Current Time in Suzano, Brazil

Suzano lies in the state of São Paulo in southeastern Brazil, about fifty kilometres east of the state capital in the region known as the Alto Tietê, the upper valley of the Tietê River. It forms part of the São Paulo metropolitan area and sits between the river plain and the wooded ridges of the Serra do Itapeti. At around seven hundred metres above sea level the climate is mild and humid, with warm rainy summers and cool, sometimes foggy winters.

Around three hundred thousand people live in Suzano. Many commute to São Paulo or to neighbouring Mogi das Cruzes, while others work in the industrial estates along the highways and railway, and the city combines a busy urban core with green suburbs and productive farmland on its edges.

The settlement grew around a railway station opened in the late nineteenth century on the line running east from São Paulo, and the district was named after a local landowning family. Its modern character was shaped by two developments. The first was Japanese immigration, which began in the region in the early twentieth century and made the Alto Tietê one of the most important centres of Japanese Brazilian settlement in the country. Japanese Brazilian farmers introduced intensive market gardening, and the district became a leading supplier of vegetables, flowers, persimmons and mushrooms to the enormous São Paulo market. Japanese festivals, community associations, temples and cuisine remain a strong presence.

The second was paper. In the 1920s a paper mill was established here that grew into one of the largest pulp and paper companies in the world, still bearing the city's name, and the industry brought employment, investment and a distinctive identity. Chemicals, plastics, packaging and metalworking followed, and the city today has a diversified industrial base.

The most notable public space is the Max Feffer Park and Cultural Centre, a striking modern complex of exhibition halls, gardens and lakes named after the industrialist family, which has become a symbol of the city. Other attractions include the mother church, the municipal theatre, the Suzano municipal park and the trails and waterfalls of the Serra do Itapeti, where remnants of Atlantic forest survive close to the metropolis. The historic town of Mogi das Cruzes, with its colonial churches, is next door.

Local festivals include carnival, the June celebrations of Saint John and the cultural events of the Japanese Brazilian community.

Transport is provided by the metropolitan commuter railway, whose line runs directly into central São Paulo, by the Ayrton Senna and Mogi Dutra highways and by an extensive municipal bus network. Guarulhos International Airport is around forty minutes away.

Technical schools, a federal institute campus and private colleges serve local students, with the universities of São Paulo and Mogi das Cruzes within commuting distance.

Suzano is important as an industrial and horticultural centre on the edge of Latin America's largest city, and it offers an unusual combination of Japanese Brazilian heritage, working factories and surviving Atlantic forest.