What do you think?
Rate this book
Brazil-Maru
From Japanese-American writer a story of Japanese emigration set, like her first novel ( Through the Arc of the Rain Forest , 1990), in Brazil. A range of characters, male and female, tell about a particular group of Japanese who emigrated to Brazil in the first decades of this century. Christian, well-educated, and reasonably affluent, they sought to establish communities where Christian and Japanese values could flourish. The group prospered, though not without cost, and it is this cost that's a major theme here. A secondary theme, suggested by the quotes from the philosopher Rousseau that precede each section, is the nature of education in a new world where emigrants' children often have only 'natural and purely physical knowledge.' Young Emile begins with his recollections of his 1925 arrival in Brazil as a small child; the uncomfortable journey to the settlement where families already there helped them clear land; and the hard work required to become self-sufficient. But even the most idealistic communities have problems, and, successively, Emile, Haru, Kantaro, and Genji, over the years, record the events and personalities that threatened the Kantaro, the visionary and dilettante, whose enterprises from baseball to chicken-farming had unforeseen consequences; the bitter divisions caused by WW I that led to the murder of an original founder; the effects of the enduring passion of Yergo for Haru; and the increased assimilation with neighboring Brazilians. Paradoxically, assimilated Guillerme notes in an epilogue that thousands of unemployed Japanese-Brazilians are currently working in Japan as menial labor. Though often seeming more a work of reportage than a novel, Yamashita's characters are vital, full-bodied creations offering sufficient balance, as well as answers to the questions raised. Informative and timely.- Kirkus
248 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
13 people are currently reading
394 people want to read
About the author
Karen Tei Yamashita
26 books198 followersBorn January 8, 1951 in Oakland, California, Karen Tei Yamashita is a Japanese American writer and Associate Professor of Literature at University of California, Santa Cruz, where she teaches creative writing and Asian American literature. Her works, several of which contain elements of magic realism, include novels I Hotel (2010), Circle K Cycles (2001), Tropic of Orange (1997), Brazil-Maru (1992), and Through the Arc of the Rain Forest (1990). Tei Yamashita's novels emphasize the absolute necessity of polyglot, multicultural communities in an increasingly globalized age, even as they destabilize orthodox notions of borders and national/ethnic identity.
She has also written a number of plays, including Hannah Kusoh, Noh Bozos and O-Men which was produced by the Asian American theatre group, East West Players.
Yamashita is a finalist for the 2010 National Book Award for I Hotel.
She has also written a number of plays, including Hannah Kusoh, Noh Bozos and O-Men which was produced by the Asian American theatre group, East West Players.
Yamashita is a finalist for the 2010 National Book Award for I Hotel.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
February 18, 2018
I've been having a lot of thoughts about social novels, the artificial demarcations of advertised "modern classic" in relation to works that have actually withstood the test of time, the determinations of which corresponding works should be granted to which youth, and how all that, incremental by increment, has made people in the US believe that they are untouched by any form of socialism. Public schools, public libraries, public bathrooms, nonprofits ranging from the actual to the implied (hospitals) to the jokes (the NFL): now make the admissions to all of credible ones a set price à la theme parks rather than life sustaining institutions and see what you get. Not a very friendly picture, is it. And yet the mainstream conclusion is that, since we don't know what comes after capitalism in the vein of how capitalism succeeded feudalism, we shouldn't bother with the transitions, as if fools running headlong into the latest capitalistic scheme (take Bitcoin as merely one small recent example) hadn't compromised millions of others with their faith in the most insidious cult since the rule of those who viewed themselves as the embodiment of their god(s) on earth. Yamashita's work is nearly as old as I am, but as that is far younger than meditations on capitalistic social systems that have been deemed acceptable without relying on sensationalized dystopian forms such as, say, 'Elmer Gantry' (typing this out I realized that Wizard of the Crow also fits the bill, but that wonderful work deserves its own review, so I'll leave my critique compromise), I take it as the 'modern' in the 'modern classic' ads keep spouting forth these days. It's certainly earned it more than whatever keeps flashing across my dash these days.
