Jump to Content

Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
View entire collection guide What's This?
Search this collection
Collection Overview
 
Table of contents What's This?
Description
This collection contains one photo album complied by a Japanese Peruvian family in which the photos depict the daily occurances and the people of the Japanese Peruvian community from 1930 to 1950. Most of the items in this collection have been digitized and are available online.
Background
During the late 1800s, Japan was experiencing a stagnating economy, poor living conditions, exponential population growth, and high unemployment. This recession motivated many Japanese people to search elsewhere, such as the United States, the Kingdom of Hawai'i, Brazil, and Peru, for work as well as a better life[1]. In 1898, some 790 Japanese men that were predominately from poor farming backgrounds and who were between the ages of 20 and 45 immigrated to Peru first and were hired as cheap contract laborers on coastal plantations where their hope was to save enough money for the return home upon termination of their four-year contracts[2]. Having been unable to save enough money, many ultimately stayed, migrated to the cities, and opened small business. Although they constitute only 0.3 percent of Peru's population, the country today has the second largest ethnic Japanese diaspora in South America after Brazil[3].
Extent
1 box (1 photo album, 31 pages)
Restrictions
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director of Archives and Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical materials and not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Availability
There are no access restrictions on this collection.