In Japanese culture and tradition, names are very important and have great significance in people's lives and destiny. But they also take into account the aesthetics, symmetry, and number of strokes and the sound of the name.
When a baby is born or is about to be born, a grandfather, father, or someone important to the family is often asked to choose a name. The Japanese and Spanish names were carefully chosen by my father.
My father had a great faith. He believed in God, destiny, luck, hard and constant work and talent in that order. He was also fascinated by numerology and symmetry in names and palm reading. He claimed to be a Methodist Protestant, but he was not opposed to the Catholic religion. In primary school, although it was a Japanese school at the beginning, we were taught to be Catholic: we were taught catechism, we were baptized, we made our first communion and we were confirmed.
My last names
The surname NAKACHI is from Okinawa. In kanji 仲 it means at the center of the earth or personal relationship with the earth . It is composed of two kanji: Naka (at the center, personal relationship) and chi (earth, soil).
In Honshu, naka is written with just the kanji for 中, but in Okinawa, especially, the kanji for hito仲 is written to the left of naka and means “in the center” or also “personal relationship”. The two kanji that make up Nakachi have 6 strokes. Nakachi has twelve strokes, which in Japan is a very positive number.
My maternal surname MORIMOTO is simpler. It has the kanji of mori (森) which means “forest” and moto (本) which means “origin, book”.
In Peru, Issei and Nikkei have almost always had some problems with our names on birth certificates, marriage certificates, passports, ID cards, diplomas and documents. It appeared as Nakashi, which I thought was a minor error, but for emails it was a big problem. Then with my maternal surname Morimoto, I don't know how it appeared as Maremoto and, obviously, I couldn't accept staying as Maremoto... Isn't that true?
The names of women in my family
The meaning of a name depends on the kanji or combination of kanji characters and their interpretations. A girl may have the same name as another girl, but have different meanings.
My grandfather gave my mother the Japanese female name KIYOMI (清美). It is composed of the kanji characters 聖 (kiyo), meaning “holy, sacred,” or 清 (kiyo), meaning “pure, clean,” and 美 (mi), meaning “beautiful.” My mother wrote her name like this 清美, which means pure beauty.
Its name in Spanish was ROSA. We all know that rosa is the flower of the rose bush, characterized by its beauty, its fragrance and its color.
We always say that we are 6 siblings when we are asked. In reality, we were 7. The first daughter died before she was one year old, leaving my parents and grandparents very devastated. Although I was the second to come into the world, I remained the first, the oldest sister.
When I was born, my father named me GRACIELA, because according to him it was a grace from heaven. Gratia comes from gratus , which means pleasant, agreeable, grace, grace . In the Bible, it is grace, gratitude, blessing. “ It is a grace, a free gift granted by God to help man fulfill his commandments .” It is a beautiful name.
In high school and college, everyone called me CHELA or Chelita. Some say it comes from the Italian cielo or chelo , or from the Mayan Chel, which means blue. The indigenous Mayans of Yucatan called blond, blue-eyed Spaniards chel . This is where the name chela for beer comes from in Mexico, and it has spread throughout Latin America. Well, no way around it, cheers! ...have a nice cold, foamy beer...without me. I hate alcohol.
My name in Japanese is MASAE 正江. It is composed of the kanji tadashi正 which means “good, kind, virtuous, fair; justice, truth, loyalty, righteousness” and the kanji e江, which indicates that it is a female name. In my family and in the Japanese community I am always called Masae, Masaechan with affection or Masaesan with respect.
正 This kanji is used to count by fives in Japan.
My sister MITSUE 光江 lives in Puerto Rico. Mitsue, my father told us that it was written with the kanji for teru or hikari , but it was read as Mitsu and was completed with an e because it is a feminine name.
Hikari, as a kanji, is of Japanese origin and dates back to ancient Japanese culture. It has a deep meaning. In traditional Japanese folklore, light represents enlightenment, knowledge and tranquility. My sister Mitsue, although we never called her Mitchan, because there were several names like that in the family and friends, always shone with her light, wisdom and serenity.
