Chapter 1: Introduction [Introductions usually precede chapters: retitle – “Introductory Remarks" or remove “Chapter 1]

           The focus of the present research is Peruvian emigration to Japan, usually known as the “return migration”[1]. Among the migratory flows of  exiting Peru, the ubiquitous nature of the Peruvian expatriate is common. Expression such as “in Everywhere there is a Peruvian”, “All Peruvians want to migrate”, or “Yeah! I met a Peruvian…how come?...he/she left Peru and was a worker in…;” are commonly heard in the USA, Canada and Europeans countries where the numbers of immigrants are high in proportion to the population, often causing a new configuration of the social structure in those countries; however, when it turns to Peruvian immigrants in Japan, the panorama situation is different, because this recent the migratory flow in direction to Japan is still new compared with other countries.

            The specific theme that I approached in this context of the Peruvian migratory flow to Japan or Nikkei-Peruvian (descendants of Japanese) is the Peruvian family. To deepen the knowledge of the characteristics of the Peruvian family in Japan allows an integral approaching of the migratory phenomenon, since the use of the household as unit for analysis includes all the family members, independent of birth country.

            The Peruvian immigration to Japan shows certain peculiar particularities. Some of those particularities are the primordial focus of the research, and it is they are characterized by the distinctive context of the emigrant’s new process of communication among family members, changing roles compared with the traditional family in Peru, and those features involved in a context of indecision of returning or not to Peru.

The paper is divided into six parts. In chapter one I make an introduction to the topic, explaining the current situation and the need for scholarly research. In chapter two I review the recent theoretical and empirical literature on international migration, Nikkei return migration and migrants in Japan. In chapter three I provide a useful background and an overview of the characteristics of the Japanese Peruvians that reside in Japan. In chapter four I show the methodology employed in the study, data collection and the configuration of the sample. In chapter five I offer explanations for the findings of the study. In part chapter six I discuss the effects of migration in the Japanese Peruvian community as seen in the host society. At the end of this thesis I offer the conclusions of the study.

Finally, I expect that this study will contribute to the[dearth=an insufficient quantity or number]corpus of research related to familial problems inside the Peruvian community. However, there are still a number of topics that need specialized investigation. I consider that further research oriented to fill the lack of expert knowledge and the promotion of advance further debate should be fosterencouraged. In this way the acquisition of valuable information can bridge the existent gap of information on this interesting group.