Postcrossing Meeting in São Paulo - Brazil

© Sérgio O. Rehder (photo) / Postais do Brasil

Sent by "andreaeiko" from the 11th Postcrossing Meeting in São Paulo on 15/01/2012.

"Liberdade  (Portuguese for "Liberty", "Freedom") is the name of a district in the subprefecture of Sé, in São Paulo, Brazil. It is home to the largest Japanese community outside of Japan in the world and has been growing since the 1950s.

Liberdade is São Paulo's own equivalent of Japantown in the USA. Significant populations of Chinese and Koreans also live in the district of Liberdade. It is served by the São Paulo Metro.

The entrance to Liberdade is marked by a nine-meter tall red torii (a Japanese arch that marks the entrance to Shinto temples) since 1974. This towering structure, situated on Rua Galvão Bueno, is a distinctive representation of the neighborhood. Liberdade was successfully connected to the São Paulo subway network in the 1970s, opening up this area to commerce like never before. Today, thousands of paulistanos (citizens of São Paulo) flock to the public square in Liberdade every Sunday to purchase craft goods at the weekly fair. In January 2008, in order to celebrate 100 years of Japanese immigration to Brazil, a project to revitalize the quarter was approved by the mayor Gilberto Kassab. 40% of the restoration were for the visit of the prince Naruhito to São Paulo in June 2008." In: Wikipedia