If the description for this work had contained a variation on the theme of "three generations in a country not the US do a thing and blah de blah de blah", I probably wouldn't read it. The works of those beyond the demographical pale are plagued with such simplifications, and it doesn't help me determine whether there will be characters I care about, or a testing of theories of politics and other social spectrums, or a touching upon of a history that had either not been spoken of in mainstream venues or had been claimed by a white author for the sake of money, not inheritance. Fortunately, "multi-generational saga" wasn't enough to scare me off of the great Yamashita, and while this isn't a favorite like I Hotel, I always find it thrilling to read about people coming together to circumvent the cold individualistic hellscape of capitalism, even if it doesn't work out because of said cold individualistic hellscape of capitalism. If Gatsby had survived and ran off to Brazil to escape his creditors and either got suckered into by or suckered Kantaro into some moneymaking scheme, here's the fallout. Less heartbreaking and masculinity-reinforcing than the the canonical end, perhaps, but no one lives forever, not even the most successful parasites that the bootstrap mentality working in tandem with the free market are capable of breeding. Add in the history of Japanese immigration as determined by white Brazilian's greed and white US' hate (there are far more Japanese Brazilians than there are Japanese Americans), and you have a necessary story in the making.
I could've used more individual narratives of the women, but as I understand the necessity of including the characters Yamashita did, this would've made for a much longer book, and I don't think the collective House of Usher narrative needed more space than it did. It's also nice to be rewarded for picking up a book by a woman of color simply on the strength of past readings, and this work, one of Yamashita's less popular ones, was so good that I'll be picking up more, poor ratings be damned. The negative reputation is more likely than not the result of readers being trained to adore the sort of character that this novel reviles, the work choosing instead to lift up the collective as the hero of the story. The fact the hero fails at the end doesn't invalidate their story, much as the end of 'Beowulf' doesn't compromise the titular character's triumphant fate, whatever the propaganda of contemporary times may feed you.
If the description for this work had contained a variation on the theme of "three generations in a country not the US do a thing and blah de blah de blah", I probably wouldn't read it. The works of those beyond the demographical pale are plagued with such simplifications, and it doesn't help me determine whether there will be characters I care about, or a testing of theories of politics and other social spectrums, or a touching upon of a history that had either not been spoken of in mainstream venues or had been claimed by a white author for the sake of money, not inheritance. Fortunately, "multi-generational saga" wasn't enough to scare me off of the great Yamashita, and while this isn't a favorite like I Hotel, I always find it thrilling to read about people coming together to circumvent the cold individualistic hellscape of capitalism, even if it doesn't work out because of said cold individualistic hellscape of capitalism. If Gatsby had survived and ran off to Brazil to escape his creditors and either got suckered into by or suckered Kantaro into some moneymaking scheme, here's the fallout. Less heartbreaking and masculinity-reinforcing than the the canonical end, perhaps, but no one lives forever, not even the most successful parasites that the bootstrap mentality working in tandem with the free market are capable of breeding. Add in the history of Japanese immigration as determined by white Brazilian's greed and white US' hate (there are far more Japanese Brazilians than there are Japanese Americans), and you have a necessary story in the making.
I could've used more individual narratives of the women, but as I understand the necessity of including the characters Yamashita did, this would've made for a much longer book, and I don't think the collective House of Usher narrative needed more space than it did. It's also nice to be rewarded for picking up a book by a woman of color simply on the strength of past readings, and this work, one of Yamashita's less popular ones, was so good that I'll be picking up more, poor ratings be damned. The negative reputation is more likely than not the result of readers being trained to adore the sort of character that this novel reviles, the work choosing instead to lift up the collective as the hero of the story. The fact the hero fails at the end doesn't invalidate their story, much as the end of 'Beowulf' doesn't compromise the titular character's triumphant fate, whatever the propaganda of contemporary times may feed you.
The bank is not in the business of great human experiments.
