Graciela Nakachi Morimoto
Graciela Nakachi Morimoto was born in Huancayo, Peru. At the age of four, her parents decided to live in Lima. She studied at the Jishuryo Japanese Primary School and at the “María Alvarado” secondary school. With a scholarship from Randolph-Macon Woman's College in Virginia (USA), she obtained a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree with a major in Biology. She studied Human Medicine and Pediatrics at the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos (UNMSM) and completed a Master's degree at the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia. Fellow in Pediatrics at the University of Kobe, Japan, she worked as a pediatrician at the Policlinico and the Centenario Peruano Japonesa Clinic. She was an intensivist pediatrician in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) and head of the Emergency and Critical Areas Department at the National Institute of Children's Health (INSN) in Lima. She is a Senior Professor at the UNMSM Faculty of Medicine. Fond of reading, music and painting.
Last updated December 2023
Stories from This Author
The Day After the Seizure of the Japanese Ambassador’s Residence—Part 2
March 26, 2025 • Graciela Nakachi Morimoto
Read part 1 International relations In early February, President Fujimori traveled to Canada to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto. In Canada, snow fell gently on the leaders as they disembarked their respective planes. On television, they were seen saying goodbye with a serene smile and a handshake. U.S. President Clinton welcomed him to the White House and shook his hand for the first time. Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher spoke with the President in England. Pope John Paul …
The Day After the Seizure of the Japanese Ambassador’s Residence—Part 1
March 25, 2025 • Graciela Nakachi Morimoto
All Peruvians felt that Peru was finally emerging from long years of extreme poverty, terrorism, hyperinflation, and unemployment. With the political and socioeconomic measures of then-President Fujimori, Peru was opening up to international economic investment and social calm. That's why, on December 17, 1996, no one expected what happened at the residence of the Japanese Ambassador to Peru. An important historical milestone was reached in Peru. Terrorism was coming to an end as a central theme in the history of …
Nakachi Family: Meaning of their names in Spanish and Japanese
Nov. 10, 2024 • Graciela Nakachi Morimoto
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 …
A wonderful challenge: reflections on the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games
May 24, 2024 • Graciela Nakachi Morimoto
It is wonderful what human beings can do when they set their minds to it. The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games demonstrate that people can achieve admirable achievements, far beyond what we could have imagined, far above the problems caused by natural disasters and the coronavirus pandemic. Many times it seems that we cannot achieve what we want. We forget the great value that comes with the process of continuing to try. The path we take to get to what we …
A vision, a path
May 7, 2024 • Graciela Nakachi Morimoto
Opening roads What was a dream is today a reality. The footprints well left on the paths of life are not erased by time or by people's forgetfulness. For this reason, let us leave the memories of those who deserve it, in the eternity of words. Of the countless, one of them was my father. Masao Nakachi was an Issei with a great vision for the land that welcomed him. His relentless pursuit of knowledge in books, in everyday life, …
Jishuryo: Santa Beatriz School those times of our childhood — Part 2
Jan. 31, 2024 • Graciela Nakachi Morimoto
Read Part 1 At Jishuryo School, the afternoon classes were not as hard as the morning classes. Usually it was time to do Physical Education, Religion, English. An American father from the Maryknol Church came for the Religion classes. I remember that when he turned to the blackboard to write something, there was no doubt that one of the children would get into some mischief or get distracted. The father turned quickly and, without almost aiming, threw the chalk at …
Jishuryo: Santa Beatriz School those times of our childhood — Part 1
Jan. 30, 2024 • Graciela Nakachi Morimoto
A few days ago, after many years, I passed by Jishuryo (now Santa Beatriz Early Education Center), my old primary school. The large entrance gate to the school was closed. I saw that the gray wall that surrounded it is still there, but above it no longer protrude, as before, the crowns of pine trees or the tall stems and leaves of the bamboos of the entrance gardens. The Jishuryo from the fifties to the eighties that I remembered, inseparable …
The little immigrant — Part 3: Jauja
Dec. 18, 2023 • Graciela Nakachi Morimoto
*Continued from part 2 , the following story is told by the author's father, Masao Nakachi, from a first-person narration..... I had finally arrived in Jauja. I was greeted by a beautiful blue sky crossed by few white clouds and a pleasant, soft, cool breeze. The city of Lima, almost always gray, bathed in sadness, had been left behind. I came determined to enter the Jauja sanatorium because the hard work and the humid climate of Lima seemed to have …
The Little Immigrant — Part 2: Brushstrokes of history
Dec. 11, 2023 • Graciela Nakachi Morimoto
*Continued from part 1 , the following story is told by the author's father, Masao Nakachi, from a first-person narration..... I had arrived in Lima in 1926. I was only 16 years old and I looked smaller in size than the Lima residents who frequented the café where I worked. I didn't understand anything that was happening because I didn't know the language. I worked hard day and night to learn. I didn't know about politics, but in the cafe …
The Little Immigrant — Part 1: When the Wind Calls
Dec. 4, 2023 • Graciela Nakachi Morimoto
My father, Masao Nakachi, was born in Motobu, Okinawa. He migrated to Peru very young. He only went to elementary school, but he never stopped dreaming of going to university. He was a man who managed to do a lot for the Japanese colony and for the land that welcomed him (Peru). He always remained humble, often alone in the shadows, sometimes forgotten, and finally recognized. He served as president of the Peruvian Japanese Association (APJ) in 1976-77. He received …
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