Geographically, Brazil and Japan are worlds apart. Historically and culturally, there are far deeper links than many may realise. With close to three million Japanese descendants, Brazil is home to the largest population of its type globally, while Japan has the fifth-largest Brazilian community abroad.
A key part of a shared history, that began with waves of migration from Japan to Brazil in the early 20th century, has been football. One of Japan’s most iconic players, Kazuyoshi Miura, started his professional career with famed Brazilian side Santos. Conversely, Japanese football has long turned to Brazil for inspiration, with several J.League club names and kits directly borrowing from Portuguese words or local club colours.
Still today, the number of Brazilian players in Japan’s domestic league is greater than that of all other foreign nationalities combined. Perhaps the greatest representation of these bonds, though, has been the handful of players with a Brazilian background who have represented the Japanese national team.
Ruy Ramos, Wagner Lopes and Alex Santos were all naturalised Japanese, the latter pair representing the nation at the 1998 and 2006 editions of the FIFA World Cup™ respectively.
Perhaps the most beloved of all, and a man who is still a regular analyst on Japanese TV, is Marcus Tulio Tanaka. Born in Brazil to a second-generation Japanese father and a Brazilian-Italian mother, he moved to Japan as a high-school student. Less than half a decade later he made his J.League debut for Sanfrecce Hiroshima and, by 2006, he was a full Japanese international.
These days, the 45-year-old splits his time between frequent visits to Japan and what he calls a “far more relaxing life” in rural Brazil. Far from being seduced by the bright lights and other potential trappings of fame, Tulio – as he is widely known in Japan – has opted instead to retreat to a quiet life in his hometown of Palmeira d’Oeste, a place with a population of 10,000.
As he exclusively tells FIFA on the eve of Japan and Brazil clashing in the Round of 32 at the , he’s becoming something of a modern-day cowboy.
“Do I miss football? No, not at all. It was a tough 23 years as a footballer and I was totally focused on that life for all those years. Now I want to live the life I want to live. Since I was young, I've always enjoyed being on a farm, fishing and living with cows and horses. I knew that if I could succeed at football then I wanted to live this kind of life.
“I live in the countryside, on a farm, about 600 kilometres from Sao Paulo. Really small place, with warm-hearted people and no traffic lights so you can spend your time slowly. No traffic lights means that you don’t have to wait for traffic lights!
“If I want to go to the river, I can go to the river. If I want to see a cow, I can see a cow. There’s a ranch where I can go and buy horses if I want to do all that. In the cities I’m always being asked for autographs or pictures but this is the life I like.”
When the draw for the World Cup set up the possibility of a last-32 meeting between the nation of his birth and the one where he made a name for himself, suddenly Tulio was very much back in the spotlight. While admitting that asking him to choose between the two countries is like choosing between children, he was, as many have been, bullish on Japan’s chances.
“If this were any other World Cup, I think Japan’s chances of winning would be much lower," he said. "But this time, I believe they’re much higher. Japan have a very well-organised team that knows exactly what it wants to do and is able to execute its game plan.
“Japan were drawn into a tougher group, with the Netherlands as their main rival. Tunisia didn’t have a good World Cup, that’s true, but Sweden had several top players from Europe and produced a high-level performance against Japan.
“There are many obstacles to winning the World Cup. You have to constantly compete in the quarter-finals or the semi-finals. You have to break those obstacles. Of course, Brazil has won the World Cup many times but I think Japan is heading in the right direction, they're on the right path.”
As a player, Tulio graced the game’s greatest stages. At club level, he featured at the forerunner of today’s FIFA Club World Cup™ as part of an Urawa Red Diamonds side that finished third in 2007. Three years earlier, he was a member of the Japan squad at the 2004 Men’s Olympic Football Tournament and in 2010 he featured with Japan at the World Cup.
A powerful defender and occasional striker, he made 43 appearances for Japan and had an 18-year J.League career, with close to 500 appearances. Instantly recognisable in Japan, that’s less the case in Brazil. But it’s there, in Palmeira d’Oeste, where he feels more comfortable.
What Tulio is also doing is not trading off his fame but rather employing what football gave him to, in turn, give back to his community. Last year he completed what he describes as a "labour of love" when construction was finally completed on a school he has funded in his hometown, as he explains to FIFA.
“I had a wonderful life as a professional football player, which I have to thank God for, and I was thinking about how to express my gratitude. I know the importance of education and I realised that was what was missing in my town. A kind of place where students could focus on their studies and, with the help of my father, we funded and built the school that we opened in June last year.
“It took us a year and a half to build it and I think it's a magnificent place where they can study but which also allows them to play sports.”
A year on, the school – CEIA - now has 700 students, 42 teachers and even two school buses. It stands as a gift of gratitude to the town that raised him. When Japan face Brazil in Houston on Monday afternoon, Tulio, in a sense, can’t lose.
When the New York New Jersey lights dim a fortnight later, then Tulio can finally relax again, back among his people in Palmeira d’Oeste, a town he has transformed through his generosity.
“For me, it’s simple. If you don't go to school, you won't be able to move forward, you’ll stand still and that’s why I built this school.
“As a football player, I went to the Olympics, the Club World Cup, and the World Cup as a representative of Japan. Getting to stand on the pitch in a World Cup makes your heart race with pride. It was a football life that I couldn't even dream of.
“Now happiness comes in a different form, through my school and the quiet life I have. I’ve aged quite a bit but the simple things are what is important. On my farm, when I am fishing, when I see a calf born or a baby horse starting to walk, that's my happiness, a life that is not difficult.”
Images of Marcus Tulio Tanaka courtesy of KAI TOKYO
Sources: FIFA Official
