In May of this year (2017), I went to Santa Cruz, Bolivia as a lecturer for the overseas training of JICA Japanese Community Volunteers. This training was aimed at the "Japanese Community Youth and Senior Volunteers" dispatched from Japan to Latin America. As part of the training, I visited the San Juan Colony, 138 km away from Santa Cruz, a two-and-a-half hour drive, and the Okinawa Colony, 100 km southeast of there, where I had the opportunity to tour some of the facilities in the colony and talk with the people involved in each group.
This was my second visit to Santa Cruz. I was able to meet up with old friends and many former Japanese trainees whom I had met at the JICA Yokohama International Center, and listen to the stories of agricultural cooperative officials and young agricultural managers. Thanks to this, I was able to get a glimpse of the future role and expectations of the settlement, as well as its anxieties and challenges.
These settlements were made by people who emigrated after the war, but the history of Japanese migration to Bolivia dates back to before the war. Many of the prewar immigrants were people who had individually relocated from Peru, Brazil, etc. to the Amazon region (Beni and Pando departments) and the Andes region (La Paz and Oruro departments, etc.). Since it was a time when there was no communication or transportation like today, there was no contact with each other, and most of them made a living as migrant workers collecting rubber sap or working in mining. Many of the Japanese who emigrated to the Amazon region were border crossers from Peru, and there were said to have been 2,000 Japanese there around 1920. Some Japanese settled in the capital, La Paz, and many of them worked in commerce, and it is said that they enjoyed temporary prosperity due to the "Chaco War" with Paraguay that took place between 1932 and 1935.
The two settlements near Santa Cruz that we visited during this training are now important agricultural and livestock production bases for Bolivia. In addition, with support from the Japanese government and the prefecture, a Japanese language school (now a local school that also teaches Japanese), a clinic, a community center, roads, agricultural processing facilities, and other infrastructure have been built, and the area is fairly well developed.
The San Juan settlement is made up of many people from other prefectures besides Okinawa. 87 people settled in July 1955, and currently has 250 households and a population of just under 800 people. The settlement covers an area of 27,000 hectares (270 km2), equivalent to 40% of Tokyo's 23 wards. Soybeans, rice, macadamia nuts, citrus fruits, etc. are cultivated, and beekeeping and chicken farming are also major businesses of the settlement. As the rate of macadamia nuts consumed domestically is very low, most of the harvest is exported overseas. They also produce rice for sushi. They also ship 25 million eggs every month, which is 20% of the domestic market share.
The Okinawa Settlement began with the relocation of people from the Uruma Settlement in 1954. Initially, many Japanese were forced to relocate to Argentina or Brazil due to unknown fevers, river flooding, and poor harvests, but over the next 10 years, 678 households and 3,229 people settled here. Most of the residents are from Okinawa Prefecture. Currently, there are the First, Second, and Third Okinawa Settlements, and the population is just under 1,000 people, only one-third of its peak. However, the settlements own a vast area of 47,000 hectares (470 square kilometers) and produce a variety of crops. Some factories also produce flour and pasta.
According to the Bolivian Trade Institute, Santa Cruz produces 83% of Bolivia's rice, 72% of corn, 76% of wheat, 99% of sugarcane, 86% of oil plants, 30% of beef, 45% of chicken, and 65% of eggs, making the contribution of Japanese settlements significant. Currently, the agricultural cooperative CAISY 2 , which is mainly run by second-generation Japanese immigrants, plays a large role, but the achievements and contributions of the first-generation Japanese immigrants are widely recognized, as many crops and businesses were started by Japanese immigrants. 3
The areas surrounding both settlements have expanded as the settlements have developed, and currently have a population eight to ten times that of Japanese people. The entire region has prospered as a result of the settlements' production activities, and gradually administrative districts were established. Mechanization and industrialization were introduced at a fairly early stage with support from Japan, and the dispatch of agricultural experts from JICA has succeeded in improving the soil and the quality of crop seeds, raising productivity. In particular, exports of soybeans and other crops have increased over the past decade, and the settlements' income has risen considerably.
