The topic of identity, although very frequently mentioned in discourses, especially political and academic, is one that - due to its complexity - presents the greatest difficulties for an accurate definition. However, some notions in this regard and approaches to specific cases can allow us a greater understanding of this topic that seems to be very relevant on current agendas.

We know that individual and collective identities are defined throughout personal and joint histories and that such identities are always constructed in relation to other individuals and groups. In such a construction process, what is specific or particular and what is different or differentiated between individuals and groups is established. We also know that identities are not static and rather, to a greater or lesser extent, they are subject to permanent change in that relationship with others and with the environment in its broadest sense.

On the other hand, we also know that the identity of a person or group - due to that relationship with others - implies various perspectives and that, for example, it counts not only what and how we think, feel and say about ourselves but also what and how others think, feel and say about us. Sometimes these different perspectives can coincide, but not always. These notions on the topic of identity, presented in a somewhat abstract manner, can be found best illustrated in their relationship with the names assigned or self-assigned to and by Japanese citizens and their descendants in the specific case that we will present below. ¹

The populations and individuals of Japanese origin in the countries of the American continent, in which they are settled, are named or designated in different ways by the broader societies. In the countries of the north of the continent, for example, they receive the names Japanese–Americans and Japanese–Canadians (in the United States and Canada, respectively) or simply Japanese , while in most Latin American countries they are almost invariably designated as Japoneses , as in Mexico, Colombia, Paraguay, Argentina, Bolivia and Chile, and Japonese (in the Portuguese language) in Brazil. ² In the case of Peru, the names assigned to Japanese immigrants and their descendants, as a group and individuals, comparatively present some particularities, with variations or changes over time. Such changes or appearance of new names are linked to specific historical contexts and circumstances.

Since their arrival in Peru in 1899 and their soon movement to the cities, especially to the provinces of Lima and Callao ³ , until the Second World War, the immigrants and their descendants were named as Japanese , as in all the countries that received these migrations. During the 1930s, and coupled with an anti-Japanese campaign developed by several Peruvian newspapers, another name was added to that common name: Nipones . Since that period, the term Nippon acquired a derogatory connotation in Peru ⁴ , since, like the term Japanese , it used to appear linked to xenophobic and racist expressions as part of a policy of exclusion.

In the postwar period, and more specifically between the 1960s and 1970s - due to the incursion and successes of some children of Japanese in different sports, and later in the cultural field (mainly plastic arts and literature) - they began to appear in newspapers. Peruvians use the word Nisei (second generation or children of Japanese) linked to sporting feats: national and international championships in various disciplines such as cycling, boxing, wrestling, billiards, bowling, baseball, volleyball, soccer, among others. Likewise, within the collective imagination the presence of Japanese surnames begins to acquire other links beyond the commercial sphere, to which it was limited during the prewar.

Since the 1980s, communities of Japanese origin in the countries of the American continent adopted and spread the term Nikkei ⁵ . For some interpretation, the use of that term would be to highlight the Japanese origin and to differentiate itself from other groups of Asian origin; However, the main motivation for such adoption would rather be to emphasize the American (national) origin of individuals and communities. In the Peruvian case, the frequency of use of such term by descendants of Japanese and organizations of that origin also led to its use in some media (radio, television and written press), although its dissemination did not extend beyond the appearance of another denomination at the beginning of the following decade.

Indeed, in 1990, during the campaign for the first election of Alberto Fujimori as President of the Republic, his detractors began to call him Chino in an attempt to disqualify him ⁶ . The candidate's response was to use the adjective to call himself, remaining with that nickname even to the present. Since then, the name Chino - although not new in its application also to descendants of Japanese from previous decades - was extended to all of them and is currently the most frequently used in popular use. One of the explanations for this fact is that, on the one hand, the population of Japanese origin is increasingly smaller in relation to the growth of the general population. And, on the other hand, the easy recognition of the phenotypic characteristics of the Japanese that occurred in the past has ceased, since Lima and Callao (their traditional places of concentration) currently have a majority immigrant population (from other places in Peru) and with less experience in recognizing the “nuances” of Asian origin.

Finally, even though the names applied to the Nikkei in Peru appeared and changed over time, many of them coexist in the present. For example, Japanese or Chinese are frequent in domestic and popular environments, while in formal ones – such as in the press – Nisei or Nikkei continue to be used interchangeably. What is relevant about the appearance and use of specific names for the descendants of the Japanese in Peru is, perhaps, that they are an indication of the recognition of their identity by the “others” and, even more so, of their inclusion in the imaginary and culture. national. A good example of this statement is the notable recognition achieved by the so-called “Peruvian Nikkei cuisine” in the local and international media.

Grades:

1. Particularly, in some publications and titles of articles and books this author has used the name or category “of Japanese origin”, considering that what is undeniably common to these individuals and groups is precisely their origin (national, territorial, cultural and even racial).

2. These denominations can be found both in the titles of books and specialized articles in the academic field, as well as in newspapers and in the colloquial language of the mentioned countries.

3. Between 84 and 90% of the population of Japanese origin has been concentrated in the country's capital and the port of Callao during most of the 20th century to the present.

4. Unlike Nippon (for Nippon of the Japanese language), Japanese did not acquire nor was it assumed by those referred to as a derogatory term.

5. Apocope of the Japanese word Nikkeijin, whose literal translation would be “overseas Japanese”.

6. In Peru, a range of qualifiers with racial-cultural connotations are popularly used for exclusion, such as cholo, chino, negro, among others. However, these same qualifiers are also used domestically as an expression of affection and familiarity, often applied regardless of the socio-economic, racial and cultural background of the person designated.

* The following article about the names identified for the Nikkei was contributed by Amelia Morimoto, Coordinator of the Peru - Asia Program at the University of San Marcos.

© 2007 Amelia Morimoto