Based on studies about cultural capital (BOURDIEU, 1979, 1998, 2007) and the relationship between family and school (ALMEIDA; NOGUEIRA, 2002; DUBET, 1997; NOGUEIRA; ROMANELLI; ZAGO, 2000; SINGLY, 1997 and 2007), this article presents the results of the research done between 2005 and 2008 about the nature of the flux of demand in a private institution in the city of São Paulo by a significant number of Japanese descendent between the 50s and 90s. In cross-checking the contexts, the criteria that guided the choice of the school pursued; moreover, this placed the families researched in the set of changes that occurred in the Brazilian society, inside which the nikkey community built their ways of integration and social mobility.