Bel Canto

While the South American country wherein the events of the novel take place remains unnamed, the story bears much resemblance to the Japanese Embassy hostage crisis of 1996 in Lima, Peru. Several members of a known terrorist organization, the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement, took dozens of high-ranking officials and business executives hostage at the residence of the Japanese ambassador, Morihisa Aoki. He was hosting a party for the Japanese emperor’s 63rd birthday. The terrorists demanded the release of prisoners and changes to government policies regarding trade, which they felt were unfair to the working poor. It was also the case that the president of Peru at the time, Alberto Fujimoro, was not at the residence for the party, though some of his family members were. These historical facts echo the fictionalized account put forth in Bel Canto.

There are other hints to suggest that the unnamed country is a fictionalized Peru. The absent president at Mr. Hosokawa’s party is President Masuda, “a native of this country born of Japanese parents” (10). This is almost certainly a reference to President Fujimoro, in power at the time of the Japanese Embassy hostage crisis—the only president of Japanese descent to govern Peru. The country has long had a relationship with Japan unique among Latin American countries. It was the first Latin American nation to open diplomatic conversations with Japan, in the late 19th century.

Japan was known as a notoriously closed country until the mid-19th century when it was forced to reckon with Western intrusions and a weakening shogunate government. Peru began accepting Japanese immigrants shortly after establishing diplomatic relations and, over time, this immigrant community, the Nikkei community, became a significant part of Peruvian society. It is also telling that, in the novel, Mr. Hosokawa is mistaken for the president several times, even late in the story: “He looked too much like the President. In fact, Cesar suspected that maybe he was the President, regardless of any lies he might have told” (284). By that point, however, it no longer matters, as the groups have already established their international quasi-utopia.

The female terrorist and Gen’s love interest, Carmen, also prays regularly to “Saint Rose of Lima” (147), Lima being the capital of Peru. Peru is also home to a large Indigenous population; nearly a quarter of Peru’s population identifies as belonging to one of the many Indigenous groups. These groups have historically been persecuted and politically underrepresented, which has spawned revolutionary militias and other organizations, like the fictional La Familia de Martin Suarez in the novel. The actual revolutionary group that took the hostages in Peru was named for an Indigenous leader who defended his land and people from the Spanish incursions of the 18th century. That the young terrorists in Bel Canto are mostly Quechua-speaking members of Indigenous communities again emblematizes the realities of late 20th century Peru.

The terrorists also request a food native to Peru. When asked by Simon Thibault, who is acting as de facto chef for the group, what kind of food they are missing, the terrorists reply “cabayo.” Known as cuy in most of Peru, this translates to guinea pig, a dish served at celebrations and special occasions since Incan times. While cultural differences abound throughout the novel, this one strikes Simon as significant. What he thinks of as his daughter’s pet, the terrorists think of as dinner.