Assaí, Paraná, Brazil Genealogy

Guide to Municipality of Assaí ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, church records, parish registers, and civil registration.

History
The name of the municipality originates from the Japanese Assahi "rising sun".

Assaí's story begins when the Japanese consul in São Paulo, Noriyuki Akamatsu, begins to encourage Japanese emigration to Paraná. Comments that the lands were highly productive prompted the consul to send observers to the region, including some agronomists. The observation of soil fertility by consulate observers gave rise to the foundation of the Immigration Cooperative, in 1927, presided over by Mitusada Umetani, one of the men who traveled throughout the region.

Like almost all cities in the North of Paraná, Assaí was born and grew thanks to the colonizing impulse of the colonization companies, which deforested and colonized the region. On November 14, 1928, a contract was signed for the purchase and sale of a plot of 12,000 bushels in the locality then known as Três Barras.

In 1932, the Companhia Colonizadora Três Barras founded a farm on the spot where the municipal seat of Assaí is located today. Subsequently, the colonizer began to sell rural and urban lots, allowing the arrival of numerous families, especially Japanese. The place was renamed Assailand, in reference to immigrants from Japan.

In 1932, a group of men of Japanese origin, after acquiring from the state government a considerable area of ​​vacant land in this region of the Tibagi River valley, on May 1 of that year and departing from the centenary city of Jataí (today Jataizinho), went into the forest, whose group was led by Lord Miyuki Saito and made up of Lords Itissuke Nishimura, Utaro Katsuda, Tokujiro Tsutsui, and Junzo Nagai, who initially reached where the section's headquarters is located today; the first tree was felled there to locate the temporary headquarters of Fazenda Três Barras.

In the same year, after geographic and topographic surveys, the city of Assaí was moved to where the city of Assaí is currently located. The reason for choosing the site on more rugged terrain was due to the mentality of Japanese immigrants, who set aside areas of flat topography for use in agriculture.

The progress and development of Assailand, thanks to the fertility of the land and favorable conditions, mainly the cotton and coffee crops, gradually attracted several waves of immigrants, mostly of Japanese origin.

Also in 1932, Mr. Shozaemon Moriya, Yukito Iwata, To Ishikawa and Tomotada Ikeda, who with Utaro Katsuda make up the group of the five founders of Assaí, among others, pointed to this land. On May 4 of that same year, the São Paulo-Paraná Railroad arrived in the Municipality of Jataí (Jataizinho) and the Bratac Company began selling lots in Três Barras. In that year, 1932, five Japanese families, from Fazenda Nomura, from Bandeirantes, entered the town: Massayuki Tsujimoto, Yukito Iwata, Rokuiti Funada, Too Ishikawa and Shozaemon Moriya, the pioneers of Assaí.

Although the land had been purchased since 1927, its colonization only began five years later, due to a restriction by the São Paulo government on the planting of coffee in that state. In addition, the occupation proceeded slowly, at first, because some time before, lots began to be sold in the so-called International Colony (Londrina), where many Japanese immigrants came from. Another factor also contributed to further delaying the occupation of Três Barras in its emergence: the truck that Bratac had at its disposal to transport the pioneers and supplies from Bandeirantes there, was requested by the Government due to the revolution that broke out in June 1932. from there, transport was done by ox-drawn carts, which took more than a week to cover the route. The sum of these factors caused a standstill in the development of the new community.

The problems, however, did not end there. The first settlers found it difficult to supply water, as the area they occupied was on an immense stone slab currently called Córrego Passo Fundo, making it difficult to drill wells. They had to supply themselves with water from a river that passed close by. The pioneers were not discouraged. That same year, 1932, Samon Tanji went to Três Barras, where he opened a branch of the Yamaguchi trading house in Bandeirantes.

Despite all the problems faced by the pioneers, the nucleus managed to develop and came to impress the Consul General of Japan in Brazil, Yuwataro Utiyama, who visited the locality in October 1933, accompanied by the director of Bratac, Kunito Miyasaka. Upon returning to São Paulo, the consul wrote a letter, expressing his admiration and praising the efforts of those who, facing countless difficulties, implanted a new civilization in the middle of virgin forest. He said, concluding, that he was sure that very soon Assaí would be the colonizers' paradise.

In 1934, the first Japanese language school began to operate, in the house of engineer Kameyama, and classes were taught by his wife and only six students.