June 16, 2021
Un peu déçu. Après l’explosion formelle et narrative de I HOTEL, je m’attendais à quelque chose de similaire. Ce court (long) roman documentaire à 5 voix sur l’immigration japonaise au Brésil est étrangement et étonnamment ennuyant. J’y ai appris beaucoup, certes, sur la colonisation de la forêt paulista, sur l’implantation et le fonctionnement des coopératives utopistes, sur le passage des traditions entre les générations et le refus de s’intégrer, mais je n’ai pas ressenti grand chose. Ça manquait d’éclat, de quelque chose, de jeito.
February 9, 2019
The premise of the book initially excited me bc the Japanese diaspora in Brazil isn’t a topic that gets a lot of attention. But this book was so dry and dull. It followed and had too many characters to keep up with. I was bored from all the technical talk of the commune life/business aspect. I hoped for more insights into their personal lives, reflections. I also hated how the main protagonists were men. This just sucked ass and i forced myself to finish it.
April 1, 2019
Just not my kind of book. The social novel is so diffuse I have a hard time maintaining interest. And I found the main character infuriating.
February 5, 2023
The first half of this book is exactly what is expected, it’s the unfolding of a new community of foreigners in a new country starting new lives and families and cultures. Then the younger generation begins what seems to start as a socialist movement within the community but within a decade or two the community is most definitely a cult and the leader a sexual predator, serial embezzler, and pathological liar/manipulator (as well as sociopath drunk with power).
The story begins with the romance of hope and possibilities but the main villain begins to disappoint family and friends and lovers early on. This negativity grows from personal indifference and eventually into the ruination of families, reputations, and fortunes. It’s simply endless tragedies from almost beginning to end especially for the women.
The jumping around of perspective leaves a lot of loose ends and so many characters are woven into the story to be forgotten or simply killed off later. It also allowed there to be a lack of focus or proper story structure. Quite a disappointing novel in the end despite all the potential in the beginning.
The story begins with the romance of hope and possibilities but the main villain begins to disappoint family and friends and lovers early on. This negativity grows from personal indifference and eventually into the ruination of families, reputations, and fortunes. It’s simply endless tragedies from almost beginning to end especially for the women.
The jumping around of perspective leaves a lot of loose ends and so many characters are woven into the story to be forgotten or simply killed off later. It also allowed there to be a lack of focus or proper story structure. Quite a disappointing novel in the end despite all the potential in the beginning.
February 25, 2023
I had a difficult time getting ready involved in this book at first, finding the writing a bit stilted and dry. Perhaps the simple sequential narrative in the first section was chosen to reflect that particular narrator; the point of view shifts to several other people throughout the book. I did get sucked into this complicated story, and in many ways the author does a good job of presenting it.
If the intent is to reflect the confusion of the lives described, that may be a little too successful. It is a difficult, painful story to tell, and the author manages to tell it without forcing a particular point of view or judgement on the reader. Some readers may find this hard to swallow.
So maybe I should be rating this at least three and a half stars! ⭐⭐✨!
If the intent is to reflect the confusion of the lives described, that may be a little too successful. It is a difficult, painful story to tell, and the author manages to tell it without forcing a particular point of view or judgement on the reader. Some readers may find this hard to swallow.
So maybe I should be rating this at least three and a half stars! ⭐⭐✨!
Read
July 15, 2023Finished—like nothing I’ve read before. Slow beginning that reminded me too much of the male-centered preachy, utopia-dreaming obliviousness of robinson crusoe (was v close to putting this in the dnf pile), horrifying/compelling build and ending. Lots to dig into—lineage details, unspoken plot points, pov/voice choices, imagery puzzles, why Kantaro was written the way he is, the process of creating fiction from interviews, and of course, ideals, political commentary, identity, belonging. Haunting.
August 22, 2022
Uma narrativa histórica sobre fatos que eu desconhecia acerca da vinda de imigrantes japoneses ao Brasil no início do século XX. Bastante interessante. Fiquei enojada com a representação de um dos personagens principais, um homem manipulador que se julgava quase dono do mundo, capaz de enganar, trair, roubar, e ainda julgar como traidores quem não compactuava com ele.
November 12, 2022
This novel centers on the immigration of Japanese to Brazil slightly before to a short time after WWI.
