Interviews

1. How Yoshitaro Amano got to South America (Japanese)

2. Yoshitaro Amano continues his efforts in business in order to pursue his studies (Japanese)

3. On returning to post-war Peru (Japanese)

4. Returning to Japan on a prisoner-of-war exchange boat (Japanese)

5. Yoshitaro Amano chose the Chancay culture (Japanese)

6. The find of the century: Chicras (Japanese)

7. A strong Japanese identity (Japanese)

8. The Nikkei community that didn't support Former President Fujimori's election (Japanese)

9. The differences in attitude of pre-war and post war in terms of the President Fujimori presidency (Japanese)

10. President Fujimori as elected by Peru's general public (Japanese)

11. The Nikkei community's view toward Former President Fujimori (Japanese)

12. On being thought of as a Japanese person (Japanese)

13. Disseminating the excellence of Japan to the world through the Amano Museum (Japanese)

(b. 1948) Executive Director of Amano Museum

On returning to post-war Peru (Japanese)

(Japanese) After the war and before the San Francisco Peace Treaty, Amano saw Japan defeated. He became quite discouraged, especially when he saw the firebombed city of Tokyo immediately after the war. He thought that Japan wouldn’t be able to stand under its own power for the next couple of centuries, or at least not before the last flicker of light faded from his eyes. He thought Japan would never return to prosperity in his lifetime. If that was true, then the next best place for him was South America because he was very familiar with it. So, he wanted to return there to enjoy as interesting a life as possible.

And in reality, it’s not something to be terribly proud of. Before the war, he was suspected of being a spy, as the FBI was holding onto his passport. At that time, he was still suspected of being a spy—he was a suspect for a very long time. Especially before the signing of the San Francisco Peace Treaty, he wouldn’t have been issued another passport in all likelihood. It took a little work, but he managed to arrive in Panama without a passport. This is another funny story, though. Well, eventually, it just so happened that one of Amano’s friends in the fishing industry in Peru became his guarantor. He made his way to Peru after the war.

illegal immigration migration Peru postwar World War II Yoshitaro Amano

Date: May 7, 2007

Location: California, US

Interviewer: Yoko Nishimura

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

Interviewee Bio

Born in 1948, originally from Tokyo. Graduated from Waseda University’s Department of Education. Years later, he moved to Lima, Peru. While learning Spanish, he helped the work of his grandfather, Yoshitaro Amano, who founded and operated Amano Museum. He later married a Nikkei Peruvian Nisei. Currently, as a Peruvian cultural researcher, pottery/textile collection expert, and executive director of the Amano Museum, he conducts excavation work and is responsible for the management of the museum. As a Peruvian citizen diplomat, he attends government officials, businessmen, handles media coverage and programming for television. He visits Japan several times a year, makes speeches and leads panel discussions throughout Japan, and remains active in various fields. (May 2007)