Table of Contents

Chapter I: Before WWII
Chapter II: WWII broke out
Chapter III: During WWII
Chapter IV: Suffer damage from war, and end of war
Chapter V: Austerity life after end of the war
Chapter VI: Birth of my sister
Chapter VII: Move up to Tokyo with my father
Chapter VIII: Living with family
Chapter IX: My two brothers and two sisters
Chapter X: And I..
Chapter XI: Farewell with my parents





Chapter I: Before WWII
It was very long time ago. I hear I was born on Feb 24th, 1935 at my Grandfather’s clinic located behind the botanical garden at Koishikawa in Tokyo. My grandfather passed away one week before my birth, and my parents were late to go to the city hall to resister my birth, so my birthday on the birth certificate is March 30th.

There was a school for blind students and I remember that I could hear the exercise music from the school ground every morning. Okada clinic was located 300 meters from the gate of the school. The neighborhood was popular with nice big houses along the botanical garden.

The botanical garden was managed by the government as a natural medical plantation, and was sometimes used for the film by Kurosawa. The records indicate that ancestor ‘Rizaemon Okada’ was a manager is listed on the local history book.
On the right side after we enter the gate of the clinic, there was a big tree. Maybe it’s a kind of Magnolia, evergreen, with small white flowers, and it smelled very good. I heard from my relatives this doesn’t bloom every year, but just when a big incident happens.

My father knew of the same trees at the botanical garden, and we visited there after WWII (1951 or 1952), even though the garden was burned out from the war. The people who were evacuated to the garden perished from the air raid (the big Tokyo fire on March, 10th 1945) along with the trees. We couldn’t find the tree. I could see a part of the burned out tree with new branches covered with white spiritual rope. My father said these trees are very valuable in Koishikawa (only two trees remained at the clinic and botanical garden.), and I guess the clinic was built at the place where my ancestor ‘Rizaemon’s house was.

At the end of the lot, the local god statue was there. My mother prayed every morning to put water and cooked rice on our table. I remember this scene clearly. The entrance of the clinic was straight back to the gate, and had a nice door with glass. After the entrance, we can enter the room after taking off our shoes. The reception was at the left side, and the door to the room was next to it. The clinic was not big, just one consulting room which is also for medicine. Other rooms were for private examinations.

My mother Setsuko was married in 1933 with second son ‘Eiji’ of the doctor (my grandfather) who ran the clinic when she was 20 years old. At that time, grandfather Tadahide (doctor), aunt Kiyomi (single), and two uncles Kousuke, and Shosuke lived together.

My mother is the second daughter of the mayor, and lived in her uncle’s house to help with housekeeping after graduating her primary school. She told me frequently that that period was a hard time for her.

My grandfather (mother’s father) Shoichi had worked for the mayor of Hyogo for a long period, and received a prize from the country. I’m not sure about the reason, but he got a big debt, and borrowed a lot of money from my mother’s uncle. His house and lot were foreclosed on. My mother had a very hard time with her father’s debt. Before my mother got married, she came up to Tokyo, and entered girls’ college with her uncle’s support. At that time, students can enter the college without entrance test, and they study only one year. After that, with her uncle’s recommendation, she was married to my father. He was working at the securities company. My mother’s cousin (Shinzo Hotta) and my father’s brother (Tadasuke) were close friends from their junior high school, and they saw each other frequently. Their relationship had lasted over 10 years between Setagaya and Koishikawa. (west and east area of Tokyo) During that period, my mother lived in Setagaya. When my mother and father were married, my father’s sister (Hide) was already married with Shinzo, and had two sons (Hiroshi, Tetsuo) and a daughter (Toshie). Soon after her marriage, my mother delivered a baby son. She had 3 sons in 3 years from 1935 to 1937.

At that time, Japan was a militarism, feudarism and male-dominated society. Even though it was a hard time for women, they had to endure and just follow the country’s policy to increase kids for the country and their families. My mother left her country house from Hyogo, delivered and grew her three sons before she could get accustomed to the new circumstance with new brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law. I cannot imagine her pain back then. I recall that once my father was mad at my mother and said ‘go back to your home’, hit my mother and she was crying. I didn’t know why it happened. I couldn’t do anything for her, and felt sorry even though I was a just little kid. However, I didn’t dislike my father, and seemed to feel that’s not special between man and women at that time.