The Japanese men who are the most influential in the group are not the best with money management which causes unrest and unhappiness. Moving to a foreign country to acquire a better lifestyle is not easy.
The Japanese men who are the most influential in the group are not the best with money management which causes unrest and unhappiness. Moving to a foreign country to acquire a better lifestyle is not easy.
September 7, 2023
In full disclosure i did not finish. It's a good story but there were too many characters to keep track of.
April 10, 2025
Nope.
The back book jacket states, "The story of an idealistic band of japanese immigrants (they're not idealistic in any way) who arrive in Brazil in 1925 to carve a utopia out of the jungle (they are in no way trying to create a utpoia, they are burning the jungle and its wildlife to grow crops). The dream of creating a new world, the cost of idealism (not ONE character is idealistic - they are childlike gossiping simple people who are bizarrely obsessed with baseball), the symbolic tie between a people and the land they settle (there is NO SYMBOLIC TIE AT ALL. they move there to "settle" it - ie make the rain forrest in to crops. Ie to colonize it.)."
Who ever wrote the book jacket did not read the book.
First of all - the writing style: There is no style. It's sort of a like a shorthand diary: They got up and swept dirt floor. The children were playing with a ball. ____ came by on his horse. ...
There is no "style". It is emotionally and purposefully devoid of any style- that is its style.
It seems that it may have gotten stuck between being a true story and being based on a true story?? She had basic facts but wasn't able to fill in the details with character development and lovely writing as a Michener or Clavell could.
The Japanese go to Brazil because land was cheap. They slash and burn more and more of the rain forrest and the wild animals flee from the flames. Then they plant crops and make roads. There is NO IDEALISM! That is laughable. These people are described as extremely simple minded. The one lady wants to marry the one guy, his marriage is arranged to the other lady so then she wants him, so he then marries her. They throw tantrums like six year olds. Its like a simpleton reality TV show. I'm not being harsh or exaggerating, as I realize this review sounds. This is how it is written.
She describes the bugs that they all endure when they first arrive, but comments that as there was less rain forrest. the bugs were gone. Just a simple statement. No insight. Nothing.
There is ZERO introspection by any character about idealism or anything even the baseball they crave.
That's what I thought I bought at the book store as that is what it says it is- some thoughts about something.. It. is. not. Thoughtful.
These people don't have one tiny little second thought about anything but who will marry who and baseball.
They were entirely selfish people looking to get cheap land and flee japan. It's an OLD earth story.
There is so much that could have been interesting. However, it is just a sort of a journal of basic movements and quite sad really how there was no thought about anything but crops and baseball. Not one person felt or had a thought about the beauty of the place or their dreams or thoughts really of any kind... They just want baseball equipment so they can win against the next "settlement town" and spend a fortune to send one crazy guy back to japan to buy baseball stuff. It’s completely simple (to put it nicely).
If you want to read a book about the sad reality of how a people can colonize another country and never even have one thought about their effect on that country or its people - this is for you. Especially if you don't want to connect to any one character in any way.
The forward by Susan Straight is also puzzling as that woman writes in the opposite style of her freind Karen: boy does she loves to hear herself use words!: "for some novelists, the gaze turns inward, and the imagined world is a closely observed recitation of the life of one human, and perhaps a few who are in attendance or in love."
Ah yes...perhaps.
"But I have always loved the great social novels whose writers turn their gaze upon the panorama of teeming life in human places, where even when the individual voices are those woven ropes pulling readers through the landscape, the imagined world is a society whose inhabitants are navigating survival and family and desire and love." aaaaaand hogwash.
I just hurt myself eye rolling.
She and this book are not Dickens or Steinbeck (or even Clavell) so there is no great social novel or gaze or panorama, nothing is teaming, there is no rope, the landscape of Brazil was something of the Gods until the Japanese arrived to remove it to grow rice or corn or whatever, and there was no fight for survival or even love evidenced.
This book takes a very basic almost glance at a tragic experiment where the Eden of Brazil was the loser, that could possibly have been fascinating to unravel in hindsight, but instead it is approached in the most banal way.
Not worth the poor tree that died to print it on.
