The Encyclopedia is the first comprehensive guide to the history of Japanese immigrants in the western hemisphere. It is the story of the Nikkei (people of Japanese descent and their descendants) from early immigration to the present, as they settled in the countries of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and the United States. Each chapter provides four primary areas of information: an historical overview, a bibliographic essay, an annotated bibliography, and supplementary materials including demographic data, and rare historical photographs. Noted scholars Gary Okihiro and Eiichiro Azuma provide key introductory essays on the historical context of Japanese migration from 1868 to the present. It is a valuable resource and fascinating, multi-faceted portrait of Japanese Americans for many audiences: researchers and all people of Japanese and Asian descent. The Foreword is by United States Senator Daniel K. Inouye.

Focusing on migration and mobility, this edited collection examines the religious landscape of Brazil as populated and shaped by transnational flows and domestic migratory movements. Bringing together interdisciplinary perspectives on migration and religion, this book argues that Brazil’s diverse religious landscape must be understood within a dynamic global context. From southern to northern Europe, through Africa, Japan and the Middle East, to a host of Latin American countries, Brazilian society has been influenced by immigrant communities accompanied by a range of beliefs and rituals drawn from established ‘world’ religions as well as alternative religio-spiritual movements. Consequently, the formation and profile of ‘homegrown’ religious communities such as Santo Daime, the Dawn Valley and Umbanda can only be fully understood against the broader backdrop of migration. Contributors draw on the case of Brazil to develop frameworks for understanding the interface of religion and migration, asking questions that include: How do the processes and forces of re-territorialization play out among post-migratory communities? In what ways are the post-transitional dynamics of migration enacted and reframed by different generations of migrants? How are the religious symbols and ritual practices of particular worldviews and traditions appropriated and re-interpreted by migrant communities? What role does religion play in facilitating or impeding post-migratory settlement? Religion, Migration and Mobility engages these questions by drawing on a range of different traditions and research methods. As such, this book will be of keen interest to scholars working across the fields of religious studies, anthropology, cultural studies and sociology.