After a while, my mother found her happiness from life with her children. Her personality was bright, open minded, and she liked talking. She talked from her pure feelings like a kid. My father used to scold her for talking too much. I think her personality never changed. My brothers and sisters must have felt the same about her.

I’m the first son, nicknamed ‘unfriendly Tadayoshi’. My uncle ‘Shosuke’ called the second son ’Hideyuki’ as a ‘big eater’, and the third son ‘Mitsuyuki’ as a ‘sweet chestnut’. He made our nicknames humorous while he was seeing to my busy mother. He loved us, and used to take baths with us. (See photo)


Behind Okada clinic, there was my uncle Tadasuke’s house. He was a military doctor, and his fiance ‘Uta Muto’ and her family lived next to his house. When I cried for a while, my mother and Uta told me that ‘the scary woman (Uta’s sister) will bring moxa.’, and I stopped crying.
Okada clinic (Tokyo) 1942

My grandfather’s personality was unusual. He liked Uta, he didn’t allow his son (Tadahide)’s marriage, and passed away from asthma when he was 64 years old. Until a few days before his death, he visited his patient’s homes and wasn’t paid by the poor families. My father inherited such a personality, and he gave many things to other families during the war although his own family did not have enough food. I recall my mother was troubled by this and I felt confusion seeing her.

I heard from my mother that my grandfather could earn money from not only the clinic, but also from renting fees on 4.5 houses in our neighborhood. Back then, he had a habit of keeping change between newspapers. One day, while he visited a patient’s house, a recycling man came, and took the newspaper. My mother could mimic my grandfather’s response, and told me in a funny way. When my mother was pregnant, my grandfather told her to take care. He was a generous father-in-law. With getting older, I felt that I wanted to see my grandfather. I wanted to know his goals in life when he was in his 60’s. Was his goal only to save people from sickness?

Thirteen years before he passed away, he lost his wife, she was 40 years old. As old saying ‘Physician, health thyself!’, my grandfather, who graduated from Tokyo University, must not make a serious mistake. But he could not help his wife, because it was too late to take care of her. That was his bungle. I think he didn’t give discipline to his seven children although he had been disciplined hard when he was a child. His children loved his wife, and he might have lost his position in the home. I don’t want to question the relationship between my grandfather and grandmother, but I have never seen photos of only them together. They had grown up in different environments. My grandfather was raised in the very strict doctor’s family, and my grandmother was in the military family and she was a kind of a preppy. I guess there might have been a feud. My great grandfather was a principal and education-minded. His three sons entered the University of Tokyo. My grandfather was the first son, and a medical student. Before the war, he was a principal of an electric school. The second son studied engineering, and the third son studied law. My uncles and aunts admired my grandmother who raised three sons who all entered the University of Tokyo. But they all didn’t know the details of his grandmother’s life. The family resister which describes the real history was burned away with the city hall building during the great Tokyo air raid.

My grandmother ‘Takako’ was the second daughter of the baron Noda, who came up from Kyushu and was quartermaster general during the Meiji Restoration. When she was a teenager, she married my grandfather who was a tutor for her. Until she passed away when she was forty years old, she raised eight children. My father said she passed away with listening to ‘The Blue Danube’ by Johann Straus II. She loved music like my father, and had a glamorous air. There was a rumor about her scandal with her beauty, but nobody knows. She lived in the lap of luxury, loved my father the most. Whenever new curious products came, she asked my father to buy it, and he was willing to go to Kanda, or Shimbashi with 10km round trip. She loved the youngest brother ‘Taizo Noda’ who was a student of Waseda University, and served as a Dairen (China) branch manager of Mitsubishi-shoji, and a president of Nihon-Shokuhin-Kako. He assisted his nieces and nephews, and their children (including me). It’s not an exaggeration to say that I got various benefits both financial and spiritual benefits in my life. Even the same type human beings, some have lonely lives without knowing their biological parents, and some have happy lives thanks to the ancestor’s success. My father always told us that we needed to appreciate our happy life.

Before the war, fathers decided main direction for children’s life including education, and family members just followed his policy. There was a clear relation between master and servant. Prosperity was gained by inherit family rules. I think Hotta’s (mother’s) family tradition was logical, and Okada’s family has a strong sense of duty and warm-heart. Coexistence between both is important to be a peaceful society, I think.



