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https://www.discovernikkei.org/en/interviews/clips/1053/

Necessary apologies (Spanish)

(Spanish) Now that the word reparation is trendy, the word repair must come from centuries ago, and in this group of people is where the Japanese community is, right? It is too unfair, too outrageous what happened. If you believe Pearl Harbor was the day that will live in infamy, the history of Japanese in Peru is the story of the infamous. As I wrote one day in “Discover Nikkei”, the most painful thing is not that their properties were confiscated or that were taken to concentration camps. The most painful thing was that they woke up one day and they didn’t have a homeland: they didn’t have a past: they found nothing. And this is cruel. There is no right to do this to anyone. No one has the right to take the spiritual land in your life. Therefore, they ought to receive an apology that hasn’t been given yet. North American has done this with the Japanese community in the United States. Why hasn’t Peru done it? But to ask that is to ask too much of Peru. The day this happens is because first… Also, there is a big line to wait on. We are on the ticket to ask for reparation or apologies. We are on the part, almost the last of the line, because the natives have to ask first. Then come the people from the jungle, the black people, the Chinese people, and finally, women.


discrimination imprisonment incarceration interpersonal relations Peru racism reparations World War II

Date: February 26, 2008

Location: Lima, Peru

Interviewer: Harumi Nako

Contributed by: Asociación Peruano Japonesa (APJ)

Interviewee Bio

Doris Moromisato Miasato (1962) was born in Chambala, an agricultural zone of Lima, Peru. She graduated with a degree in Law and Political Science at the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos.

She has published the collection of poems Morada donde la luna perdió su palidez [Home were the moon lost its paleness] (1988), Chambala era un camino [Chambala was the path] (1999), Diario de la mujer es ponja [Diary of a Jap woman] (2004), Paisaje Terrestre [Terrestrial Path] (2007), as well as the story book Okinawa, un siglo en el Perú [Okinawa. A century in Peru] (2006). Her poems, stories, essays, and features have also been included in several anthologies and have been translated into several languages.

She is an ecologist, feminist and Buddhist. In 2006, the Okinawa Municipality nominated her as an Ambassador of Good Will. Nowadays, she is columnist for the Discover Nikkei Website, and since 2005 she has managed the organization of book fairs as Cultural Director of Cámara Peruana del Libro. (February 26, 2008)

Michelle Yamashiro
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Michelle Yamashiro

Prejudice against Okinawans from mainland folks

Okinawan American whose parents are from Peru.

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Michelle Yamashiro
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Michelle Yamashiro

Working together in Okinawa using three languages

Okinawan American whose parents are from Peru.

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Fumiko Hachiya Wasserman
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Fumiko Hachiya Wasserman

The lack of discussion about family’s incarceration in Amache

Sansei judge for the Superior Court of Los Angeles County in California

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Takayo Fischer
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Takayo Fischer

Being Confused about Racial Identity in Postwar United States

(b. 1932) Nisei American stage, film, and TV actress

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Jimmy Naganuma
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Jimmy Naganuma

Forcibly deported to the U.S. from Peru

(b. 1936) Japanese Peruvian incarcerated in Crystal City

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Jimmy Naganuma
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Jimmy Naganuma

Memories of childhood in Peru

(b. 1936) Japanese Peruvian incarcerated in Crystal City

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Mia Yamamoto
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Mia Yamamoto

Impact of her father

(b. 1943) Japanese American transgender attorney

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Mia Yamamoto
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Mia Yamamoto

Understanding anti black racism in high school

(b. 1943) Japanese American transgender attorney

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Mia Yamamoto
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Mia Yamamoto

Racial discrimination prepared her in becoming the first transgender trial lawyer

(b. 1943) Japanese American transgender attorney

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Masato Ninomiya
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Masato Ninomiya

Foreign language education was severely restricted during the war

Professor of Law, University of Sao Paulo, Lawyer, Translator (b. 1948)

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Ben Sakoguchi
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Ben Sakoguchi

Coming back from camp

(b. 1938) Japanese American painter & printmaker

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