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Did you know that Brazil has more people of Japanese descent than any other country except for Japan? The majority of Japanese immigrants settled in the states of Parana and Sao Paulo.

Many towns in Sao Paulo and Parana have Japanese parks.

For example, this is “Praca do Japao” (“Japanese Park”) in Curitiba, Brazil:

And, the city of Sao Paulo itself has a really cool neighborhood called “Liberdade” which is home to a lot of Japanese stores and restaurants.

If you’re ever visiting Sao Paulo and want a really cool day trip, the city of Mogi das Cruzes is about an hour train ride from downtown Sao Paulo. This is an interesting city with a lot of greenery, and a beautiful natural space called “Japanese Immigration Centennial Park.”

“Japanese Immigration Centennial Park” is sort of a combination of a museum, cultural center, park, and nature preserve.

And it’s also home to both marmoset monkeys and Capybaras.

The train ride from Sao Paulo to Mogi das Cruzes is a fun shift from being in the largest city in all of South America to being in a more open and natural environment.

These two pictures were taken less than 40 miles (64km) apart:

Mogi das Cruzes is the last stop on the “Linha 11” train line. And, the final station is within walking distance of “Japanese Immigration Centennial Park.”

Real estate developers say that the key to success is “Location, location, location.”

And between the train station and park there’s a mall, a really good bakery named “Padaria Santto Trigo,” and a UFO-shaped supermarket called “Alabarce.”

I love grocery shopping and will always make time to swing by an interesting regional grocer. The Alabarce supermarket Mogi das Cruzes contains a treasure trove of delicious Brazilian sodas.

If you ever get a chance, try Guaraná Jesus soda (named after its inventor, Jesus Norberto Gomes). This is an incredibly delicious soft drink that tastes like bubblegum. And if you want to try a more accessible Brazilian soda, Guaraná Antarctica is pretty good and usually available on Amazon.

Soda in hand, let’s head to the park…

While I’ve never seen a wild Capybara eat people food, marmosets are always looking to get their paws on human snacks. As soon as they heard me crack open my soda, the marmosets swarmed-in, hoping for a treat.

Meanwhile, this majestic Capybara sat-back and observed the action…

Eventually, the big capy decided it was lunchtime and got up to graze.

“Japanese Immigration Centennial Park” is a great place for nature lovers, and Mogi das Cruzes is a fun day trip for anyone who wants to spend some time outside the city of Sao Paulo.

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Thank YOU for reading and have a great day!

- CapyTube