The Charter Oath of the Meiji Restoration
1868
Akamatsu Chisato had not taken the decision to marry lightly. She had no idea what her husband would look like, a man more like a noppera since he had no face, no specific body type, and no name. Surely not a demon, however. An anonymous man of her dreams and not a nightmare, never a nightmare. So Chisato went to talk to her father.
Akamatsu Gunhei was tall, like most of the Akamatsu clan, with intense eyes, which clamped into slits whenever angered; he possessed a reputation for having a strong work-ethic. But he always brought home gifts for his children from his many business trips, mainly to Tokyo. For his wife, he bowed to her wishes most times. He bestowed upon his family understanding, despite giving the impression that he was not one to tolerate nonsense.
These days his face was lined and creased with worry. About half his workers had been forced to supply labour for the various war industries in town or were conscripted into the military. His rice crops and lumber supply suffered as a result. The government had promised compensation for losses, but he had no faith they would honour that promise.
He was hard to get to know, for he was a quiet man. He never let his emotions show in an obvious way, whether celebration or tragedy, unless provoked to the utmost. Hardly ever. The most he would ever do was smile or frown.
So, it was that Chisato, his youngest daughter, came to talk with him.
She could approach him, that she knew. He would listen to reason; he was not the dictatorial shogun of the house. She knew she was her father’s daughter.
Though he dozed in a seated position, he looked like he knew she was standing at the doorway to the Oni Room, the ideal space just for him; she felt her underarms grow wet with perspiration, embarrassing her. Odd as cool air reached out to her and swirled around her, almost pulling her inside.
No family members were allowed in the sparsely furnished room whenever he was there. There was a comfortable, square ofuton cushion on the floor and a low-lying stand upon which to rest an arm, with a newspaper or documents handy to peruse. He often took a nap in there. A nearby shoji could be slid open for a view of the private garden at the side of the house. Somewhere within the outside vegetation, water gurgled from a bamboo tube and dripped into a small pond. All was very peaceful; the walled green space nearly cancelled out all the near and distant city noise.
She gingerly placed one foot across the threshold. She almost betrayed her presence when she shivered in the change of temperature and let out a small cloud of breath. It was cold, unusually cold, especially for summer. The presence of whispering devils. An oni’s breath streamed in from the outside garden and around her father, like a wind current close to the ground. No one could explain it; they just accepted it.
Chisato stepped farther into the room, quickly moving to stand behind her dozing father.
As if on cue, Gunhei woke with a start, but did not face her. “Chi-chan, what are you doing here?”
Chisato too was startled, but she carried on. “Chichi-ue…,” she addressed her father in a formal tone of voice as she crouched to her knees and bowed, almost touching her forehead to the floor.
“So prim and proper. This must be important,” he said.
Ignoring the tease, she continued, “I…I’m sorry to disturb you.”
“It’s perfectly fine,” he said with a note of forgiveness in his voice. “What would you like?”
She quivered again trying to ignore the cold and moved to face him. “I came to ask you… That is… I’d like…”
“Yes?”
“I’d…I’d…”
“Out with it girl!” he commanded.
“I’d like to get married,” she blurted out.
Gunhei frowned and said nothing except to growl a bit. He finally turned to look at his daughter, but not in anger. “So, you want to get married? To anyone in particular?”
“I’m serious, Father!”
“All right, all right,” he said waving away the complaint. “Why do you want to get married?”
“Because it’s time,” she insisted in a pout.
“You’re only sixteen.”
“Okaa was seventeen when she married you.”
“A year can make a world of difference.”
“I want to marry and move to Amerika.”
That surprised him more so. His youngest was always stubborn, wanting her way, but this was too much. “Overseas? Are you out of your…No, I…Forgive me. Have you thought about this?”
“Yes, Father, I want adventure in my life. And I can’t find it here in Hiroshima!”
“How do you know?”
“The Emperor said, ‘Go overseas; get an education’,” she said puffing up her chest to mimic royalty. “All His predecessors said so too. I’m just obeying Their order.”
Gunhei rose to his feet and snapped, “How dare you use the Emperor and His ancestors to justify your own female daydreams!”
“But Papa!”
“No, you are wrong here. Such insolence.”
Chisato’s eyes rimmed with tears as she stammered, “But Papa…please…listen…it’s not like that…I didn’t mean that—”
“How disrespectful. The Emperor would be outraged if He heard you!”
She bent her head down and began to sob quietly.
Gunhei softened his anger. As gently as he could, he asked his young daughter, “Do you know what you’re asking? I worry that you don’t know what you’re in for.”
She started to speak as an explanation, “What’s my future to be? Marry some anonymous businessman or farmer, give birth to as many children as possible and take care of them until grown, and then what? Take care of his aging parents until they die? Take care of him until he dies? All the while taking care of the garden plants, the cooking, the cleaning of the house. Then and only then can I do what I want to do? Too late. Much too late.”
Gunhei paused a good long while, taking in all the emotion, she guessed. “You were always a willful girl,” he finally said and sighed before he next spoke. “Yoshi, if you are serious…are you?”
She nodded enthusiastically.
“I have a friend in Kure City, who has a son looking for a wife,” he continued. “He lives in Kanada. You know where that is?”
“Hai. Of course, I do,” she answered.
“There’ll be time enough to look it up,” he said as he grimaced. “My friend is Kimura Hideo. His son is Kiyoshi. Is that all right?”
“Kiyoshi? That’s a wonderful name.”
“Yes, yes, yes.”
With that, he dismissed her. As Chisato stood and left the room, she turned her head and saw that her father sat worrying about his youngest. She heard him say, “I don’t know…I don’t know…” She saw him shaking his head and rubbing his chin.
Chisato skipped through the house and out the front door into the moist and sweltering heat. Though instantly sweating profusely, she smiled and hummed to the birds and the blue sky above. It was a marvelous day with her father’s permission underlining the sunshine. She stopped in the moist heat and considered a moment. She yelled to the heavens, “Chiemi! I’m getting married!”