Today, from his 30th-floor office overlooking Tokyo Bay, Arthur Muranaga presides over a diverse business empire whose interests read like a one-stop shop for Japan's Brazilian community.

Providing everything from Portuguese-language TV, radio and magazines to phone cards and broadband internet, International Press Corp. (IPC) World Inc. even owns the Brasilica Grill Churrascaria, a Brazilian restaurant in Tokyo. With over 15,000 online news subscribers and 20,000 signed up for its satellite TV channel, IPC is the main domestic media source for Japan's 190,000-strong Brazilian minority.

Arthur speaks proudly of the hard work his Japanese father put into building up the corporation. In his freshman year of high school in 1957, Yoshio Muranaga left Japan and migrated to Brazil with his parents and siblings. More than 30 years later, in 1989, he decided to return to his country of origin, leaving his family — including young Arthur — behind in Brazil, but hoping they would be able to join him later. He brought with him two containers of heart of palm, and a plan to sell the vegetable in the Japanese market.