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For nearly three decades, Roberto Negrón has called Japan home, a journey sparked by a love of Asian culture and a desire to share his own heritage with a new audience. His story is part of a series highlighting Puerto Ricans who have extended the island’s reach across the globe, carrying their flag, culture, and traditions with them.
Negrón’s fascination with Japan began with the pages of James Clavell’s “Shogun” and Ezra Vogel’s “Japan As Number One: Lessons for America.” These books ignited a passion that led him to Corozal, Puerto Rico, and eventually to a life and career in Japan.
Today, Negrón is a professor of Spanish at the Center for Languages at Ritsumeikan University. He also teaches courses in intercultural communication and the culture and society of Spain and Latin America.
Negrón initially planned to complete a master’s degree in Japan and return to Puerto Rico to teach Japanese. However, life took an unexpected turn, and he has now lived in Japan for longer than he did in his native country.
“My Japanese professor at Tohoku University encouraged me to continue studying for a doctorate, and that’s why I stayed in Japan longer,” he explained. “After graduating, I immediately found work as a professor.”
Bringing Puerto Rico to the Classroom
Negrón’s students learn about Puerto Rican literary figures like Julia de Burgos, Noel Estrada, and José Berríos, as well as sports heroes like Francisco Lindor. He skillfully incorporates Puerto Rican culture into his lessons, often using sports as a bridge.
“I try to stay up-to-date on sports, especially Spanish and European soccer, and baseball, including the Dodgers because of Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto,” he said, adding that he also shares news about his cousin, Kristopher Negrón, who plays for the Seattle Mariners.
Each December, Negrón hosts an annual Spanish-language recitation contest. Students have performed works by José De Diego, Noel Estrada, Julia De Burgos, Luis Llorens Torres, and Tato Laviera.
“What fulfills me most is seeing the interest, especially from Japanese students, in learning about Puerto Rico, their curiosity about a place they’ve only heard the name of,” he said. “That motivates me to continue working as a Spanish professor.”
He hopes to establish a student exchange program between a Japanese university and one in Puerto Rico, though he acknowledges the task is challenging. He also plans to start a plena club at the university.
Negrón’s career and his efforts to connect Japan and Puerto Rico extend beyond the classroom. In 2004, he wrote “Viaje por el Caribe Hispano,” published by Kohgakusha, a textbook used in reading classes throughout Japan.
“It’s about the journey of a Japanese university student and his adventures through Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico,” he explained.
In the early 2000s, he was also a regular columnist for the “De Viaje” magazine in El Nuevo Día, introducing Puerto Rican readers to Japan, Singapore, Thailand, and other countries. He even connected with other Puerto Ricans through his writing, such as when he mentioned Rami.chan Café & Restaurant in Roppongi, a Puerto Rican restaurant then run by a former Venezuelan baseball player for the Tokyo Giants.
“When I went to the restaurant one day, I met a Puerto Rican couple who told me they had come because they read about it in ‘De Viaje’ while visiting Japan. I told them I was the author, and they thanked me,” he recalled.
In 2008, Negrón worked for NHK World Japan, Japan’s public broadcasting channel, teaching Spanish on a language learning program.
“It was the first time ‘yo soy boricua pa’ que tú lo sepas’ was heard in the NHK studio,” he recounted, adding that he even prepared mofongo for the show.
In 2011, he served as an extra in “Andalucía: Revenge of the Goddess,” a film about a Japanese politician investigating a murder in Spain.
Negrón is currently working on a second book, co-authored with Professor Ushijima Takashi, aimed at introducing Puerto Rico to a Japanese audience. The text will be written in Japanese.
Cultural Adjustments
The language barrier was Negrón’s first major cultural challenge. One year of Japanese study was insufficient for fluent communication, requiring intensive language classes before beginning graduate school.
“After 30 years, I’m still learning Japanese, especially the writing system,” he said with a laugh.
He also noted the challenges of adjusting to Japan’s hierarchical work and school systems, intercultural communication, and a work culture where people “live to work” rather than “work to live.”
However, the positives outweigh these difficulties. He is impressed by the discipline displayed in all aspects of life, the respect shown to the elderly, the cleanliness of public spaces, and the reverence for sacred sites as both Buddhist and Shinto shrines.
He also admires the harmony and balance that the Japanese create, the safety of the streets, respect for others’ property, honesty, the value placed on public servants like teachers and police officers, and the government’s prioritization of education, health, and social welfare.
“These are aspects that any country would desire,” said Negrón, who has visited all 47 of Japan’s prefectures, “from Hokkaido to Okinawa and from Fukuoka to Niigata.”
Roots in Corozal
Negrón grew up in the Cibuco neighborhood of Corozal, attending the Rafael Martínez Nadal School and the Sagrada Familia College. He began his university studies at the Bayamón campus of the University of Puerto Rico (UPR). When he couldn’t find a degree program focused on Asian cultures or languages, he transferred to the Río Piedras campus and majored in modern languages.
“Since the University of Puerto Rico only offered one year of Japanese, I decided to come to Japan to study after graduating with my bachelor’s degree,” he said, noting that he made the move to Asia in 1997 while studying in the UPR’s Graduate Translation Program.
He had previously visited Japan as a tourist for a month in 1995.
“It was during that month in Japan as a visitor that I decided I would do everything possible to come to Japan to study when I returned to Puerto Rico,” he affirmed.
He completed his graduate studies, a master’s degree in information science and a doctorate, at Tohoku University. His doctoral dissertation focused on Western perspectives on Japanese society and culture throughout history.
Negrón said Tohoku University is Japan’s third imperial university, after Tokyo and Kyoto, and one of the most important in the country, particularly in the field of engineering.
“I am very proud of my alma mater in Japan because it was the first university to accept women into its faculties and one of the first to accept foreign students, like me,” he celebrated.
Although there is no Puerto Rican community in Kyoto, where he lives, Negrón embraces his roots and shares them with his students and family: his Siberian wife, Anna Barinova, who is also a professor of Russian language and culture, and their “rusorriqueño” son, Darío Negrón Barivov, 25, who recently moved to New York.
In his free time, Negrón practices Japanese archery, or kyudo, and Zen meditation.
He hopes that Barinova will eventually join him in a return to Puerto Rico once he retires.
