On the upper floors of the Bunkyo building on Rua São Joaquim, this is one of the best ethnographic museums in São Paulo and the essential stop in Liberdade. It tells the story of Japanese immigration to Brazil from the 1908 arrival of the Kasato Maru, through the hard early years on the coffee plantations, the building of a community, the difficult war years when the diaspora fell under suspicion, and the eventual rise of the largest Japanese community outside Japan.
The displays are thoughtful and well-presented, mixing photographs, reconstructed interiors, documents, and objects. Allow about an hour, and take the lift to the top to work down. It gives essential context to everything else in the neighbourhood.