Chapter II: WWII broke out

World War II broke out on Dec 8, 1941, with Japan Pearl Harbor attack. I had just entered a primary school at Koishikawa (Tokyo). At that time, my father quit playing with Geisha for education for his children, and spent more time with his family. Sometimes, he took us to the restaurant with a taxi, and ate ‘Sukiyaki’ or ‘Nabe’(hot pot). One day, after we finished dinner at the restaurant and were walking and my brother was hit hard by a young guy. My father saw this, and stood up courageously. I still remember how emboldened he was. He was a generous handsome guy, but he had a tough side also.

When my youngest brother was 4 years old, he let him learn to sword dance. My parents loved to see his pretty and gallant dancing. But he forced me to study at the desk with one-on-one basis. He wanted me to memorize many Kanjis, but I was not good at it, and he scolded me sometimes. He felt frustrated, and found another way, which my mother read picture cards that were interesting to me. It seemed to work well.

After I grew up, my mother told me some stories about my childhood. She said I was lacked self-initiative while in kinder garden. I couldn’t join friends even after I entered a primary school. At the morning meeting of the school, all students were walking ahead with order, and only I stood without moving. My mother found that was my personality. She talked about this memory with humor. My father was thinking seriously about me, and visited a teacher to get a consultation. The teacher thought that I was not good at studying, but might have a talent for art. He praised my paintings and this encouraged me to continue.

When I was six years old, my father’s discipline for his sons was different for each.
To compare with other children, we were quiet, but boys will be boys. I remember when my mother was not at home, my brothers took sweets off the shelf with my cooperation. (one rides another back, he rides the other back until he reaches the prize). Another memory is that my younger brother took ash from ‘kotatsu’ (Japanese unique warming device with charcoal) and put on ‘tatami’(Japanese style mat made from rice straw) and rub into the small space among straws. These are just some samples, and there are many more funny stories. At that time, my family moved from the clinic to Muto family’s house. The Muto family moved to the first floor of the building. The reason why I remember is that I went to the calligraphy class to the second floor of that building. My father’s punishment started in the evening when the three sons got tired from daytime playing. One typical punishment is to put us outside of the house, and leave us there. The youngest son stayed out for the shortest time, but second son stayed for the longest period, and kept crying. My father took me to the dark street, and left me suddenly, but I found my way back home always. I don’t know why I could go home alone with unknown route. Anyway, he didn’t forgive until we apologized, and my mother always told us to say we were sorry soon.

The new house we moved into was older and smaller than the clinic we had lived in, but it had a bright nice living room. There was a well covered with raspberry near the door behind the clinic, and we often saw a weasel. One time, a weasel jumped out from a small tub near the well suddenly, and it hid in the bush. My mother and I saw the scene, and she suggested me to make a composition about it. I remember I wrote an essay to express my impression for that scene. The sentences start with “I heard the sound ’plop’, a weasel was in a small tub.” We were amazed, my mother often repeated back then. There was a gravel path before the back entrance with little traffic, and we used to play ‘Hanaichimomme’ ( old Japanese typical local game for kids) with friends in neighborhood. I recall that from this back entrance, my brother and I followed my mother with the youngest brother on her back, and we went to see Jizo (popular Buddist stone statue) also, a flower decorated trolleybus at Sugamo. On the street before the back entrance, there was a bush fence of hardy orange. My father’s respected Shiatsu (finger pressure) master lived over there. He had a longing for mysterious power from the finger, and talked about him frequently. My father learned finger pressure after his 50’s , and received a certificate for the master. I guess he recognized his most proper profession at that time.



Chapter III: During WWII

The next year was the breaking out of WWII, my sister ‘Hiromi’ was born whom my father wanted to have. At that time, a B-17 attacked Tokyo, and the war became worse, even though the radio and newspapers said Japanese troops were doing well. After a while, my father sold his property in Tokyo, and bought a new house in Maebashi (about 60 miles north of Tokyo) to evacuate from the war. Before he moved to Maebashi to live with our family, he started to work near Maebashi. He lived alone at an apartment, and he came back to our house in Tokyo every weekend to see ‘Hiromi’.