An experience made by farmer Heiju Akagui, who planted cotton in 1934, was the impetus needed for the community to reach its full development. He harvested 360 arrobas of cotton per bushel and the suit took on unimaginable dimensions. To have an idea of ​​what this crop represented, it is enough to say that until then the Company had sold only 213 bushels and, from the Akagui harvest, it reached the end of 34 with 2,140 bushels sold. There were already 22 families in the locality, distributed in the Bálsamo, Figueira and Palmital sections.

The year 1935 was perhaps the most important among the first years experienced by the community of Três Barras. Good and bad events marked that year of agricultural crisis, which caused the disinterest of future buyers. About 200 families already resided in the locality and cotton was the main crop, from which they made their living until coffee began to be produced. Among the coffee and cotton plants, the farmers planted beans, which, in addition to providing food for themselves, were sold to third parties and paid for the other plantations. Problems followed one another and the families decided to found the Três Barras Farmers Association, whose objective was to discuss agricultural policy, seeking solutions to common difficulties.

That year, in August, the first exhibition in the locality was held, with 217 exhibitors in total. The show was successful. In the same year, in Curitiba, the Cotton Exhibition takes place, with 11 farmers receiving gold medals for the amount of product on display. The judges, all agronomists from the Secretary of State for Agriculture, gave a gold medal to the following Assaí producers: Iwao Aida, Riichi Tatewaki, Yukito Shimizu, Minori Murata, Mitsuji Yamada, Kenzo Tojo, Kozo Kusama, Koji Shibayama, Tyusaku Takinami, Sanji Moriyama and Kaiji Ido.

A case of malaria, which occurred at the time, scared the residents and those interested in acquiring land in the region. However, it brought a benefit: the Colonizing Company, based on the case, hired a doctor, Dr. Torata Kameno, to provide permanent assistance to the inhabitants of Três Barras. Everyone was advised not to approach the banks of the Tibagi River during the rainy season, as a fisherman had contracted the disease in these conditions.

Assaí was once called the "capital of white gold" or the "queen of cotton", due to the large amount of cotton it produced. At the height of this phase, it had more than 200,000 inhabitants. With the end of cotton, the city was dwindling. Most of the population migrated to Londrina. Many inhabitants, of Japanese origin, returned to Japan, and today the city has only 18,000 inhabitants. Currently, it starts to grow again, thanks to the industries that are settling in the city, generating more than six thousand jobs.

In 1938, in accordance with Decree Law n.º 7573, of October 20 of that year, it was elevated to the category of District belonging to the municipality of São Jerônimo da Serra, as a territory separated from the District of Jataí of the same municipality.

Due to the socio-economic impulse and development, geographic density and compliance with the norms established in the National Organic Law No. 311, of March 2, 1938, the State Government, through Decree Law No. 199, of March 30, December 1943, created and elevated the category of municipality, with a territory separated from the Municipality of São Jerônimo da Serra, with headquarters where its current city is located, having as an integral part of its territory the districts of then Jataí and Uraí, these more later through Law No. 02 of October 10, 1947, they were elevated to the category of municipality, thus losing Assaí, three years later, elevated to the area of ​​their territory.

The municipality of Assaí was solemnly installed on January 28, 1944, in accordance with the rules established by State Organic Law No. this act presided over by its mayor appointed by the governor of Paraná, Major José Scheleder, of the Military Police of Paraná.

Former Names:
 * Três Barras
 * Assailand

Online Resources

 * Memórias de Assai - Fotos Antigas

Online Resources

 * Brazil, Paraná, Catholic Church Records, 1731-2013 no Registros Históricos do FamilySearch

Localities

 * Colônia Internacional (Londrina)
 * Córrego Passo Fundo
 * Fazenda Nomura, de Bandeirantes
 * Fazenda Três Barras
 * Secções Bálsamo, Figueira e Palmital

Other Institutions
Prefeitura Municipal de Assaí Avenida Rio de Janeiro, 720 Telephone: (43) 3262-1313 WebSite: www.assai.pr.gov.br

FERREIRA, João Carlos Vicente ''Curitiba: Secretaria de Estado da Cultura, 2006; p. 41.
 * Municípios paranaenses: origens e significados de seus nomes.


 * Imigração Japonesa no Brasil