Today, Brazil has the largest community of Japanese descent in the world while Japan currently is home to about 200,000 Brazilians. Cities like São Paulo claim huge populations of Syrian, Lebanese, Italian, and Portuguese descent. The millions of immigrants who settled in Brazil helped to create ideas about ethnicity, foreignness and national identity, all within a historical context of slavery, that are often distinct from other countries in the Americas. This presentation will analyze the role of Japanese-Brazilians in creating new forms of multiculturalism in both Brazil and Japan.