Hidden in plain sight are many things that tell the story of Mexico’s multicultural history. While we tend to think of the country as having a monolithic mestizo heritage (a blend of Indigenous and Spanish), there are important additions left behind by groups of immigrants that have shaped the country’s culture, art and its cuisine. Middle Eastern immigrants brought tacos árabes to Puebla which would go on to become Mexico’s most ubiquitous taco — tacos al pastor .
Lebanese immigrants brought the kibbe to the Yucatan, now a popular roadside street food, and in Mexico City, one Japanese immigrant invented what would become one of Mexico’s most beloved snacks — cacahuates japoneses or Japanese peanuts. Japan and Mexico have diplomatic ties stretching back to the 1800s when both countries signed a Treaty of Friendship, Trade and Navigation. By the time World War II rolled around, there was already a nascent Japanese population in Mexico — in Manzanillo, many were fishermen, in Guadalajara Japanese workers came to work on the railroad, and of course, many arrived in Mexico City, the country’s capital which held the most economic opportunities for recent immigrants.
When Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, the United States pressured the Mexican government to move Japanese immigrants away from the ports and the borders, and many in the community were deported on the alleged suspicion that they were spies. That was the case with Heijiro Kato, the factory owner and boss of .
