CHAPTER THREE

“OUR IMPERIAL ANCESTORS HAVE FOUNDED OUR EMPIRE ON A BASIS BROAD AND EVERLASTING.”

From the Imperial Rescript read at schools

When I got to school, I was surprised to see that the sensei was not in our class and the principal was acting as our substitute teacher for the day. Perhaps Yakamura-sensei was ill. But I couldn’t help but wonder if her absence had anything to do with Papa’s phone call this morning.

Like every morning, we went outside for our yard exercises and then sang our national anthem, “Kimigayo,” also known as “Long Live the Emperor.” During the singing, a picture of the Emperor was paraded past us and I bowed with the other students so that we would not look upon his sacred image. The principal then made announcements about the victory in the Pacific and reiterated our need to be loyal citizens during the Great East Asian war.

For my age group, our war involvement meant learning to handle bamboo spears that the boys in our class made for our gym class. The spears were made of bamboo because metal had become hard to find.

I took my spear in my right hand. I closed one eye and aimed at the target on a scarecrow a few yards away. Time and time again I tried but was unable to hit the target. But, I did almost stab the person next to me once.

I came to the conclusion that for me to wield a bamboo spear with some accuracy into a target and with force was like expecting a dog to learn a waltz.

At first, the team captains had wanted me on their teams because of my family’s samurai history. However, after the first race I ran as part of a team, that all changed. I had wanted to run my very best to make Papa proud of me. I pushed myself to run as fast as I could, but I was still the last one to cross the finish line. When I looked up, Papa was beaming me a smile. He told me, “Joya, I am very proud of you. Remember that many Japanese fables are about having patience when we cannot get to something fast enough. It is the one who learns the art of patience that is the true winner.”

But the team captains didn’t share this belief.

And patience was not helping me spear this scarecrow, either. The gym teacher lost his patience and yelled, “Yuriko-san, scream louder and hit harder!”

“Yuriko-chan, I hope you never see the enemy, because we will be doomed!” laughed Taro-kun, as he made a gesture of his head being chopped off. Taro-kun enjoyed picking on me. When we were nine years old, he followed me home just to throw a rat snake at me. He knew I was afraid of snakes. The snake hit my heel and I was so scared that I was sick for a week with a nervous stomach and headache.

So I took great pleasure in nonchalantly putting my bamboo spear out just enough so that he tripped on it as he walked by.

After the pathetic bamboo spear exercise, the morning flew by. Following lunch, I spent sewing class daydreaming of what it would be like if I were the bamboo spear champion. The last part of the day was devoted to working on our journal project. The subject today was friendship and we were supposed to write about a special memory from our childhood. I did not have much trouble with this assignment and began to write:

When I was younger, Papa insisted that I had to stay within our gated yard. I didn’t play with the other children in our neighborhood. He told me that he worried someone might kidnap me for a ransom and he couldn’t bear anything happening to me. So, our maid, Fumi-san, would play with me in the backyard and watch me swim in our koi pond. I loved splashing around and pretending to be the magical turtle from Urashima Taro, except for when the koi fish would nibble on my belly. The pond could be seen by anyone walking on the side street.

One morning, as I was trying to swim away from the koi, I sensed that someone was looking at me. I turned. A man dressed in a business suit stood on the other side of our iron gate. He bowed, tipped his hat, and said, “Ohayo, little girl.”

“Good morning,” I said as I waved to him. He waved back and continued on his way.

“Fumi-san, do you know who he is?” I asked the maid.

“Hmm … no. Maybe he is new to the neighborhood.”

“I think he is sad, Fumi-san. His eyes frown even when his mouth smiles.”

“Yuriko-chan, you are so silly.” Fumi-san shook her head and laughed.

The next morning, I could not wait to go out to the pond. I wanted to see if the new neighbor would walk by again. After a few minutes of splashing at the fish, I saw the man in the suit. I rushed to greet him. “Ohayo gozaimasu.”

Again, he tipped his hat as he replied, “Good morning, little girl.”

Once he left, I turned to Fumi-san and said, “I still think he looks sad, don’t you?”

“Yuriko-chan, I do not know what you are talking about.”

“Maybe next time I will ask him if he is sad.”

“No, Yuriko-chan, it is rude to ask that. It is none of your business. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Fumi-san, I understand.”

Every sunny morning after that I would look forward to seeing my new good-morning friend outside our iron gate. A few days later I could not contain my curiosity any longer. Since I could not ask the man himself, I decided to ask Papa.

“Papa, do you know if a new family moved in down the street?”

“Why?”

“Well, I have seen this kind man every morning. He must walk this way to work. He always looks so sad.”

“Oh?”

“I asked Fumi-san, and she told me it would be wrong to ask him. So I thought you might know who he is.”

“Joya, I will look into it.”

“Thank you, Papa!” I hugged him and went off to my room to put my bathing suit on for my morning swim.

I was in the koi pond when Papa came over to Fumi-san and I heard him say, “I am changing my schedule so I can be with Yuriko-chan in the morning.” He then turned to me and asked, “Joya, does that sound like a good idea to you?”

“Oh, yes, Papa!” I was so happy to have extra time with Papa that it was a week before I realized that I had not seen the man again since Papa changed his schedule. He must have been visiting someone in our village, because I never did see him again.

As I finished my journal project, the principal announced the end of the school day.