Mieko Nishida, Diaspora and Identity: Japanese Brazilians in Brazil and Japan (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i, 2017), pp. xiv + 294, $68.00, hb.
newspapers such as the Gazeta de Notícias and its column ‘Street Occurrences’, advertisements, police and court records, vending licences, criminal codes, registry entries from the city’s detention centre, lithographs, photographs, patent proposals, memoirs, chronicles and travellers’ accounts. Her thorough research allowed her to present a vivid portrayal of street commerce. For instance, she describes the soundscapes of Rio by looking at the cantos do trabalhador (literally ‘the worker’s songs’), which consisted of ‘vibrant cries and catchy lines’ (p. 22). Either loved or detested by residents, these vendors’ sounds attracted clientele or helped them identify products. This book will certainly interest students of the Atlantic world, slavery, migration, food studies and urban history. It is a wonderful addition to recent studies on street vending.