"Well, it was pretty far from here, and we spoke a different language growing up. The word for 'cat' in that language could be made if you divided the sounds differently, so that's what people called me. I just kind of stuck with it when I grew up."

As he talks,he'll grab a napkin and demonstrate, writing four scribbly characters in it and then underlining the middle two. If Kitty can read Japanese, the full name is Hanekoma.