However, the presence of neighboring grain-producing powerhouses Brazil and Argentina has a major impact on Bolivia's agricultural market, and life in the settlements is often influenced by the industrial and trade policies of the country and neighboring countries. For example, it is said that the cost of making pasta in the settlements can be reduced by up to one-third by using Argentinean flour rather than flour produced in the settlements. The high-quality sushi rice milled in the settlements cannot be exported under the current Bolivian government policy.
While protectionism, which prioritizes domestic production and supply to the domestic market, is understandable, it has resulted in impeding healthy competition and export promotion, leading to higher prices, including for some necessities of life. The reality is that the poor are the hardest hit, 4 but medium-sized agricultural producers, including those in resettlement areas, and less competitive manufacturing and food processing companies have also suffered considerable damage.
The Morales administration, which took power in 2006 and has strengthened its socialist aspects, has set the goal of improving self-sufficiency and alleviating poverty. By 2013, foreign currency earnings from exports of minerals and grains to China and other countries had increased, and Bolivia's trade balance was in the black. However, experts point out that this increase in income was due to rising international prices of primary products, not due to improved productivity. The Chinese economy lost its growth momentum around 2014, and the amount of food and energy resource imports fell sharply. This dealt a major blow to Bolivia and other South American countries that export a high proportion of their goods to China. Since 2014, Bolivia's trade balance has fallen into the red5 and the country is currently short of foreign currency needed for capital investment. It was several years ago that Bolivia was said to have reduced its foreign debt and had high national reserves, but according to statistics from 2015, it is currently in the red by $10 billion (equivalent to 1.1 trillion yen). The gross domestic product is $33 billion (equivalent to 3.7 trillion yen), which shows how bad Bolivia's financial situation is. Naturally, subsidies for low-income earners are being cut, and prices are soaring due to inflation. The Bolivian government has announced that the inflation rate is around 5%, but independent think tanks point out that it is nearly double that, due to changes in the calculation method along with the consumer price index.
This economic situation and the fact that the current President Morales is up for reelection in the 2019 presidential elections are having a major impact on all of society. Japanese immigrant communities have made large investments to increase productivity and production, but the current contradictory economic and trade policies mean they cannot export, and the limited domestic market is far from being able to handle the current production volume. If this continues, it will affect the maintenance of employment in the areas surrounding the immigrant communities, and Japanese entrepreneurs will be forced to downsize their businesses, and there is a risk that they will not be able to recoup their investments.
But in Bolivia, smuggling accounts for a significant share of official imports and exports, and in some sectors it helps a lot: Argentine flour for pasta production and various other materials and components whose imports are restricted enter the country illegally from neighboring countries. Every business indirectly benefits from this shadow economy, and to some extent it is inevitable.
On the other hand, according to an economic article in El Deber, 7 Santa Cruz and Beni departments are currently actively trying to promote economic transactions and investments with Brazil and Paraguay, and it is expected that trade and economic integration with Porto Velho (Rondonia state) and Mato Grosso state in Brazil will increase. To this end, the Northern Exporters Association (Cadexnorte) points out that the development of railway and river transport infrastructure will be important, and if such regional integration progresses, it will become a major export opportunity for productive Japanese settlements.
The economic activities of Japanese settlements are already being handed over to the second generation. In order to manage agricultural cooperatives and related businesses, it will be necessary to continue to investigate the actual conditions of the settlements themselves, and in the future, merge or buy unused land as necessary, create stocks by occupation, and even contract with specialized staff who are not Japanese. In addition, the second generation must not only participate in their own unions and industry groups, but also more actively participate in national import/export associations and chambers of commerce, building a wider network than ever before, and strengthening more strategic lobbying activities.
Second-generation Nikkei respect the hardships and gratitude of their first-generation ancestors, and sometimes have a tendency to take on too many unprofitable divisions. This tendency is seen not only in Bolivian Nikkei society but also in Nikkei communities in other countries, and is particularly common among Nikkei who run businesses in urban areas. In today's global economy, complacency and procrastination can come at a high price. It is necessary to always plan for poor harvests, failures, and unexpected events and proceed with your business.
