Liberdade (, liberty; ) is the name of a district in the subprefecture of Sé, in São Paulo, Brazil. By various estimates, it is home to the world's largest ethnic Japanese community outside Japan. History Liberdade was known as Campo da Forca (Field of the Gallows) until the late 19th century, and was an area reserved for the execution of slaves and convicts. Death was considered the only path to liberty (liberdade) for slaves. The condemned were led to the Igreja Nossa Senhora da Boa Morte (Church of Our Lady of Good Death) to perform a final prayer for a rapid and painless death. The church remains on Rua do Carmo at the corner of Rua Tabatinguera. Slaves and other convicts were executed in the Largo da Forca (Gallows Square), the public square now known as Praça da Liberdade. Cemitério dos Aflitos (Cemetery of the Afflicted) was created in 1774 to bury executed slaves, those who had committed suicide, and others who could not be interred elsewhere. The cemetery was replaced by housing development in the 20th century, and the simple Capela dos Aflitos on Rua dos Estudantes is a remnant of the era. Igreja da Santa Cruz das Almas dos Enforcados (Church of Santa Cruz of the Souls of the Hanged), prominently located to the south of the public square, commemorates the dead of Campo da Forca. Executions were carried out in Campo da Forca until 1891, and the square was renamed Liberdade. The Japanese presence in the neighborhood began in 1912. One of the reasons for this was that almost every property had a basement, and the rents were incredibly cheap. In these rooms groups of people lived. Being a central neighborhood, from there they could easily get around to workplaces. By this time, commercial activities began to emerge: a hostel, a market, a house that made tofu, another that made manjū (a Japanese confection), and also job-creating firms, thus resulting in the label of "the Japanese street". In 1915, the Taisho Shogakko (Taisho Primary School) was founded, which helped educate the children of Japanese immigrants, then approximately 300 people. In 1932, there were about 2,000 Japanese people in the city of São Paulo. They came directly from Japan and also from the interior of São Paulo, after concluding their work contracts on plantations, in search of an opportunity in the city. They worked in more than 60