Summary

The Kasato Maru ferried 325 Okinawans to Brazil in 1908, making it the first immigrant ship from Japan to do so. That history is highlighted by the opening of the documentary “ Okinawa Saudade ,” (“saudade” being a Portuguese word for bittersweet longing, typically around a memory or place). The film looks at the results a century later, now that an estimated 200,000 Brazilians of Okinawan descent are living in Brazil today, and director and cinematographer Yoju Matsubayashi finds a specific and emotionally straightforward route into complicated history.

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