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The largest concentration of people of Japanese ancestry living outside the home islands of Japan is in Latin America. Based on years of study, this book both exposes and examines the Latin American Japanese experience since its beginnings of immigration in the 1880s. The authors speculate on the reasons that first prompted the dislocation of many Japanese and Okinawans from their traditional farmlands. They follow the Nikkei (immigrant) migration across the globe to various countries in Latin America, and show how these Nikkei finally overcame cultural barriers and began to organize schools, civic and fraternal associations, and Japanese-language newspapers, establishing significant communities in Brazil, Mexico and Peru. The heart of the book lies in the World War II experience of the Latin American Japanese. Economically well-adapted to Latin America by the late-1930s, Japanese immigrants were a key element in the economy, especially in Brazil. Yet during World War II these same Latin American residents of Japanese heritage were treated with mistrust and became the focus of suspicion of espionage activity. As in the United States, many were deported or sent to internment camps, and the US Government actually persuaded Peru to ship their Japanese to the United States, where they were interned in camps for the duration of the war, along with Japanese who were already in that country. The authors conclude with an overview of the present-day impact of World War II, while speculating on how the Sansei (third-generation Japanese) have reacted and adapted culturally and economically.