Sao Paulo(1) / Brazil
Brazilians' Power to Live
Maki Takahashi/Wife of Marubeni Brasil Representacoes e Participacoes Ltda.'s President Naoyuki Takahashi.
Two years has passed since I came to Sao Paulo. The images held concerning Brazil are bright and passionate images of the Samba and soccer, among other things. However, since coming here I have felt the "laid back" character of the people even more than these images. In part because the country's populace is made up of immigrants from many countries, their being "laid back" makes them able to receive people from any country and is very comforting for people who have come from overseas.
However, this laid back quality sometimes left me at a loss. When I first came here, the people casually biting into the fruit stacked at a supermarket to check the taste dumbfounded me. This same behavior in Japan would result in people being quite disgusted. It is nothing rare to order house repairs and wait all day from morning to find out that the repair people have decided not to come that day. Then, to have them show up the next morning in a good mood not in the least bit concerned about not coming the previous day.
Brazil's national bird, the "Golden Parakeet" (a very friendly bird.)
Rio's Carnival parade
Although the Brazilians are this laid back, I had the following experience with them. It happened on a trip by car with my husband. We had become lost and asked many Brazilians for directions. However, each time we asked we were given a different answer and so we were not able to arrive at our destination. This time I couldn't take it anymore and blew up saying that "Brazilians are irresponsible." When I told the episode to a friend who is familiar with Brazil, the friend said that this is not the case. Since Brazilians are averse to saying that they don't know the answer, the answers they gave probably came after intense thought. Although this answer caught me by surprise, I also felt that the result of this mindset is one of the reasons behind the major problem that the country faces, which is the gap between the rich and poor. The ability to say "I don't know and I can't do that" in certain instances is a matter of life or death to them.
Iguassu Falls 4km width and volume of water are both top in the world
One interesting point here is that although Brazil has a major gap between the rich and poor and much crime, nobody commits suicide no matter how hard their life is. They are passionate about soccer, love their samba and are laid back and optimistic.
On the other hand, when looking at Japan from outside, the sincere and serious nature of Japanese make one proud. In contrast, it is also true that many people in Japan commit suicide despite the abundance of goods and little disparity between the rich and poor. This makes me think how much of this passion for living is a result of the laid back nature of the Brazilians.
Marubeni Group magazine "M-SPIRIT" VOL.8 (March,2002)
