Interviews

1. How I became a volunteer at the International Association of Yamato (Spanish)

2. The importance of knowing the Japanese language (Spanish)

3. Several ways to participate and integrate into Japanese society (Spanish)

4. The challenge for Peruvian children of going to school in Japan (Spanish)

5. The identity crisis of Peruvian children in Japan (Spanish)

6. The breakdown of the family structure as a result of the deskasegi movement (Spanish)

Onchi,Toshiko Elena

Japanese Peruvian in Japan

The breakdown of the family structure as a result of the deskasegi movement (Spanish)

(Spanish) I think that ... the families that have come as dekasegi depend on jobs. Then unfortunately many times in the same city, they, the couple, cannot find work in the same city. Therefore, one has to work far away. And that is when the family disintegrates. Then they break up and separate. As the divorce law in Peru, as elsewhere in Latin America is harsh... I*: It is more complex. It is more complex. Well, it is not like in Japan, that divorce is overnight, then the person takes up with another person/couple, and then a child cannot register as a legitimate child until one divorces and then the person can marry. * "I" indicates an interviewer (Alberto Matsumoto).

Date: March 24, 2009

Location: Tokyo, Japan

Interviewer: Alberto Matsumoto

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

Interviewee Bio

Born in Peru. Starting in 1980, she managed ELECTRONICA MORUMBI S.R.L., a company specializing in building and repairing electronics, for about ten years. After moving to Japan in September of 1990, she first registered as a volunteer of the Globalization Committee of Yamato city. Later, she remained active as an interpreter and consultant, and also stayed engaged with the AMDA (American Medical Directors Association) Medical Information Center.

From 2001, she worked as an interpreter and consultant for South American Nikkei workers at the Industrial Employment Stabilization Center’s Kanagawa location, and from 2002 to 2005, she worked for TOKIO NIKKEIS (Ueno/Shinjuku area employment stabilization center), a firm operated by the same agency. In addition, she served as a translator for the Administrative Procedures Office’s Futaba branch, for the businesses in the community, and currently for the “Training of Nikkei For Employment Preparation”—a project commissioned by the Overseas Nikkei Association.

In Yamato city, she is a local radio host on FM YAMATO, and she is also a member of the city sponsored “Multicultural Coexistence Convention” and the “Regional Welfare Planning and Implementation Committee”. (July 2010)