Japan's Princess Kako receives medal in Brazil as she starts 11-day trip

SAO PAULO — Japan’s Princess Kako of Akishino, a niece of Emperor Naruhito, received the highest order of Brazil's powerhouse state of Sao Paulo on Friday as she kicks off an 11-day trip to the South American nation. Her trip also marks the 130th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The younger daughter of Crown Prince Fumihito and Crown Princess Kiko arrived on Thursday in Sao Paulo. She held appointments with members of the Japanese community on Friday and finished her schedule at a dinner with Governor Tarcisio de Freitas at the state government palace. She was awarded the Order of the Ipiranga at a closed ceremony.

Princess Kako will visit another seven cities, including Rio de Janeiro and capital Brasilia, where she is expected to meet President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Speaking to de Freitas, she made reference to the first Japanese immigrants arriving in the city of Santos in 1908 after a gruesome trip through the seas. On the first day of her trip, she visited the memorial to pioneer Japanese immigrants at Sao Paulo's Ibirapuera Park.

“I felt that the immigrants made an enormous effort to adapt to Brazil, and still today are very active in different areas. The fact that Brazil sheltered the Japanese community made the connections between the two countries to become deeper,” the princess said.

Today, Brazil has the largest population of people of Japanese descent in the world, estimated at about 2.7 million. About half of those live in Sao Paulo state, official figures show.

Emperor Naruhito has no male children, which makes his brother Akishino, Princess Kako's father, the first successor in line. Japan's tradition does not allow women to take the throne.

Princess Mako, who is Princess Kako's older sister, was the last member of Japan's imperial family to visit Brazil. She traveled to 13 cities of the South American nation in 2018.