Finally, we moved to Maebashi by a steam locomotive after we had said good bye to the neighbors and took a family photo. Back then, it took 4 hours by train. Because of an accident, we arrived at the new house after dark, and the truck with our furniture was waiting there for us. Our house was located about 2 miles east of Gunma prefectural government, close to the park, and a quiet housing area. The clear creek (called ‘taking human river’) was near the house, and it flowed from the mayor’s house to the yarn-making factory. The house was Japanese style, and covered with trees and a little dark inside. After the entrance, there were a small room, living, and a bedroom. Behind the kitchen, there was a triangle garden. There was an apiary over the fence, and many bees were flying. At the end of the garden, there was an exit and we use it to visit our uncle Shosuke’s house. The year after our move, the war became even worse, and B-29 bombers were flying over almost every day. We saw B-29’s which were flying with heavy noise at a height which anti-aircraft guns could not reach, Yokosuka base issued alert that a B-29 was heading north from Sagami-bay, and schools were set on alert for closing. What a late correspondence. It takes 10 minutes walk from our house to the school, and my brother and I frequently came back home before arrival to the school because of the alert for B-29. On the wall of the public bath, there were many posters which said ‘Beat the enemy!’ The bath was always full, and there were many lice and fleas. Lice hid inside of cloth, and fleas flew. I remember I caught flying fleas and crushed them with my fingers. I can’t remember where the bathhouse was, because it was always dark.



As soon as we moved to Maebashi, my father found a Japanese art class, and I went there after primary school. Master Hirakata was a pupil of Artist ‘Komuro Suiun’ who was very a well-known Japanese-style painter. Master Hirakata also was accepted at the Nitten Art Exhibition several times, and was good at painting birds-and-flowers (a kind of art category that originated in China). He also taught Art and Japanese language at the school which his relatives carried on. Whenever I visited his house for an art lesson, his generous wife (born in Kyoto) welcomed me. They had no children. I painted daffodils at first. He tried to let me draw imitation of TaniBuncho a well-known 18 century artist, and Hokuga an art style which originated in China from the 7th century. I remember the impression when I painted a pine tree with snow in the master’s garden. Whenever I finished painting, his wife gave me some food. Since it was a time of shortage, I looked forward to it. She passed away one year later from kidney disease. I went to the art class for two years, even if it was rainy, windy, or snowed.

My aunt Hidemi came to our house with her son and another aunt Kiyomi. They wanted to stay until the war got better. During the war, we could get some food (rice, salt and potatoes) by the rationing system. But it was not enough, and we went to the local farmers to get flour and vegetables. When money is out, a precious wall scroll and Kimono changed to rice and flour. The valuable wall scroll ‘Hagi and a girl’ by ‘Shinsui Ito’(well-known artists who drew beautiful women pictures) had disappeared. Most of our supper was rice soup (mostly water with a little rice) with potatoes. One-year-old Hiromi was very kind girl. At that time, only little kids could get a small sweet. When three brothers asked her for a sweet, she gave to me with smile although she could not eat them herself. When I remember it, I feel ashamed. When my mother went to get food, aunt Hidemi cooked. One day, when she was cooking with a pot, I saw the fire from the pipe and shouted ‘Fire!!”. We took a bucket, put water, and extinguished the fire. She said ‘Thanks to you, we are alive!’. But that house was later burned by an air raid on Maebashi on Aug 5th, 1945.

May the 26th is Hiromi’s second birthday. It was a shocking day by God’s decision. Nobody cannot accuse, because of God’s decision. While a short time in the evening, she was headed to the creek next to the gate like God invited and took her. I guess she wanted a small flower on the shore of the creek. She fell into the creek, and never came back. My mother used to take Hiromi to wash clothes, so she blamed herself deeply. Hiromi’s death was very hard and sad especially for her. My mother was very busy for Hiromi’s birthday dinner. There was a trace of bubbles near the place she used to wash clothes, so she was convinced that Hiromi fell into the creek. She tried to look for Hiromi towards the lower part of the river. She found Hiromi’s little arm between the rocks. She took her up from the creek, and started running to the hospital like crazy with crying and shouting. Even after some months, my father still called nickname of Hiromi.
After a while, aunt Hidemi went back to Tokyo for her husband. My mother needed to concentrate on taking care of her children in spite of poor life. I imagine the hard and busy life helped to reduce her heavy grief.