Her name in Spanish is MERCEDES, but she is always called Meche or Mechita everywhere. She was named this because she was born on September 21st and September 24th was the name day of the Virgin of La Merced, patron saint of Barcelona and many places in South America. It is a name used exclusively in the Hispanic world, very used and traditional, but which has not lost its freshness through use.
My sister Mercedes, like the meaning of her name, has a generous, kind and charismatic personality. Because she is sincere and always willing to help others, she succeeds in her social relationships. Because of her responsibility and capacity for work, she has been a great teacher.
My other sister was called YURI (百合) which means lily in English. White lilies symbolize purity and beauty. My little sister Yurichan was like that, beautiful, delicate, fragile. She has been resting in the house of the Lord for many years.
Her name in Spanish was ISABEL and is of Hebrew, Greek and Spanish origin. It means “God is my oath”, “betrothed of God”, “God is perfection”. In the Old Testament, Eliseba was the wife of Aaron. The Greek form Isabel was the mother of John the Baptist in the New Testament.
My younger sister's name is SUMIE. It consists of three characters: kotobuki (longevity, congratulations), utsukushi (beauty) and megu (kindness, helpfulness).
In Spanish it is called MARGARITA. The daisy is a flower that is associated with a friendly, loyal and difficult to anger personality. It also symbolizes innocence and purity, and its yellow center represents life. In Greek origin it means “pearl”.
Boys' names
The first male in the family (choonan) is called TOSHIMITSU.
俊光 means talented, tall and bright, respected.
俊充 means full of talent and excellent and fast.
His name in Spanish is JORGE FEDERICO, Jorge after my father and Federico after Federico Chopin.
My second brother was named KENJI 賢二, meaning “wise, second” or 健次, “healthy, next.” I’m not sure which of the kanji my father preferred.
In Spanish his name was LUIS ANTONIO. Luis means “Illustrious in combat” or “Illustrious in battle”. Antonio comes from Italian, Spanish and Portuguese meaning “inestimable” or “worthy of praise”. It comes from the Latin name Antonius, which was interpreted as “he who faces his adversaries” or “brave”. The name Antonio has been popular in Europe for centuries.
Hiro is my nephew’s name. Besides being similar to the word hero (hero in English) which in itself gives him strength, it also means “abundant.” The Japanese name Hiro (ひろ, ヒロ) has multiple meanings, depending on the characters used. The kanji 裕 means “abundant.” 寛 means “generous, tolerant,” and 浩 means “prosperous.”
My other nephew is named KEI. It can have several meanings depending on the kanji used to write it: 圭 (圭) means “square jewel,” 恵 (恵) means “blessing,” 慧 (慧) means “wise,” 慶 (慶) means “jubilee.” Kei is a name that can be either masculine or feminine. Its meaning can be “reverent,” “blessing,” or “favor.”
My husband's name
My husband's name was Roberto Luis Shimabuku. When we were in Japan, Japanese doctors tried to find the kanji for buku, but they couldn't find one that would be good. Many surnames in Okinawa end in KU. There are many Shimabukuro. Some said it had been shortened, leaving it as just Shimabuku. But according to my husband's research, it hadn't been shortened, it was buku.
Only his obaachan and ojiichan called him MINORU, his name in Japanese. The name Minoru 稔 is of Japanese origin. It has a double meaning: “truth” and “fruit”. The character minoru is composed of two elements: the left part represents the grain and the right part represents development. Minoru means “to bear fruit”. The name Minoru has great historical significance and continues to be relevant in Japanese culture.
My grandfather's name
My second grandfather on my mother's side was named CHIDA. Why do I put it here if he was an Issei? Reading the kanji characters of his surname changed his destiny. He was on the list of intellectuals to be taken to concentration camps in the United States. The kanji for CHI is also read as SEN. On the list he was named SENDA and they let him go. My grandfather hid in a friend's house for several months until they stopped watching the house in Huancayo where my grandmother and my parents were.
As you can see, the name can help us shape our destiny and the life we have to live. I can see many of the characteristics described in my parents, in myself, in my brothers and in my nephews. It is very important to know how to choose a child's name. You have to do it with a lot of wisdom and knowledge.
In Japanese culture, names were often chosen to reflect core values and aspirations.
© 2024 Graciela Nakachi Morimoto
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