a Brazilian daily newspaper founded in 1921 under the name ''Folha da Noite'' and published in São Paulo by the Folha da Manhã c ...
'', 20 de abril de 2008
The army and the (DEOPS - State Department of Political and Social Order) investigated the case in the states of São Paulo and Paraná. According to the police of São Paulo, 31,380 Japanese-Brazilians were suspected of having connections to the organization. DEOPS also investigated 376 Japanese-Brazilians.
Ultimately, the leaders of Shindo Renmei and most of the ''tokkotai'' were arrested.
About 155 Japanese immigrants were to be banished from Brazil in 1946, but this never happened, and the time for punishment elapsed. Only 14 ''tokkotai'' were convicted of murder.
After many decades, Shindo Renmei is still somewhat of a taboo among Japanese-Brazilian immigrants.
In popular culture
* ''
Dirty Hearts'', a Brazilian film from 2011 about the Shindo Renmei
See also
*
Japanese holdout
Japanese holdouts ( ja, 残留日本兵, translit=Zanryū nipponhei, lit=remaining Japanese soldiers) were soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army and Imperial Japanese Navy during the Pacific Theatre of World War II who continued fighting World Wa ...
*
Terrorism in Brazil
References
*
LESSER, Jeffrey. "Negotiating National Identity: Immigrants, Minorities and the Struggle for Ethnicity in Brazil". Durham:
Duke University Press
Duke University Press is an academic publisher and university press affiliated with Duke University. It was founded in 1921 by William T. Laprade as The Trinity College Press. (Duke University was initially called Trinity College). In 1926 D ...
, 1999. Portuguese edition: Negociando Identidade Nacional: Imigrantes, Minorias e a Luta pela Etnicidade no Brasil (São Paulo: Editora UNESP, 2001.
* DEZEM, Rogério. "Shindô Renmei: terrorismo e repressão". São Paulo: AESP, 2000.
*
MORAIS, Fernando. "Corações Sujos". São Paulo:
Companhia das Letras
Companhia das Letras is the largest publishing house in São Paulo, Brazil. It was founded by Luiz Schwarcz and his wife Lilia Moritz Schwarcz in 1986. Companhia das Letras began as a literary publishing house and gradually grew into 17 independen ...
, 2000.
*
External links
Bugei - A História da Shindo RenmeiShindo Renmei em Campos do Jordão, SP. Crônica do historiador Pedro Paulo Filho{dead link, date=May 2018 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes
* [http://www.portalnikkei.com.br/tv-nippak-assista-ao-documentario-yami-no-ichinichi-o-crime-que-abalou-a-colonia-japonesa-no-brasil-de-mario-jun-okuhara/ Yami no Ichinichi - Documentary about the victorists-defeatists conflict]
Asian-Brazilian culture in São Paulo
Japanese-Brazilian culture
São Paulo (state)
Terrorism in Brazil
Vargas Era
Japanese holdouts
Japanese_secret_societies