Abstract

The number of “Nikkei” Latin American workers in Japan has steadily increased since the late eighties. According to the Japanese Ministry of Justice, there are approximately sixty thousand Peruvians living in Japan. They comprise the second largest Latin American population after the Brazilians, and the fifth among all foreign residents. The migration of “Nikkei” Peruvian to Japan or “dekasegi” that was initially a household emergency strategy adopted in answer to an adverse temporary economic scenario has evolved into entire Peruvian families taking up permanent residence in Japan . In the last 15 years, this family reunification process has brought about a wide range of new issues. One of these issues is related to the education of Latin American children, particularly Brazilians and Peruvians, who have unique educational needs as a result of their parents’ work mobility, their own family responsibilities, language acquisition, discrimination, marginalization, among others. Since Japanese public schools cannot cope with these needs, a growing number of Peruvian migrant workers in Japan have decided to take their children back to Peru, in the hope of finding a proper education environment there. This paper, based on surveys conducted in Peru and Japan, attempts to assess the changes in the education of Peruvian children who have returned to Peru and their home environment, as well as the development of a Dual Frame of Reference among returnee children.