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.