The Japanese army was determined to fight the decisive battle in the country proper, and neighborhood community association became active. Adults in the neighborhood gathered and practiced battle. They wore air raid hoods, puttees on their knees, fought against a virtual enemy using bamboo spears shouting ‘Yahhh’. We practiced for evacuation, also. Each family made a bomb shelter in their garden, and prepared food and necessary goods for the emergency. We always put a tank of water at the entrance of the house, and were ready to extinguish the fire. When the warning signs were issued, we turned off all lights and put black cloth on all windows. When the sound of air-raid sirens was heard, we moved to the shelter in Maebashi park for evacuation. March 3rd, 1945 was my mother’s thirty first birthday. My parents should have had no room to think about it. That night an air-raid siren was heard, and we went out from the house to evacuate. We saw orange sky in south east direction. Over 100 B-29s carried out a raid, and over 1milion people were killed at once. Fortunately, my relatives didn’t suffer, but our home town in Tokyo changed to a burned field. The big tree at the clinic was burned. After the war, my father and I visited the clinic to see the tree. We found only the root with little fresh leaves. We were very impressed by the tree’s big power for life. It was surrounded by a sacred rope. Someone who knew that tree is very special for putting it around the tree. About 3km north of Shin-Maebashi station, there was a small airport for practice for kamikaze (suicide attack units). Near the airport, there was a big farm house. The farmer sometimes came to clean our cesspool, and we depended on him very much. I guess the valuable picture ’Hagi and a girl’ by ‘Shinsui Ito’ was at their house instead of giving us food. Most of valuable things like art and Kimono changed to food. To live for the family was our only concern. All food was out and all five family members had big backpacks, walked for about 2.5 miles to the farmer’s house. I remember Suiton, Soup with flour ball and vegetable. During war, Japanese often ate this without vegetables while it was difficult to get food. They it made for us and it was very delicious. Land there was good for flour, and it was tasty. On the way back to the house, we carried rice and vegetables, which we received from the farmer’s house. I carried 4kg, and I remember it was hard to walk for 4 km with the backpack.


Chapter IV: Suffer damage from war, and end of war

I remember it was Aug 4th, at night an air raid warning was on the radio, and the sound of sirens was heard. Most people started to evacuate talking to the neighbors earlier than usual, because they felt something was different from the usual raid and judged it serious. Our parents let us kids prepare, we wore air raid hoods, pulling a baby car with many regular supplies. We headed to the shelter in Maebashi Park as fast as possible. The shelter was rather big as an adult could walk with standing for 50m, and had several exits. Inside of the shelter was dark, and I was worried whether I would lose my family, because too many people came in and it was crowded. After a while, a little brightness came in, and we heard noise from people shouting. We went out 30 minutes later, and were shocked from unexpected scene. The sky over our town was red from big fires, and all places were bright like daytime because of the blaze. I thought that I saw many truncheons stuck out of the ground in front of the shelter, but it was an illusion. They were actually burned firebombs. About 60% of the population of Maebashi (100,000) lost their homes from war damage, and many families were adrift. My family couldn’t sleep at all night, and continued to walk around with the smell of burned firebombs. Our house changed to ash. Our shelter in our garden was burned, and my grandfather’s favorite microscope couldn’t work at all. On the next day, my father found some tinplate scraps and chunks of wood from nearby and built a small cabin on our burned-out site. I don’t remember clearly because of the big shock from the air raid and sleeplessness, but I think we stayed in the small cabin while getting a little bit of food and blankets. It was in hot summer, so I could spend some days outside. One day, my father’s valuable tools were stolen. When a person is in rough times, he might have a feeling to grasp even at straws. We knew who did it. A few days after that, we moved to the facility at someone’s suggestion, the size of which was for about 10 families. Each family had 8 (yard x yard), and they can see each other’s space, this means no privacy all day. They shared a bathroom and a kitchen. I remember my mother taught me how to cook rice.

A few days later, we went to the farmer’s house with my family. While we were walking to the house, we saw some men coming who were crying through heat haze. We knew the reason why they were moaning. They heard broadcast of the voice of Japan’s Emperor Hirohito that Japan made an unconditional surrender. We knew for the first time that atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and many people were killed. It was the afternoon of Aug 15th 1945, we’ll never forget.



