Saburo Kumabe

Saburo Kumabe(1865-1926) was a judge and lawyer from Kagoshima Prefecture. He read Sugimura's report and planned to construct a colony together with politician Tomofusa Sassa and took a voyage to Brazil with his family. Because Sugimura and Sassa passed away in succession before his departure and Sasaki before his arrival respectively, he had to earn a living by rolling cigarettes in Brazil. He participated in the construction of the Santo Antonio colony contracted between Ryo Mizuno and the State Government of Rio de Janeiro, but the colony was a failure. He engaged in a variety of jobs thereafter in order to make a living. Kumabe's second and third daughters graduated from a teacher training school and became the first naturalized Brazilian citizens among Japanese immigrants in order to become certified teachers. Kumabe committed suicide in August 1926.

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