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Brazilian culture, Olympic roster highlight ties to Japan

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — With Olympic medals starting to roll in, Brazilians looking to toast their success might try a sakerinha. Yes, that's a real drink — a fusion of Japanese sake and the national cocktail, the caipirinha, that is as thoroughly Brazilian as samba and sun.

Though few visitors flooding into the country for the Summer Games might know: Brazil is home to the largest Japanese community outside of Japan, with some 2 million Brazilians tracing their ancestry back to the Asian nation.

Many came early in the 20th century as poorly paid agricultural workers who labored on coffee plantations in southern Brazil.