Chapter V: Austerity life after end of the war


I remember all Japanese spent hungry poor life for three or four years after the war. One month after the end of the war, we moved to the foot of Mt. Akagi. It was a small cabin (shacks made of corrugated metal) in the pine wood, and built low not to be target of enemy plane. It was autumn in 1945. Our family members headed to the destination in east from Maebashi with a two wheeled car filled with a few pieces of furniture. One hour later, we passed a narrow road, and arrived at the farmer’s house which was to become our temporary house. About a month before the construction of our house, we stayed in one room of the farmer’s house near our new home. Another family who also suffered from the war was living there for a short time. It faced south of Mt Akagi (1828m) with a wide skirt. Around the railroad, there were some mineral springs. We visited one of them very often.

The farmer (Mr. Katsuyama) had boys that were close to our age, and we played with them. My younger brothers got along with them and they made many good memories out in the beautiful nature. My brothers went to the elementary, and I went to the junior high school in Maebashi by train. It was always crowded, and very hard time for malnourished kids like us to endure our pains from too much stress. One day, I saw my youngest brother was heaving after he was chucked out from the very crowded train. He must have had difficulties breathing. After a short time, we stopped going to the school by train, and changed to a closer school. In 1946, we finally moved to the new house in the pine woods. It was a simple wooden house, and the roof was made from the skin of cedar. The west side of the house is for our family. Our house was about 16m2, and only one room with a small kitchen and a small bathroom. My father brought pebbles from the creek, and made cooking wear like an oven. At the end of the house, there was an exit, and he dug a whole and made a bathroom. The handy neighbor Mr. Yoshizawa dug a well (3m depth), and we used it for water. We took a bath outside near the well with a drum filled with water. Mr. Yoshizawa had two boys, and they always competing against us for many things. During Spring time, we ran many times in the pine woods that were filled with fresh green leaves on the trees. We competed with them for getting beetles, mushrooms from the woods, and pine cones for fuel. We also helped with the housework. They were fresh and pleasurable days. My uncles often visited and helped us. My father must have been happy to have nice brothers.



I think it was 1947 when my mother went to her home town (Hyogo) due to her mother passing away. My father left the house at the same time to look for a job. During those few days without our parents, we boys stayed at the house alone and experienced an unforgettable accident. During the evening of the day after our parents left, we finished eating steamed potatoes or something like a pan cake for supper. Suddenly, the youngest brother jumped out from the room to the woods with a stomachache. We followed him, and heard his shouting ‘Something is coming out from my body!’ They were parasites. I knew many people had parasites back then, because we ate vegetables and fruit which were grown with human excrement, but I was very surprised to see the real scene. I remember we needed to take de-worming medicine at school regularly.

A few days later, my mother came home with very disappointment. My grandmother had a mental disorder before she died, and my mother’s brother put her into the storage shed. My mother felt guilty that she wasn’t there to help her mom, and was depressed for a while. She talked to us about her mumbling herself.
Because of the food shortage, my parents had to concentrate on how to get food. While my father didn’t have income, my mother visited farmer’s houses in the neighborhood and got food.

Frequently, my father took one day trips to Tokyo to earn money for a living. Before sunrise, my mother woke up and made a breakfast for my father so he would be on time for the first train every morning, and I was impressed by her accuracy. My father came back home late with happy face and a lot of food. My mother woke us up, and we were excited to see our dependable father who was happy to show chocolates he purchased for us. I didn’t know who he was working for in Tokyo, and I guess he was at his brother’s house. He was very kind to my father. One day, my father got pick pocketed and lost a lot of money which his brother had loaned him. I remember his sad face. He satisfied himself by helping people out, and he was not good at earning money from someone else. He had a connection with friends before the war and still after the war. One of them, Mr. Suzuki was a slim and a sensitive pharmacist. He came to our house and stayed one night, but he couldn’t sleep because of the rice he ate. My father was not good at any of the jobs he tried, selling camphor balls, dulcin, soap, ball point pens, or farming Angora-rabbits. Selling goods you need to guarantee the quality, and it was very difficult under confusing period after the war. I remember he got complaints of the quality of soaps. He succeeded a little bit at selling a kind of Japanese pickles. It may be because he liked eating them. He used a lot of money for giving samples and transportation, and finally quit since it was unprofitable work. His wood trading job didn’t succeed either. I remember my father took me to the mountain to stock up on wood. On one day, stacks of woods were stolen by someone. I didn’t know the exact reason why he quit that work but the theft might have contributed to his decision.