I gave it two stars as I applaud anyone who sits down to write a book and gets it published. But I'm not sure what inspired Karen to do it, she didnt tell us in the work. No matter what Susan straight waxes on about "swerving and lingering, arriving and evolving, dying and still telling their stories."
Yeah...no.
The back book jacket states, "The story of an idealistic band of japanese immigrants (they're not idealistic in any way) who arrive in Brazil in 1925 to carve a utopia out of the jungle (they are in no way trying to create a utpoia, they are burning the jungle and its wildlife to grow crops). The dream of creating a new world, the cost of idealism (not ONE character is idealistic - they are childlike gossiping simple people who are bizarrely obsessed with baseball), the symbolic tie between a people and the land they settle (there is NO SYMBOLIC TIE AT ALL. they move there to "settle" it - ie make the rain forrest in to crops. Ie to colonize it.)."
Who ever wrote the book jacket did not read the book.
First of all - the writing style: There is no style. It's sort of a like a shorthand diary: They got up and swept dirt floor. The children were playing with a ball. ____ came by on his horse. ...
There is no "style". It is emotionally and purposefully devoid of any style- that is its style.
It seems that it may have gotten stuck between being a true story and being based on a true story?? She had basic facts but wasn't able to fill in the details with character development and lovely writing as a Michener or Clavell could.
The Japanese go to Brazil because land was cheap. They slash and burn more and more of the rain forrest and the wild animals flee from the flames. Then they plant crops and make roads. There is NO IDEALISM! That is laughable. These people are described as extremely simple minded. The one lady wants to marry the one guy, his marriage is arranged to the other lady so then she wants him, so he then marries her. They throw tantrums like six year olds. Its like a simpleton reality TV show. I'm not being harsh or exaggerating, as I realize this review sounds. This is how it is written.
She describes the bugs that they all endure when they first arrive, but comments that as there was less rain forrest. the bugs were gone. Just a simple statement. No insight. Nothing.
There is ZERO introspection by any character about idealism or anything even the baseball they crave.
That's what I thought I bought at the book store as that is what it says it is- some thoughts about something.. It. is. not. Thoughtful.
These people don't have one tiny little second thought about anything but who will marry who and baseball.
They were entirely selfish people looking to get cheap land and flee japan. It's an OLD earth story.
There is so much that could have been interesting. However, it is just a sort of a journal of basic movements and quite sad really how there was no thought about anything but crops and baseball. Not one person felt or had a thought about the beauty of the place or their dreams or thoughts really of any kind... They just want baseball equipment so they can win against the next "settlement town" and spend a fortune to send one crazy guy back to japan to buy baseball stuff. It’s completely simple (to put it nicely).
If you want to read a book about the sad reality of how a people can colonize another country and never even have one thought about their effect on that country or its people - this is for you. Especially if you don't want to connect to any one character in any way.
The forward by Susan Straight is also puzzling as that woman writes in the opposite style of her freind Karen: boy does she loves to hear herself use words!: "for some novelists, the gaze turns inward, and the imagined world is a closely observed recitation of the life of one human, and perhaps a few who are in attendance or in love."
Ah yes...perhaps.
"But I have always loved the great social novels whose writers turn their gaze upon the panorama of teeming life in human places, where even when the individual voices are those woven ropes pulling readers through the landscape, the imagined world is a society whose inhabitants are navigating survival and family and desire and love." aaaaaand hogwash.
I just hurt myself eye rolling.
She and this book are not Dickens or Steinbeck (or even Clavell) so there is no great social novel or gaze or panorama, nothing is teaming, there is no rope, the landscape of Brazil was something of the Gods until the Japanese arrived to remove it to grow rice or corn or whatever, and there was no fight for survival or even love evidenced.
This book takes a very basic almost glance at a tragic experiment where the Eden of Brazil was the loser, that could possibly have been fascinating to unravel in hindsight, but instead it is approached in the most banal way.
Not worth the poor tree that died to print it on.
I gave it two stars as I applaud anyone who sits down to write a book and gets it published. But I'm not sure what inspired Karen to do it, she didnt tell us in the work. No matter what Susan straight waxes on about "swerving and lingering, arriving and evolving, dying and still telling their stories."
