Friday, October 24, 2008

Sunday at the Liberdade!

Liberdade (Freedom) is a district of the central region of Sao Paulo. It is the largest stronghold of the Japanese community in the city, which also represents the largest Japanese community in the world, outside of Japan. The cultural influence can be felt on the streets thanks to the typically Oriental fixtures (where even the signs of establishments are written in Japanese) and the thematic exhibitions which take place periodically.
History: The famous neighborhood has been the scene of many battles in the history of the capital. The name Liberdade comes from the time of the abolition of slavery.
In the early years of the 20th century, the neighborhood began to change. June the 18th of 1908, at the port of Santos, a ship called Kasato Maru is bringing the first 782 Japanese immigrants to Brazil. They left the port of Kobe on April the 28th to "make America", which at the time meant planting coffee in the interior of Sao Paulo. Many of them did not accustome to that slavery routine and returned to the capital. In the following decades, more than 30 crowded ships arrived in Santos, Liberdade was sheltering several of them.
The development was inevitable and the neighborhood acquired Oriental characteristics over the years. Other Asians moved there, such as Chinese and Koreans. Today, Liberdade is one of the biggest tourist attraction neighborhoods of the capital, with its decorated and colorful streets.

Every Sunday you can have lunch at the typical japanese market, it's pretty cheap and funny!
Easy to reach, the district is served by Line 1 (Blue) of the Metro of Sao Paulo, Liberdade station. The market is just out there!
If you prefere something more confortable there are many restaurants all around, it's nice to have a walk and just choose one.
A good option is the Nandemoya, which is a "por Kilo" serving Japanese food. You can see the kitchen and the cookers always preparing fresh sushy behind a window. Big choice, cheap prices, lots of fun with the japanese karaoke!

Service

Where: Nandemoya, Rua Américo de Campos, 9
When: whenever you want, but on Sunday is the best!

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