Transnational family strategies and education among Peruvian families in Japan

As a consequence of globalization, population mobility across national borders has increased, and many new forms of international population flows that do not necessarily involve a one-directional flow of people or a single destination for family settlement have appeared. This research originally intended to examine the “return migration” of Peruvian families who went back to Peru, but after conducting interviews with seven young adults who had attended Japanese schools and are currently studying in Peruvian universities, we found that the majority of them (six out of seven) had returned to Peru by themselves or with one family member (one parent or sibling). Thus, the rest of the family stayed in Japan, becoming transnational families as a way to support their children’s education: parents stay in Japan to continue working to support the family and children go back to Peru to pursue higher education. This study analyzes the transnational strategies of these families regarding the education of their children and the decisions they make in order to offer their children higher education and better professional opportunities.