The Role of Restaurants: The Maintenance of Nikkei-Peruvian Identity
There are three restaurants in Oizumi that are owned and run by Nikkei-Peruvians: Carol, El Pollo Okey, and Comercial E.M.Y. Peruvian restaurants provide two essential ways for Nikkei-Peruvians to maintain their relationship with Peru. The first and most fundamental role of Peruvian restaurants is they offer a place for Nikkei-Peruvians to be with friends and family and to meet new members of the Nikkei-Peruvian community. The second is that within the restaurants an atmosphere of Peru has been recreated through symbolic representations that are distinctly Peruvian. These include music (either live or recorded), traditional foods such as ceviche, papas a la huancaína, or chicha morada, and objects such as flags, posters, and pictures.
Each restaurant enables the Nikkei-Peruvian community to come together and maintain their links to Peru and to affirm their identity as Nikkei-Peruvians in a familiar and comfortable environment. At the same time, each restaurant provides unique services to its customers. For example, both Comercial E.M.Y. and El Pollo Okey provide a video rental service. These videos are usually soccer games, Peruvian soap operas, or international movies with Spanish subtitles. Carol, on the other hand, does not offer videos but has a larger selection of traditional Peruvian dishes and has more icons of Peru.
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Home Page of The Nikkei- Peruvian Experience Outside of The Factory |
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