Kachigumi: a collective delusion among the Japanese and their descendants in Brazil.

Abstract

In August 1945 the Second World War ended. The end of the war precipitated a sharp division of the 300,000 Japanese community in Brazil over its outcome, and a large majority believed that Japan had won the war and they came into conflict with the minority who acknowledged the defeat of Japan. The ensuing bitter conflict within the Japanese community in Brazil continued over several years and eventually led to the assassination of more than fifteen community leaders. As time passed, a majority of these victory-believers came to grasp the reality, but there are still remnants of fanatic victory-believers who shut themselves off completely from other Japanese. A chronological account of the event is reported in this paper from the perspective of the process of acculturation of Japanese immigrants to Brazilian culture.