Among the young people in the settlements, some have been living in Japan since they came to Japan in the late 80s and 90s to work, some have come to Japan recently, and some have relocated to urban areas to work or study. On the other hand, there are also strong second-generation immigrants who have remained in the settlements and taken over their parents' businesses. Some of them have received specialized education and training in Japan. In order to make the businesses they inherited from their parents successful, it is necessary to increase the productivity of the abandoned land by selling or transferring it to other Japanese managers or agricultural cooperatives as soon as possible. There seem to be some cases of disputes over inheritance, but this must be dealt with quickly.
The response of the resettlement areas will likely change depending on the direction Bolivian politics move in the future, and in particular what policies are put in place after the Morales administration or if it continues.
In order to grasp the complex situation, young Japanese business leaders and executives of agricultural cooperatives and other organizations must share information through study groups and specialized meetings, raise awareness of the issues, and deepen their interactions with the outside world in order to not only take defensive measures but also aggressively develop new business opportunities and investments.
Notes:
1. Japan-Bolivia Association (general incorporated association) website
For details, see Kunimoto Iyo, "A Brief History of Japanese Migration to Bolivia," Encyclopedia of Japanese in the Americas (Akashi Shoten, 2002), pp. 140-158.
2. CAISY (Cooperativa Agropecuaria Integral San Juan de Yapacaní Ltda.) is the San Juan de Yapacaní Integrated Agricultural and Livestock Cooperative. After the Morales administration came to power, the Mutual Aid Association Law was revised, and all executive posts (chairman and directors) of the association were required to be Bolivian nationals. The organization, which had been run by first-generation Japanese immigrants, was almost forcibly transferred to second-generation immigrants. This is a big challenge for second-generation Japanese immigrants, but they are making progress despite their struggle.
3. “ San Juan de Yapacaní, a Japanese pedestrian in Bolivia ”, local newspaper digital edition bolivia.com (August 23, 2015)
Gabriel Diez L. -Santa Cruz, “Okinawa and San Juan, Japanese colonies who have been treating chocolate feasts”, local newspaper Diario Página Siete , (2016.5.09)
4. Until now, the government has provided substantial subsidies to low-income earners using revenues from exports of natural gas and mineral resources. However, this oversubsistence is undoubtedly having a negative effect on productivity. The country has always had a high proportion of poor people, but the purchasing power that has been compensated for by subsidies is beginning to affect the national finances due to the fall in international prices of primary products.
5. From 2004 to 2014, Bolivia's trade balance was in surplus, but since 2015 it has been in deficit, reaching $1.3 billion in 2016 and is predicted to be the same or even larger in 2017.
6. The current constitution does not allow for a third term. The current mayor of La Paz and governors of influential municipalities are opposed to President Morales running for president in 2019, emphasizing that it is undesirable to maintain a long-term government through further constitutional amendments or broad interpretations.
" The Alcalde of La Paz reviews the morale crisis and announces a national party ," El Economica América.com (2017.09.24)
" The Evo Morales Parties face annual norms that impede their reelection ," El Economica América.com (September 19, 2017)
7. “ Exporters participating in the Brasil-Bolivia Integration Encounter in Rondonia ”, El Deber (July 15, 2017)
" Employees and the ABT redeploy their business ," El Deber (July 16, 2017)
Key References
Keio University Regional Collaborative Research Center Joint Project, Federation of Bolivian Japanese Associations, "Chapter 3: Japanese Society and Japanese in Bolivia," Encyclopedia of Japanese in the Americas (edited by Akemi Kimura-Yano, Akashi Shoten, 2002), pp. 139-163
50 Year History of the Japanese Settlement in San Juan: Opening a Bridge of Friendship: A Record of Sweat, Tears, Joy and Hope (San Juan Japan-Bolivia Association, 2005)
Editorial Committee for the History of Japanese Immigration to Bolivia (100th Anniversary of Japanese Immigration to Bolivia), "100th Anniversary of Japanese Immigration to Bolivia: Living in Bolivia" (Bolivian Japanese Association Federation, 2000)
© 2017 Albeto J. Matsumoto
