Roberto Oshiro Teruya
@robertoRoberto Oshiro Teruya is a 53-year-old Peruvian of the third generation (Sansei); his parents, Seijo Oshiro and Shizue Teruya, both came from Okinawa (Tomigusuku and Yonabaru, respectively). He lives in Lima, the capital of Peru, where he works in the retail clothing business in the city's downtown. He is married to Jenny Nakasone and they have two children Mayumi (23) and Akio (14). He has a deep interest in continuing to preserve the customs inculcated by his grandparents, including cuisine and the butsudan, and hopes his children will do the same.
Updated June 2017
Stories from This Author
Some circumstances of being Nikkei in Peru
Sept. 23, 2019 • Roberto Oshiro Teruya
The emigrant of Japanese origin and his descendants are called “nikkeis”. In my case, my ojí (grandfather) and obá (grandmother) on my mom and dad's side came from Japan, their children (my parents), their grandchildren (us) and the other descendants are Nikkeis. The story is common to all of us, our grandparents came to Peru looking for a better future, like every immigrant. They had a hard life, with a lot of work, being discriminated against, abused, robbed, for being …
A short history of Japanese immigration
Aug. 7, 2019 • Roberto Oshiro Teruya
April 3, 2019 is a very important date for us, we celebrate 120 years of Japanese Immigration to Peru, during this time immigrants crossed the Pacific who made a common history of these two nations. There are many important stories that represent it, they are well known to everyone, but there are others that were part of it almost anonymously, people who fought, worked and suffered until finally being part of this great country that welcomed them and all their …
My hero, Don Gerardo Maruy Takayama
July 17, 2019 • Roberto Oshiro Teruya
I was reading the Discover Nikkei call, in Crónicas Nikkeis, it was about Nikkei heroes, the first thing that came to mind was the image of Don Gerardo Maruy Takayama, my admiration for him made me write an article about him on my blog . I acquired this affection from my father, he told me many things about him, I was amazed to listen to him because he was a bit sparse, but in his stories his eyes shone with …
“Hey, Chinese.” I am not Chinese
Oct. 2, 2018 • Roberto Oshiro Teruya
My family lived in Barrios Altos, a populous neighborhood in Lima, Peru. We liked being in the store as children, we had a warehouse, contact with people was little, we only thought about playing, waiting for mom to get free and having her attention, we did not have the notion that we were of another race, other traits , that there were good people and bad people. The three children have gone to a school very close to the house, …
I am Nikkei
Sept. 19, 2018 • Roberto Oshiro Teruya
On October 22, 2017, a census was carried out in Peru. Aside from the data that was collected for the first time so that Peruvians could “self-identify,” it served to define us in terms of our ethnic identity. While it is true, we are all Peruvians, we will be able to say how we feel about our customs, our ancestors, our roots. What caught our attention is that those of Asian origin in general were not considered an option, so …
Charo Unten de Musso - One voice
Aug. 22, 2018 • Roberto Oshiro Teruya
The year was 1989, years in which we began to feel the dekasegui phenomenon, there was no cable, there was no internet, my parents liked Enka music, my older sister too, the link we had with Japan was the videos. on VHS that they lent you, bought or could get somehow. In them you saw the Kohaku Uta Gassen , an end-of-year program, where men competed against women in singing, where I could see the singers of the genre that …
International Nikkei Day - June 20, 2018
July 31, 2018 • Roberto Oshiro Teruya
A while back I saw in a Nikkei related facebook page that two young men, Andrés Higa from Argentina and Tadashi Andrés Ysa Urbina from Peru, had started a project. They lived in Okinawa and wanted to reclaim their roots, which for them meant Uchinanchu, and to be known and recognized in the world as such. The idea came about while they were studying and it turned into a major effort, as it wasn’t easy to achieve their first dream: …
Denisse Shashiki: “I will be back”
May 18, 2018 • Roberto Oshiro Teruya
Denisse Shashiki is a Peruvian Nikkei who began in the artistic environment as a singer. She had a break for a few years but she returned with great force, she surprised us by singing in Japanese the very Lima-based La Flor de la Canela , for this she had the help of maestro Yochan Azama. She recorded two songs in Miami, a very important place for Latin music, where she has contact with people who encourage her and offer their …
The Teruya Orchestra, a great unforgettable party
April 24, 2018 • Roberto Oshiro Teruya
Several years ago I heard people commenting about “The Teruya Orchestra” and saw that they animated many events, especially in our community in Lima, Peru. It caught my attention because of the last name Teruya, my second last name is that, many told me that that orchestra belonged to my family, I just laughed when I heard it. Almost a couple of years ago I read an article in Perú Shimpo , where they interviewed César Teruya, from the orchestra, …
My dad from winemaker to shirt salesman
Feb. 28, 2018 • Roberto Oshiro Teruya
To tell this story, I have to go back to when my grandparents came from Japan, specifically from Okinawa, like most, they came to work in agriculture, they had their children, one of them my father, who, like his brothers, from a or otherwise they worked in the field, at the Hacienda Jesús del Valle, in Huaral, a province of the city of Lima; the chances that life has, my father when he was young, was a neighbor with my …
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