Being Nikkei in Peru: A mark of identity
The Nikkei identity in Peru was built in a multiethnic and multicultural landscape. This historical experience was carried out while maintaining the traditions and customs inherited from Japanese cultures, and was characterized by its contradictions and heterogeneity. Today, being Nikkei in Peru is a valuable and irreplaceable brand that is permeating the different political, artistic, gastronomic, musical, folkloric and sports spaces, among others. My articles will provide an overview of this insertion that operated throughout more than one hundred years of Japanese presence in Peru.
Stories from this series
Nikkei Artists from Peru: Cultural Movement or Ethnic Coincidence?
May 16, 2007 • Doris Moromisato
Tilsa Tsuchiya, the most important visual artist in Peru, once stated: “If you look at pre-Columbian, Chinese, and Japanese art, you will see that deep down they are the same thing. But Peru is oriental!” The truth is that Tilsa, descendant of a Japanese immigrant and a mestiza Chinese Andean woman, represents the emblem of the country's multiculturalism and is the tip of the iceberg of more than thirty artists who identify themselves as Nikkei. In Peru, the Japanese community …
Geographic and economic organization of the Nikkei community in Peru
April 18, 2007 • Doris Moromisato
The first Japanese presences in Peru occurred 400 years ago in Lima. Only after 1899 were the Japanese required as agricultural workers and thousands of them adapted to the deserts of the coast, overcoming the soroche or altitude sickness of the Andes and the inclement climates of the jungle. But most left the shovels and quickly infiltrated the cities opening small businesses, offering multiple services with skill, effort and a relentless spirit of survival. They even came to dominate the …
Nikkei Women: Guardians of the Peruvian-Japanese community
March 21, 2007 • Doris Moromisato
In 1992, the marriage crisis of the then President of the Republic Alberto Fujimori and his wife Susana Higuchi brought to light for the first time the rigid patriarchal hierarchy of Nikkei families and the situation in which their women live. Faced with the violent emergence of the Nisei Susana Higuchi, denouncing physical and psychological abuse by her husband and demanding her rights like any Peruvian citizen, all the media raised the question: where is the model of the Japanese …
The Okinawan nation in Peru
Feb. 27, 2007 • Doris Moromisato
Today, the vast majority of Japanese descendants in Peru have their roots in the Okinawa prefecture. It is said that the unofficial figure is seventy percent. In fact, it is no longer difficult to find typically Okinawan surnames such as Higa, Arakaki, Shimabukuro, Matsuda, Kanashiro, Shiroma, Nakasone, Tamashiro, among others, in the legislative, governmental, municipal, artistic or sporting history of Peru. It should be noted that Japanese immigration to Peru was an experience based on diversity. However, for a hundred …
Discover Nikkei Updates
Be in our video celebrating Nikkei worldwide. Click to learn how to submit! Deadline extended to October 15!
Follow us @discovernikkei for new site content, program announcements, and more!
