Event Report (World Plaza - Brazil (Amazonas State) Edition)

World Plaza - Brazil (Amazonas State)

On Sunday, June 6th, the Sagamihara International Lounge held an international exchange event, World Plaza "Brazil (Amazonas State) Edition," at the Ono Minami Community Center, with Jonas Torres, a Brazilian native and resident of Sagamihara City, as the guest speaker, who gave a talk about Brazil and his hometown, Amazonas State.

The lecture began with an overview of Brazil, explaining that it is the country with the largest territory and population in South America, and that its inland area is home to the world's largest tropical rainforest, the Amazon Rainforest, through which flows the Amazon River, one of the world's largest rivers in terms of water. He also explained that Brazil has a historical background of being a home to many people of different races, languages, religions, and customs, including indigenous peoples, and that this has resulted in the country having developed a diverse culture.

In addition, soccer is the national sport, and music and dance such as carnival, samba, and bossa nova are inseparable from the culture and arts of the Brazilian people. Brazil's food culture is also diverse and very colorful, with famous dishes such as churrasco, acarajé, pasteu, and feijoada. And let's not forget that coffee, which is also loved by the Japanese people, has been the world's largest producer of coffee for many years.

Next, Jonas' hometown of Amazonas State (population: approximately 421 million people) is the largest in Brazil in terms of area (approximately 156 million km4.2, about 222 times the size of Japan) and is surrounded by the Amazon rainforest. The state capital, Manaus (population: XNUMX million people), is located at the confluence of the Amazon River and the Negro River and is the economic, cultural and tourist hub of Amazonas State, and is extremely popular with tourists as the starting point for "jungle tours" and "Amazon explorations," so he encouraged people to visit if they have the opportunity.

Finally, the event ended with everyone participating in the lecture dancing the folk dance "Fojo", which is performed at the traditional Brazilian festival "Festa Junina" held in June to celebrate agriculture and gratitude to saints.