At the beginning of the 20th century, Santiago de Cuba, a city located in the southeastern part of the Cuban archipelago, facing the Caribbean Sea, was characterized by having a population made up of a diversity of immigrants from the American world, Europe, Africa and Asia, but none from Japan, whose presence in Cuba dated back to 1898.

Kenichi Fujishiro arrived in Cuba from Chiba ken in 1913. Son of Kokichi and Haru, he was the only son of this marriage and, therefore, the successor of the family name. Like many Japanese of the time, he left his country in search of riches and then returned to his hometown.

By chance he settled in Santiago de Cuba. He then changed his name to Francisco, but no one called him that and much less was he known by his Japanese name, Kenichi. Popular wisdom saw him as the representation of the city of his native country and as such he was nicknamed by the people of Santiago with the nickname “Japan.” That was his name until his death.

Kenichi broke with the traditions of the time and family promises when he married Antonia Mustelier, a beautiful Afro-descendant from Santiago, in 1920. In this way, the first family with roots in Japan and Cuba was created, which was, for many years, the only one existing in this city in the country.

From this unique union three children were born: two boys and a girl, exponents of an unusual biological fusion where African and Asian aspects were harmoniously combined. They were named by their father Kenichi: Manyi and Haruko, with the surnames Fujishiro Mustelier.

Naturally, the firstborn was named after his father: Kenichi Fujishiro, who made it clear to the entire family that this name meant “First Pine”. In the case of the girl, her name, Haruko, meant “Miss Spring”: Haru after her paternal grandmother and one of her father’s sisters.

All the Japanese names were accompanied by the name of the saint from the Catholic calendar that corresponded to the day of birth of each of the children to please the maternal grandmother, a devout Catholic, and in accordance with an ancient tradition inherited from Hispanic ancestors. Thus they were registered and baptized.

Manyi died before he was a year old, leaving Kenichi as the sole heir to the Fujishiro family name. Since childhood, he was always proud of his ancestry, and everything related to Japan was something special to him: the Japanese were so obvious in the family that they became a natural part of his existence even after his father’s premature death.

Kenichi experienced the mistreatment to which Japanese descendants were subjected during World War II, when Cuba and Japan were antagonists during the war. However, he defended his name and did not change it despite being forced to renounce his Japanese citizenship, under penalty of being interned in the concentration camp that existed during the war period in the country.

Being of Japanese descent, something uncommon in Santiago de Cuba, and showing an aptitude for music and singing from a young age, as well as possessing a peculiar comical flair, gave him an attractive personality, which allowed him to be very popular and loved in the city.

As you might expect, it was difficult for Kenichi Jr. to say his name in circles outside his family circle, in a city where Japanese was practically unknown. His name and surname were strange to Cubans and were open to multiple interpretations and pronunciations, so they were often the subject of mockery in the circles he worked in, as the versions were laughable and confusing. Something similar happened with his writing.

Over time, Kenichi found, in response to questions from those interested in the origin, translation and meaning of his name, a way to make it intelligible by creating an original story that can be an example of a trait of the Cuban idiosyncrasy: not being afraid to laugh at himself.

He explained that when he was born and his father saw him for the first time, he exclaimed in surprise: “Qué niche!” at the dark tone of the child’s skin, in contrast to the pale tone of his father’s skin. And that, he explained, was where his name and its meaning came from. It is worth clarifying that in popular slang this expression meant “How black!”

He, with a keen linguistic intuition, had used the resource of homophony and with a comical play on words he gave the solution to the problem, since the word niche, like Cubanism, refers to someone belonging to the Afro-descendants. Of course, this was a cause for laughter, but at the same time it served as a mnemonic resource for his interlocutors. It worked as a joke and made the pronunciation of his name easy.

The name Kenichi has been perpetuated by successive generations of the family until today, when a 22-year-old great-great-grandson, his gonsei, proudly bears the name Kenichi Fujishiro. As far as we know, and we are almost certain, there is no one outside the family in the city, or in the country, who bears this name.

 

© 2024 Lidia Sánchez Fujishiro