was a terrorist organization composed of Japanese immigrants. It was active in the state of São Paulo, Brazil during the 1940s. Refusing to believe the news of Japan's surrender at the end of World War II, some of its most fanatic members used violence against those who did surrender. Shindo Renmei killed at least 23 people, all of whom were Japanese-Brazilians, and wounded 147 others.
Background
The first Japanese emigrated to Brazil in 1908, hoping to amass wealth and then return to Japan. They found themselves in a foreign country with different languages, religions, climate, food, and customs. As a result, they were relatively isolated from the culture around them, and few learned Portuguese. As a result, the general public regarded them with suspicion. By the 1930s, Brazil had the world's largest Japanese immigrant community.
The Estado Novo regime established by Getúlio Vargas, aiming to promote Brazilian nationalism, repressed the Japanese Brazilians, Italian Brazilians and German Brazilians. The decree 383 of April 18, 1938 mandated that foreigners were not allowed to take part in political activities or speak foreign languages in public. Additionally, the first language taught to children had to be Portuguese. Radio broadcast in foreign languages was also forbidden. Publishing in foreign languages was only allowed in bilingual editions.
At the time, almost 90% of the Japanese immigrants were subscribers of Japanese language newspapers, which indicates a much higher literacy rate than the general populace at the time. Decree 383, which made bilingual editions obligatory, in effect required such newspapers to stop printing due to the resulting high costs. As a significant number of Japanese immigrants could not understand Portuguese, it became exceedingly difficult for them to obtain any extra-communal information.
When Brazil sided with the Allies in 1942, all communication with Japan was cut off and the entry of new Japanese immigrants was forbidden. Letters from Japan would no longer reach their recipients. Japanese-Brazilians were unable to travel freely or live in certain regions, such as coastal areas, without safe conduct from the authorities. Radio receivers were also confiscated, making it almost impossible for Japanese-Brazilians to listen to shortwave transmissions from Japan. Even bilingual newspapers were prohibited during this period.
Foundation
Shindo Renmei was not the only, nor the first, political organization founded by Japanese-Brazilians. Most of these organizations provided mutual support for the community. None of them, except for Shindo Renmei, was ever involved in terrorism.
The Japanese Catholics Keizo Ishihara, Margarida Watanabe, and Massaru Takahashi founded the Pia ("pious"), a charity created with the approval of the church and the Brazilian government to help the poorer members of the diaspora. A former Japanese army colonel, Junji Kikawa, was active in the Pia. In 1942, after a violent altercation between Japanese and Brazilians in Marília, Kikawa founded Shindo Renmei, and campaigned for the Japanese community to commit acts of sabotage. He distributed pamphlets urging Japanese-Brazilian farmers to cease producing silk (used at time to make parachutes) and peppermint (menthol was used in the production of explosives). As Pia's directors opposed this campaign, Kikawa left Pia in 1944.
Shindo Renmei had its headquarters in São Paulo, with 64 local offices in the states of São Paulo and Paraná. It was sponsored by donations from its affiliates.
With the end of World War II, Shindo Renmei refused to believe the official news of Japan's defeat. Believing it to be nothing but American propaganda, Shindo Renmei's members established new goals: to punish the defeatists, to declare that Japan had won or was winning the war, and defend the emperor's honor.
In Shindo Renmei's eyes, the Japanese-Brazilian community was divided in two groups:
Kachigumi, or "the victorious", who believed the war was still going on, or that Japan had won. They were the majority mostly from the poorer members of the community and those who still intended to return to Japan. Makegumi, or "the defeated" pejoratively called "dirty hearts", who had accepted the news of Japan's defeat. They were usually the wealthier members of the community who were more informed and better adapted to Brazilian society.