My name is Arturo Wakabayashi and my Japanese name is Yoshio. It is very common in the Nikkei community to have a Japanese name, so some people also register that other name on their birth certificate and others don’t, as is my case. I have worked in study or work environments under the name “Arturo”, within the family as “Yochi” and in another very close group of friends, but without Nikkei roots, as “Waka”.

This triple identity, like a superhero, has characterized many of us Nikkei and has allowed us to develop in any field, because it allows us to integrate the different facets that identify us. I have no doubt that I regret not having found out the origin of the choice of my name in Japanese, now that my parents are not here, but at least I know the kanji they chose, and it was probably chosen for the number of strokes that compose it, and thus I can ensure a life of health and prosperity.

I saw on TikTok that an oriental restaurant, called chifas in Peru, had offered a gift as a promotion for its first anniversary of operation: the writing of your name in kanji . This is how people came up to me eager to have Roberto or Juana written in Chinese characters.

In my case, I was quick, but to have my name written in Japanese. The calligrapher turned out to be the owner of the chifa who also happened to be a university graduate, winner of an international calligraphy competition in his native China. I approached the Grulla chifa carrying a sample of Yoshio's kanji and asked him for the same to learn the kanji for Arturo. Jou, that's the artist's name, showed that he did know his trade because, without any previous sketches, he began to make strokes with his brushes and shodo inks.

In addition to this contribution of Japanese names by our families, the spread of manga, anime and dramas, ambassadors of Japanese popular culture in recent decades, has also contributed to the presence of Japanese names within Peruvian families without ties to Japan. Eiyi, Goku and Oshin are names that can appear in first or second place on identity documents, certificates or records. Japanese audiovisual production has shortened the distance between cultures and today many young people feel not only close to it, but also part of it when preparing ramen, doing cosplay or joining the matsuri of the Nikkei community.

Now, in the next story, my triple identity of Arturo, Yochi and Waka will take on a third alternative and the anime will have a lot to do with it. I am an engineer and I work as an expert at the Superior Court of Justice of Lima and my mission is to be a judicial aid body in the valuations of properties that are involved in different ways, for example, in the execution of mortgages.

Payment for this task is made through the Banco de la Nación, which is the entity that provides the central government with banking services for the administration of public funds.

The protagonist of this story is called Cesar Enrique León, who works as the administrator of the Banco de La Nación branch where I go. A very attentive and helpful person, from the first time he authorized my payment he did not forget my last name: Wakabayashi.

At that time, he told me that I was the first person with the surname Wakabayashi that he knew and that he was a fan of a popular Japanese television animated series called “Super Champions” in Latin America, whose plot revolved around football, which began as a manga in 1981 and was broadcast by TV Tokyo between 1983 and 1986.

When I got home I wanted to find out more about that TV series that I didn't know much about and I asked my 24-year-old son if he knew anything about that anime series, and he replied that of course, the protagonist in the Japanese version was called Wakabayashi Genzo and in other countries he was known as Benji Price. He was a young son of a very rich family and he trained a lot to become a goalkeeper for a football team.

Now every time I go to the Banco de la Nación, if Mr. León sees me he always greets me cordially out loud saying: “Good afternoon, Mr. Wakabayashi” or “How are you, Mr. Wakabayashi,” with a friendly smile that deep down, I think, is because he is remembering his youthful and carefree years watching Benji Price, the best goalkeeper in the world, on his favorite anime show.

 

© 2024 Arturo Wakabayashi