A wide-ranging analysis of the generational, geographic, economic, and cultural circumstances among communities of Japanese descent in Bolivia.
"Among the Japanese-born Issei and junior Issei, only a few have given up their Japanese nationality to become full-fledged Bolivian citizens. Those few did so as a symbolic but valiant gesture to express their efforts to be part of Bolivian society. Most of them, however, are said to have regretted it. Not because they wanted to return to Japan or to renew their identity as Japanese, but because Japanese nationality came to bring numerous benefits. Japanese nationals could receive financial and technical aid from the Japanese government as long as they stayed in the Colonias, and they could freely live and work in Japan. Even those Nisei who strongly insist that Japanese-Bolivians should be Bolivians first not only have Japanese nationality because their parents registered their births at the Japanese Consulate but they intend to keep it. Moreover, they too register their children's births at the Japanese Consulate. "I'm a Bolivian," one Nisei leader declared firmly, "But I also have Japanese nationality. It's better to have two nationalities than just one. Having three is better than two. Four is better than three." He, too, has worked in Japan, as many of his cohorts have. He also wonders why the Japanese government makes it so difficult for other foreigners to acquire Japanese citizenship."
Report on the August 15, 2004, celebration of the 50th anniversary of Okinawan immigration to Bolivia.
"Fifty years earlier on that very day, 278 immigrants arrived from Okinawa at the proposed colony in the Department of Santa Cruz, followed by a second group of 127 who arrived a month later. On the same date another nine years earlier, Japan had surrendered to the Allied Forces, which put Okinawa directly under a U.S. military occupation that lasted 27 years. The expropriation of farmland by the U.S. military led to a total of 3,200 Okinawans emigrating to Bolivia in the ten years from 1954 to 1964."
Examines the link between Okinawan emigration to Bolivia and the construction of the U.S. military bases in Okinawa.
Comite Organizador del 50 Aniversario de la Colonia Japonesa San Juan, "Prospecto" (日本語)
"La inmigracion a la Colonia Japonesa San Juan, se inicio el 27 de Julio de 1955, un ano antes de la firma del Convenio de Inmigracion Japonesa a Bolivia (Agosto 1956), con la llegada de 'Inmigrante Nishikawa' (14 familias conformada por 88 personas) liderado por el Sr. Toshimichi Nishikawa, asi sucesivamente hasta el ano 1963 llegaron 18 grupos bajo el convenio bilateral, posteriormente con la llegada de inmigrantes individuales hasta 1992, se sumaron a 302 familias (1684 personas)."
"Japanese immigrants in Bolivia and Peru are celebrating their hundred-year anniversary, and Governor Inamine flew to South America last week to attend ceremonies commemorating the Okinawan group, the largest of the Japanese communities."
"La historia de los inmigrantes japoneses en la República de Bolivia ya ha pasado más de un siglo, entre ellos, la presencia de los originarios de las Islas de OKINAWA ocupa un lugar importante dentro del país, y se podría decir que la Colonia Okinawa es como un símbolo representativo."
"JICA Bolivia, por primera vez, convoca a un concurso de fotografías con el objetivo de despertar interés en la población boliviana y poner a su alcance una comprensión más profunda y precisa sobre las actividades de JICA en este país. Los convocados fueron los expertos, voluntarios y funcionarios de JICA, quienes, con este fin, se dedicaron a la tarea de fotografiar escenarios de trabajo, rostros de colegas y paisajes diversos."