Ricardo Munehide Ganaja Kamisato put his palms together and bowed. It was addressed to his deceased grandmother. Then he entered the ruined house. I could hardly believe that the construction, in the middle of the dense Okinawa jungle, was still standing. Her obaachan had left her behind to emigrate to Peru almost a century ago. Then she was around 20 years old.
It was the year 2006. Ricardo had traveled from Peru to Okinawa to participate in the fourth Uchinachu Taikai. The event brings together Okinawan immigrants from around the world and their descendants. Until before going, Ricardo had no special feeling for his ancestry. He only remembered the stories of his grandmother, who always told him about her homeland and spoke in Uchinaguchi (Okinawan dialect).
The unknown home
Ricardo or Hide, as they call him, had traveled to Japan twice before 2006. He was never able to visit Okinawa. He had some pleasant experiences, a product of the traditional good treatment and hospitality of the country. However, he also had bitter experiences. One of them was when he was in Tokyo and in a restaurant the waiters did not serve him when they heard that he spoke Spanish. His friend later explained to him that the discrimination was a result of him being believed to be a dekasegi , an immigrant worker, who in many cases is Nikkei. He lost what little Japanese identification he had at the time as a result of this experience.
In 2006 Hide rediscovered his Japanese identity. At the Uchinanchu Taikai he was greeted with an okaerinasai!! This warm word, which is said to welcome someone who returns home, surprised him greatly. His last name sounded familiar in the place and he no longer had to repeat it to be understood. His skin tone, darker than that of a Japanese from other prefectures, was common among the locals. Everywhere he went they treated him like a countryman, even though he didn't speak the same language. Even the old women in the place reminded him of his grandmother. He definitely felt at home.
Man of word
After the taikai , Hide decided to take advantage of his stay to visit his grandmother's old house. A distant cousin, an Okinawan resident, took him to the place. It was located inside the jungle, far from the population. That's how he got to the abandoned house. Once inside, he walked a few steps. He stopped suddenly, looking outside. The lush vegetation, the mountains, the road... He saw the same landscape that his obaachan saw a hundred years ago. He felt a connection with her that transcended time. Moved, he made her a promise...
Two years later, Hide is about to fulfill the promise he made to his grandmother. This was to write and publish a book about Okinawa. In July of this year he will present at the Peruvian Japanese Cultural Center; Okinawa, the kingdom of courtesy and testimony of an Okinawan Peruvian.
The book intersperses the narrative on two different levels. One tells the story of Okinawa from its origins as the kingdom of Ryukyu. The other, the author's experience as a Peruvian of Okinawan descent. As such, Hide admits that he had one question on his mind almost his entire life: Who am I?
Peruvian? Japanese? Okinawan?...Chinese?
The testimonial part of Hide's work narrates various paradoxical experiences, familiar to many Nikkei. Paradoxes like having to sing the national anthem at school and then being harassed as a foreigner in your neighborhood. The story of his first visits to Japan, which included the experience of discrimination. Being received with great joy in Okinawa, like another countryman. He even tells how he got annoyed at being called “Chinese” and later discovered in Okinawa that he had Chinese ancestry (something typical in Okinawa, with strong Chinese cultural roots).
Hide found a lot of himself when visiting Okinawa. He wants future generations to experience a little of this when reading his book. This one is also for readers without Uchinanchu ancestry, as it answers a universal question in a positive way. Who I am? I am the melting pot of many cultures.
* This article was published in the magazine Kaikan No. 34 (June 2008) of the Peruvian Japanese Association (APJ), affiliated with Discover Nikkei.
© 2008 Asociación Peruano Japonesa and Asociación Peruano Japonesa and Yamato Icochea Oshima