(Spanish) It’s a pretty tricky question, you know, but I think being Nikkei means much more than having Japanese parents or ancestors. Being Nikkei means having a responsibility to carry within one’s self two concepts, two cultures that are totally opposed, but that we have to work with and learn to bring together, so that their values – everything positive that each culture offers – can manifest in our lives. That’s what I think it means to be Nikkei.
Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum.
Interviewee Bio
Alfredo Kato was born in Cañete, Peru, on November 12, 1937. During World War II, his family lived in Cañete, but his father moved them to a mountainous region called Lunaguara. In 1947, they returned to Lima. At that time, Nikkei were not allowed to gather in public, so he attended Japanese school clandestinely.
He studied at la Universidad Católica and has been a journalist for 44 years. Currently, he is director of the Japanese Peruvian newspaper, Perú Shimpo and professor at the Universidad de San Martín de Porres. (October 7, 2005)
