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2698_Pre.qxp 1/23/09 8:19 PM Page i 1 2 3 LIVING JAPAN 4 ESSAYS ON EVERYDAY LIFE IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY 5 6 7 8 9 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 3 1 2 3 4 5 3 3 3 3 4 2698_Pre.qxp 1/23/09 8:19 PM Page ii 0 0 0 6 7 8 9 0 2698_Pre.qxp 1/23/09 8:19 PM Page iii 1 2 3 4 Living Japan 5 6 Essays on Everyday Life 7 8 in Contemporary Society 9 1 1 2 3 4 5 Edited by 6 Harumi Kimura 7 8 9 Translated by 2 Haruko Miyazaki Yuriko Takahashi 1 and Others 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 3 1 2 3 4 5 3 3 3 3 4 2698_Pre.qxp 1/23/09 8:19 PM Page iv LIVING JAPAN ESSAYS IN EVERYDAY LIFE IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY Edited by Harumi Kimura Translated by H. Miyazaki, Y. Takahashi and Others First published in 2009 by GLOBAL ORIENTAL LTD PO Box 219 0 Folkestone Kent CT20 2WP UK www.globaloriental.co.uk © Global Oriental Ltd 2009 ISBN 978-1-905246-86-1 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any 0 electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A CIP catalogue entry for this book is available from the British Library Athonoevn Prees, Gateshead, Tyne and wear 0 6 7 Set in Garamond 11.5 on 13pt by IDSUK (DataConnection) Ltd 8 Printed and bound in England by Athenaeum Press, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear 9 0 2698_Pre.qxp 1/23/09 8:19 PM Page v 1 2 3 4 5 Contents 6 7 8 9 1 1 Foreword xi 2 3 PART 1: AT THE FOOT OF MOUNT FUJI 1 4 5 1 At the Foot of Mt Fuji 3 6 Aiko Hamada 7 2 Cherry Blossoms Cannot Be Replaced 7 8 Kyoko Okuda 9 2 3 The Most Popular Cherry Tree Variety in 1 Japan: A Hit Commodity 9 2 Kunio Machida 3 4 The Mountains Are Living 12 4 Mikiko Tsunoda 5 The first sunrise of the year 6 Mt Megamiyama with the remaining snow 7 God’s White Mountains 8 9 5 The Approach to Japanese Sanctuary 16 3 Yasuko Iwasaki 1 6 The Snow-woman I Met on a Bus 18 2 Yasuko Iwasaki 3 4 7 I Want to Become the Wind 21 5 Akiko Ohno 3 8 In the Sunshine 25 3 Midori Sekiguchi 3 3 v 4 2698_Pre.qxp 1/23/09 8:19 PM Page vi Contents PART 2: NEW YEAR’S CARDS 27 9 New Year’s Cards 29 Ayako Akutsu 10 At the Beginning of a Year 32 Mayumi Tomiyama Visiting a Shrine on New Year’s Day 0 New Year’s Gift The Seven Deities of Fortune 11 The Day before the Calendrical Beginning of Spring 37 Kiyoko Nakajima 12 Dolls Displayed at the Girls’ Festival 40 Akiko Iwashita 13 Seasonal Change of Clothing 42 Yoshiko Obata 0 14 Kimono – from Mother to Daughter – 45 Kazuko F. Fujino 15 A Good-luck Charm 48 Hiroko Yamada 16 A Year Like Any Other 50 Sachiko Mibu 17 The Day of Farewell 53 Asako Ono 0 PART 3: PLEASE ANSWER IN JAPANESE 57 18 The Living God 59 Atsuko Shimakawa 19 Hiroshima 62 6 Katsuko Oka 7 8 9 0 vi 2698_Pre.qxp 1/23/09 8:19 PM Page vii Contents 1 2 20 ‘I Want a Japanese Bell’ 65 3 Miki Hamane 4 5 21 Please Answer in Japanese 68 6 Akiko Ohno 7 22 What is Taught in Japanese Language Lessons 71 8 Yuriko Yoshihara 9 1 23 Should Convenience be Taken for Granted? 74 1 Keiko Bando 2 24 Nuclear Power Plant in Earthquake Country 76 3 Toshio Iwaki 4 5 25 Watch Your Step 79 6 Kaori Yamamoto 7 8 PART 4: CALL ME MUMMY 83 9 26 My Days with Our Autistic Son 85 2 Hitomi Ishiwatari 1 Call Me MaMa 2 Millennium Birthday 3 4 27 A Charm in the Morning 93 5 Fumi Ishii 6 28 What I Regret About Bringing Up My Children 95 7 Ayako Akutsu 8 9 29 My Daughter’s Golden Hair – What a Waste! 