As someone who has crossed the Pacific Ocean over 450 times since 1956, I am constantly fascinated by the similarities and differences between the United States and Japan. Among the challenges facing someone who lives in both societies is that what is so positive in one country can often be so negative in the other.
I was reminded of this during a visit earlier this month to Los Angeles, where I was invited to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the opening of the Japanese American National Museum. There, I spoke about my experiences as a sansei (third-generation American of Japanese ancestry) growing up in California and Japan in the 1950s and 1960s. In the U.S., it was hard not to be defensive about my surname, because many Americans found it unpronounceable and some even associated it with a certain four-letter word. In fact, I remember growing up often being teased by the guys who would want to insert a "c" after the first "u" in my surname. And some girls (this was before women's liberation) were embarrassed to say my last name out loud, since they were afraid it might sound obscene.
In Japan, by contrast, "Fukushima" has a noble and venerable tradition and is the name of a prominent prefecture that has played an important role in the history of modern Japan. In addition, the word "fuku" means good fortune, luck, blessing, prosperity and wealth. "Kofuku" means happiness, "fukujin" means a fortunate person, "fukutaku" means happiness and blessings, "fukuju" means prosperity and longevity, and "Fukurokuju" is a god of wealth. Since "shima" means island, my name translates into English as "island of good fortune" or "island of prosperity" -- a far cry from the indecent connotations some Americans inferred from the English spelling and pronunciation.