ABSTRACT
This chapter is based on ethnographic data collected during fieldwork conducted in Japan from 2002 to 2010, seeks to unravel the story of Brazilian Nikkeijin who have chosen to adopt this Afro-Brazilian religion in their 'ancestral country' in this case Japan. It explains that 'locally adopted' Umbanda is of substantial value to Brazilian Nikkeijin migrants in Japan, reinforcing their feelings of belonging to Brazil while at the same time bolstering their interaction with Japanese society. The chapter describes that the religious and the secular roles played by the followers inside the centres should be analysed separately. As for the religious roles, Umbanda's most important characters inside the rituals are the spiritual entities. These entities represent marginalized groups of Brazilian society such as the Afro-descendants and the Indigenous people. The Brazilians argue that everybody benefits from this contact. The homeless people receive food and some human contact that is lacking in the lives of this excluded segment of Japanese society.