97 3 Yoshiko Obata 1 30 Dandelion 100 2 Kazuko F. Fujino 3 4 31 My Son’s Growth 102 5 Kumiko Miura 3 32 A Phone Call at Midnight 105 3 Kazuko F. Fujino 3 3 vii 4 2698_Pre.qxp 1/23/09 8:19 PM Page viii Contents 33 After Ten Years 108 Yasuko Matsumoto PART 5: AS IF I WERE IN PARADISE 111 34 The Class of Writing Essays and I 113 Atsuko Shimakawa 0 35 At an Antique Market 115 Junko Kawamura 36 With a Minor Flaw 118 Seiko Nakamura 37 Cleaning Leaf Vegetables 120 Hatsuko Sakamoto 38 A Bed and Breakfast in Sweden 122 Setsuko Terao 0 39 The First Grade Bowl of Rice with Chicken and Eggs 125 Asako Ono 40 Longing for Eggs 127 Keiichi Kawasaki 41 As If I Were in Paradise 130 Asako Ono 42 Today Is a Lucky Day 133 Yoko Usuda 0 43 An Evening at the Kabuki 135 Chizuko Bando 44 A Little Leading Actor 138 Kiyoko Nakajima PART 6: THOSE DAYS IN BRITAIN 141 6 7 45 Remembering London in Those Days 143 8 Sachiko Mibu 9 0 viii 2698_Pre.qxp 1/23/09 8:19 PM Page ix Contents 1 2 46 No. 81 The Chase 147 3 Fumi Ishii 4 47 A Little Trip from Glasgow 151 5 Kayoko Nakamura 6 7 48 Sherlock Holmes Club 154 8 Yuki Tezuka 9 49 Shakespeare’s Minor Characters 156 1 Saburo Kuramochi 1 2 50 We Japanese and the Past 159 3 Harumi Kimura 4 PART 7: FROM THE KITCHEN WINDOW 163 5 6 51 Ten Years in this Town 165 7 Yukiko Nishida 8 52 Weeding as an Icebreaker 168 9 Michiyo Sasaki 2 1 53 Lifelong Learning in my Town 171 2 Keiko Otake 3 54 From the Kitchen Window 174 4 Sachiko Mibu 5 55 Blue Daisies as a Mother’s Day Present 177 6 Saki Ushido 7 8 56 In Twenty-five Years 180 9 Yasuko Matsumoto 3 57 Looking at My Mother from Behind 183 1 Yasuko Matsumoto 2 3 58 First Love 186 4 Takako Yasugi 5 59 Tidying Up 188 3 Yasuko Matsumoto 3 3 3 ix 4 2698_Pre.qxp 1/23/09 8:19 PM Page x Contents 60 The Remaining Hours 191 Asako Ono PART 8: LIVING ALONE REHEARSAL 195 61 Living Alone Rehearsal 197 Yoko Yoshida 0 62 An Occasional Get-away Trip 200 Kyoko Amano 63 ‘The Assistant Driver’s Seat’ 204 Fumi Ishii 64 The Red-hot Kettle 208 Yoko Kishita 65 My Husband Is Cooking 211 Kyoko Amano 66 Roses 214 0 Mitsuo Urata 67 Shall We Dance? 217 Mitsuo Urata 68 Warm Winter Sunlight 220 Keiko Takano 69 So that We Can Live to be a Hundred 222 Chizuko Bando 70 Writing Essays for Thirty Years 224 0 Harumi Kimura List of Contributors 228 List of Translators 243 Acknowledgements 245 Index 247 6 7 8 9 0 x 2698_Pre.qxp 1/23/09 8:19 PM Page xi 1 2 3 4 5 Foreword 6 Harumi Kimura 7 8 9 1 1 As the title suggests, the essays in this book deal with the everyday 2 lives of ordinary Japanese people. 3 These days, all countries throughout the world are closely linked 4 with one another. No country is independent of the others, in high 5 technology as well as in politics and the economy. Every nation is far 6 more influenced by other nations than ever before, and has come to 7 have far greater and broader exchanges with the others – in culture, 8 art and literature. The number of people from around the world 9 travelling abroad has increased remarkably. 2 Japan produced The Tale of Genji, the oldest novel in the world. 1 Animated cartoons, Japan’s leading art form (Animé ), have attracted 2 global attention. The everyday life of the ordinary Japanese people, 3 on the other hand, remains hardly known to the rest of the world. 4 I have come to this point of view based on my personal experience. 5 Thirty years ago, I stayed in London, accompanying my husband, a 6 psychologist, sent to England by the Ministry of Education in Japan. 7 Great Britain has been an advanced country and admired most by 8 the Japanese as a model of Western civilization since Japan aban- 9 doned its isolation policy in the middle of the nineteenth century 3 and began to import Western culture and institutions. Moreover, I 1 had specialized in English literature at university and had plenty of 2 access to England. I was convinced that I had a wider knowledge and 3 understanding of the state of affairs there, as well as English literature 4 and history, than most Japanese did. 5 After living in London as a housewife, however, I found that all 3 the information about England available in Japan was entirely lack- 3 ing any insights into the lives of ordinary people – for example, how 3 3 xi 4 2698_Pre.qxp 1/23/09 8:19 PM Page xii Foreword they sell meat at a butcher’s, how they smile at passers-by when the eyes meet, how they are fond of gardening.