Kawachi, Kumamoto Kawachi, Kumamoto On February 1, 1991, Kawachi, along with the towns of Akita, Hokubu and Tenmei (all from Hōtaku District), was merged into the expanded city of Kumamoto and no longer exists as an independent municipality. As of April 1, 2012, the area is part of the Nishi-ku ward. Kawachi was the ancestral hometown of Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000). His parents, Naoichi Fujimori (original surname "Minami", adopted by a childless relative; 1897–1971) and Mutsue Inomoto Fujimori (1913–2009), immigrated to Peru in 1934. Decades later, Alberto himself made a triumphal visit to the town in July 1990, shortly before taking
Alberto Fujimori undermining public faith in the state and precipitating an exodus of elites. By 1992, Shining Path guerrilla attacks had claimed an estimated 20,000 lives over preceding 12 years. On 16 July 1992 the Tarata Bombing, in which several car bombs exploded in Lima's wealthiest district, killed over 40 people; the bombings were characterized by one commentator as an "offensive to challenge President Albert Fujimori." The bombing at Tarata was followed up with a "weeklong wave of car bombings ... Bombs hit banks, hotels, schools, restaurants, police stations and shops ... [G]uerrillas bombed two rail bridges from the Andes, cutting off