Yeah...no.
November 19, 2025
Interesting perspectives of Japanese settlers arriving in Brazil and starting a new life.
February 9, 2021
4.3 Stars
A people and a history that are often overlooked.
Brazil has the highest population of Japanese (enthnic) people outside of Japan, and I have seldom seen mention of these people in literature. As someone who loves anthropology and history, this story was perfect, and it's written by the author of one of my favourite books The Tropic of Orange. I didn't know what to expect when I picked this one up, but I'm happy that I did.
This story speaks about the transition to life in a new country that is worlds different from Japan. From the beginning we understand the different kinds of people and reasons that drove the migration of these large numbers of people, and how this directly influenced the type of community established in Brazil. The author really expands on how building a new community isn't just about infrastructure and food, but a sense of social belonging through arts, sports, and commerce are also necessary.
It's also fascinating how the country of Brazil itself feels like a character in this story. By virtue of the terrain and time this book is set in we get a very atmospheric story that provides the perfect backdrop for this truly dramatic story. So much happens in this story, and there are so many threads to follow that this never gets boring. We get to see how living in these closed communities really affects every aspect of these people's lives from relationships to hopes and desires.
I really enjoyed this story, and I recommend it to fans of cultural stories and literary fiction.
A people and a history that are often overlooked.
Brazil has the highest population of Japanese (enthnic) people outside of Japan, and I have seldom seen mention of these people in literature. As someone who loves anthropology and history, this story was perfect, and it's written by the author of one of my favourite books The Tropic of Orange. I didn't know what to expect when I picked this one up, but I'm happy that I did.
This story speaks about the transition to life in a new country that is worlds different from Japan. From the beginning we understand the different kinds of people and reasons that drove the migration of these large numbers of people, and how this directly influenced the type of community established in Brazil. The author really expands on how building a new community isn't just about infrastructure and food, but a sense of social belonging through arts, sports, and commerce are also necessary.
It's also fascinating how the country of Brazil itself feels like a character in this story. By virtue of the terrain and time this book is set in we get a very atmospheric story that provides the perfect backdrop for this truly dramatic story. So much happens in this story, and there are so many threads to follow that this never gets boring. We get to see how living in these closed communities really affects every aspect of these people's lives from relationships to hopes and desires.
I really enjoyed this story, and I recommend it to fans of cultural stories and literary fiction.
March 15, 2017
Amazing and readable.
November 22, 2009
This book had an interesting premise - a multi-generational story of Japanese immigrants as they settle and colonize Brazil. It follows one family led by a their leader Kantaro - a flawed character who attempts to build a society according to his ideals in what was then virgin forest. The portions that described the initial society-building in the jungle were very interesting and I think probably accurate. Anyone who has ever seen the the red mud houses in Brazil will appreciate this part of the book.
The biggest flaw of this book is that it followed too many characters which made the whole thing confusing at times. Maybe it would have been better to read it in one sitting.
The biggest flaw of this book is that it followed too many characters which made the whole thing confusing at times. Maybe it would have been better to read it in one sitting.
October 13, 2025
Yamashita folds so much heart into her novels that even as dark turns turn into nightmarish spiral spirals, we still relate, experiencing warm fuzzies in valleys of smoldering briars. Brighton Beach Memoirs-esque childhood recollections seamlessly fade off-white-to-grey into a Books of Jacob-esque jaw-dropping tale of a roving tribe far from their native land (Japan to Brazil), blindly led by an eccentric and passionate (both loved for and flawed because of) leader; a multi-generational, multi-narrational, epic served up in just under 250 pages, with levity, brevity and mild depravity.
May 5, 2008
A Great!
My former teacher!
My former teacher!
May 1, 2009
It's been ages since I read it. 1995 in fact, but I read it right before I visited Brazil and remember enjoying it.
October 11, 2011
Like with Tropic of Orange, Yamashita again plays with form to tell a multi-charactered story. I really liked the setting, but found some characters too stereotypical.
June 21, 2021
This story is actually great.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews