CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2019
| Author | Rácz, Eszter |
|---|---|
| Title | From japones to Nikkei: The Evolving Identities of Peruvians of Japanese Descent |
| Summary | This thesis investigates what defines the identity of third- and fourth-generation Japanese Peruvians and what is the current definition of Nikkei ethnic belonging on personal as well as institutional level. I look at the identity formation processes of Peruvians with ethnic Japanese background in light of the strong attachment to Japan as an imagined homeland, the troubled history of anti-Japanese discrimination in Peru and US internment of Japanese Peruvians during World War II, the consolidation of Japanese as a high-status minority, and ethnic return migration to Japan from 1990. Ethnicity has been assumed to be the cornerstone of identity in both Latin America where high sensitivity for racial differences results in intergenerational categorization and Japan where the essence of Japaneseness is assumed to run through one’s veins and passed on to further generations even if they were born and raised abroad. However when ethnic returnees arrived to Japan they had to realize that they were not Japanese by Japanese standards and chose to redefine themselves, in the case of Japanese Peruvians as Nikkei. I aim to explore the contents of the Japanese Peruvian definition of Nikkei by looking at existing literature and conducting video interviews through Skype and Messenger with third- and fourth-generation Japanese Peruvians. I look into what are their personal experiences as Nikkei, what changes do they recognize as the consequence of ethnic return migration, whether ethnicity has remained the most relevant in forming social relations, and what do they think about Japan now that return migration is virtually ended and the visa that allowed preferential access to Japanese descendants is not likely to be extended to further generations. Assimilation and transnational migration theories generally imply that immigrants eventually integrate and assimilate and Japanese Peruvians certainly did, yet they still strongly identify with their ethnic roots. As a result they developed a hybrid identity that incorporates both having Japanese heritage and being Peruvian, also because after four generations the majority of Japanese descendants are ethnically mixed. |
| Supervisor | Pogonyi Szabolcs |
| Department | Nationalism Studies MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2019/racz_eszter.pdf |
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