Known in Latin America as a nickname, alias or even a moniker, it is what has sometimes given me an identity because, incredible as it may seem, it has been with me since I can remember and it was the first thing my obaachan (grandma) said when she saw me when I was born: "How cute my little chinito is, just like my otōsan (father)!" From that day until today, the nickname 'Chino' has identified me with family, friends and strangers because I have no doubt that the Nikkei of Latin America, like those around the world, have also been followed by this identifiable nickname, since for all of us we are 'Chino'.
I was born and it was as if my hiiojiisan (great-grandfather) was back home with the incredible and fascinating stories he told my mother when I was a child about how wonderful Kumamoto was, with its imposing volcanoes surrounded by a vast field with small boiling craters, among which he played as a child with his brothers crossing streams and sometimes feeling the heat of the hot springs. Fascinating stories of that enigmatic place where his father Keita and his mother Suki would remain, as well as his two brothers, which he now only remembered in his inexhaustible and longed-for memories.
Because it was in Yokohama, on a Tuesday, January 23, 1917, that he made the decision to seek new opportunities, carrying with him the promise that he would soon return home. But fate had something different in store for him, a long and fascinating life, as he had a family that welcomed him with much love and filled every void in his heart with the understanding that only one can find in family.
On several occasions when I was very young I asked myself why people call me 'Chino' and not by my name, even people I didn't know and had never met called me or greeted me in the same way. It was then that I came to the conclusion that something strange was going on: why me and not others, as if I had something that just by looking at me was enough to know who I was.
As I grew up I began to hear fascinating stories from my hiiojiisan and it was then that little by little I began to understand the reason for the 'Chino'. So, without wasting any time, I got to work and investigated among photos, documents and stories.
When the time came, I understood that for me to be able to write this beautiful story today, there was someone who sailed 15,500 km on a ship called Kiyo Maru for three months, who had the great courage to not look back and leave everything he had, like his family and friends, to head to a new country without speaking the language and much less knowing if the time would come to call Peru his new home. Even with all those questions, he made the decision that would change his life.
From my hiiojiisan
My hiiojiisan left peacefully, with the peace of mind that comes from knowing that you did things right, that you raised a good family, and also knowing that you were an honest person. But, above all, that you reached out to every person who needed you, whose principles and values I always carry with me.
Today we are lucky to always have him with us through the voice of my mother, since she sings the same song that my hiiojiisan sang to my obaachan: Hato Masako Haruguchi (はと 春口雅子), a song with which my mother woke us up to go to school and that has always accompanied me and will continue to be the bond of union and friendship between my Japanese and Peruvian ancestry.
Arigato enjoys himself.
* Nikkunēmu means 'nickname'.
© 2024 Alvaro Moscoso
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