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Despite its tradition as a dominantly Christian country, Brazil is the host of the largest community of Japanese-descended people outside of Japan. This is the result of a long-lasting immigration process that started in 1908 and led to the establishment of a series of Japanese religions in the country. Although some of these groups are still restricted to the Japanese ethnic milieu, others have transcended their former ethnic boundaries and are quite successful in terms of recruiting new practitioners from a wider Brazilian audience. In order to identify the reasons for the failure or relative success of the various groups, the article starts with an overview of the historical development of Japanese religions in Brazil and summarizes the relevant results of the latest data provided by the institutions and the national census. The second part, which systematizes the strategies of transplantation of Japanese New Religions to Brazil, gives special attention to the construction of a transnational ancestor cult and the related emphasis on worldly benefits. The third part analyses in more detail the reinterpretation of ancestor worship and related rituals within Seichō-no-Ie. Finally, the fourth section refers the data to the academic discussion about the interrelated phenomena of globalization and glocalization.

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Japanese Religions in Brazil 1 T he date of the publication of this special issue on "Japanese Religions in Brazil" coincides with the centenary festivities of Japanese immigration to Brazil. On a number of occasions throughout the year, including 18 June-the day of the arrival of the vessel Kasato Maru in 1908 in the port of Santos (Federal State of São Paulo) with the first seven hundred and eight-one immigrants on board-the Japanese-Brazilian community will be celebrating the successful integration of its members into Brazilian society. They have contributed to virtually every aspect of life in a country that, at the beginning, was considered only a temporary location, but after World War II became the permanent home for the majority of the immigrants and their descendents. The centenary is a welcome opportunity for the Japanese religious establishment in Brazil to reflect upon their past and present status. In many cases the retrospective transcends the institutional existence of the groups, but also reflects the appreciation of their "pioneers" who, under precarious material and socio-political circumstances, prepared the ground for the establishment of their respective religious organizations in Brazil. In this sense, adequate light has been shed on the time before World War II, a significance that is often neglected in the face of the wave of the institutionalization of Japanese religions in the 1950s. This is true even for Shinto, although the heterogeneous composition of the colonies did not foster rituals associated with a local shrine. Instead, collective