"Mi experiencia en el Japón": Peruvian Nikkei Creating Meaning from Transnational Experiences

Abstract

This article analyzes the search for identity and community in essays written for a Peruvian contest on the theme “Mi experiencia en el Japón: Una lección de vida." I argue that the texts show complex relationships among ethnicity, nationality, language, and class as the authors consider the effect of their time in Japan on themselves and their communities. Peruvians of Japanese descent, the nikkei, write of their suffering and alienation whereas a non-nikkei finds inspiration for Peru’s future in Japan. All the authors try to reconcile an ideal of global citizenship with their individual experiences of difference.