Prefabricated (prefab) housing units, which had been used as shelter for victims of the 1995 Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, have found a new role in Peru as classrooms, much to the joy of the schoolchildren studying in them. Some 50,000 prefab units were used to house victims of the quake and, when these residents move to permanent housing elsewhere, the units were disassembled. One hundred ninety-two of those prefab homes were sent to Peru, and they are now used as 96 classrooms (two household units serve as one classroom).

Hyogo Prefecture donated the units in response to a request by Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori during his 1996 visit to Japan. Shipping costs were financed by the Japanese government with grant assistance for grassroots projects. The six Peruvian districts that received the units were located in depopulated, impoverished areas of the country where most of the school structures, made of sun-dried brick, are dilapidated due to the effects of rain. The donated prefab units were destined for areas that had few schools, or areas where schoolrooms were particularly decrepit or had been heavily damaged by El Niño weather patterns.

At the ceremony for the handover of the units in August 1998, children, relatives, and local residents welcomed the Japanese attendants, holding placards bearing such expressions in Spanish as "Japan, our friend!" and "Thank you, Japan!" One of the headmasters noted with gratitude that the children were happy because they now have classrooms where they could study. Each prefab unit was affixed with a nameplate indicating that it had been donated from Japan. In each of the districts that received prefab units, residents held heart-warming welcome ceremonies, sometimes with performances by school bands.

Ending their purpose in Japan, the prefab homes found important new roles as schoolrooms for children in Peru.