Japanese in Peru
Japanese in Peru
- Patricia PalmaPatricia PalmaUniversity of Tarapaca - Campus Saucache, Ciencias Históricas y Geográficas
- , and Pedro IacobelliPedro IacobelliUniversidad de los Andes, Chile
Summary
Japanese migration to Peru is embedded within the broader experience of colonization and migration that characterized the modern Japanese empire (1868–1945). Between 1899 and World War II, thousands of men and women moved to Peru’s central and northern regions to work in sugar and rubber plantations. After their contracts ended, many of them moved to Lima and other coastal cities in search of better economic opportunities, opening small businesses and sponsoring brides and members of their families to move to Peru. In the 1920s and 1930s, a vibrant Japanese community in Peru established newspapers and associations to create protection networks for newly arrived immigrants. However, the Japanese community also had to face anti-Asian sentiments, violence, and restrictive migration laws, which hardened during World War II. During the heat of US-Japan hostilities, nearly 1,800 people were abducted and then sent to the United States, where they were placed in American internment camps in Texas and Montana until the end of the War. In the postwar years, the Japanese community worked hard to change the negative image that many Peruvians had of them and made efforts to reconstruct their community. Today, the Nikkei community is dynamic. Members of the Japanese Peruvian community have received accolades for their arts, gastronomy, and political successes, among other fields.
Keywords
Subjects
- History of Southern Spanish America
- 1889–1910
- 1910–1945
- 1945–1991
- International History
- Social History