Another day, my brother was abused by my father, because he took his change. I couldn’t endure to see his sad swollen face from beatings many times. The first boy and girl were considered special, and other kids were the next priority. Feudalistic habits were sunk into my father’s spirit. My father took only me to the various places. We watched the movie ‘Random Harvest’ with the actress ‘Greer Garson’ at the theater in front of Maebashi station. It was the first movie which we watched after the war. He took me with him to meet the customers of pickles, buying woods, etc like I was his pet dog. Ironically, my brother stayed at his side for the longest period in his life.


Chapter VI: Birth of my sister

On Jan 28th, 1947, our sister ‘Toshimi’ was born in our house. My father was very excited. It was a difficult delivery for my mother. We were standing at the corner of the room silently, because the maternity nurse told us not to look. She said ‘a girl,’ at the moment of birth. We all remembered about Yumi, my sister who passed away, and my father had to remind my mother that ‘This baby is not Yumi’. My mother was worried about his words, but I guessed every mothers’ feeling for their children is the same. Due to her difficult childbirth, her postpartum period was hard, too. She suffered beriberi, probably from poor nutrition. Even so, she enjoyed reading mystery books of ‘Edogawa Ranpo’ rented from the library. When she remembers the scene of the part of the story that one man fell into the cave and struggled to get out, she talked to me about that episode. One day, I dropped my memorial fountain pen into the well accidentally which my cousin gave me. I stepped down the well to pick up it while my mother was watching with concerns. After I picked up, it was difficult climbing back because my feet were wet and slippery from water, and I was panicked. My mother cheered me not to give up. After I tried many times, I finally succeeded. Back then, we brothers played a lot. One time, we created a car like a tram. We dug long holes like a railroad, and created stations with soil. It was fun to make them not to run off. During summer vacation, we ran to the man-made pond, and swam until our skin was peeled off from sunburn. One time, we almost drown because seaweed got tangled around our bodies. Another time, our body we almost drown because of the sudden rush of cold groundwater. Nevertheless, we continued to go to the pond. Near the pond, there was a public park. We played baseball there with hand-made ball, glove, and bat. On the way to home, my friends ate melon from the farm secretly to fill their thirst, but I couldn’t. I recall that I enjoyed seeing the candy’ shop’s girl Acchan and her friend Akko-chan running in the woods together. Near the house, there was a cliff (height is about 4.5m), and a rice paddy was under the cliff. We played like Tarzan there. We also caught fish and crabs at the creek. We worked part time picking the eggplants for a few days in the very hot summer. We worked hard, and had a suntan with strong healthy bodies.



My father got a sewing machine from Nagano for my mother to work at home. He recommended her to work, because she was good at it. He also had her sew gloves with hand knitting machine. It was hard time sewing as the knit material was not strong enough and often cut. To think that he bought such machines, he must have had some work to get money even if it was temporary. If so, what kind of work? When he built our new house in 1958, how he got money to do it. My brothers and I do not know the details.
Carpenters built our house for 2 months. It was a nice house with a kitchen, bathroom, and entrance. Outside the kitchen, they made a pump for water. My father didn’t succeed with the Angora-rabbit farm business. He only started it because of government support. But I think that business was not fit for that economic condition. After school, my brothers and I went out and gathered grass to feed 10 angora-rabbits. I remember my father cut the rabbits hair, but I didn’t know where he sold them.

The last child in our family (girl) ‘Midoriko’ was born in Jan 18th in 1949. My mother became pregnant after that, but aborted. She told me how sad, and decided never be pregnant any more. Midoriko was a cute girl. When we put our nose close to her mouth, she tried to suck our nose, because she thought our nose was her mother’s breast. We played as a joke, but pity for her. She must have wanted her mother’s milk, but it was not enough because her mother was sick. When Midoriko was one year old, she was physically fragile, and had seizures sometimes. One time, she had a long back out, and my mother took her to the hospital. On the way, Midoriko recovered suddenly on my mother’s back, and we all were relieved. Midoriko got a kidney infection later. My father had to get penicillin for her. (To get it, my father borrowed money from our cousin.)

At that time (I was the third grade of the junior high school), I was worried about my future whether to study or work. To think about the economic condition, I knew I could not go to common daytime high school. I didn’t need to talk to my parents due to my grades. I felt a little inferior because my friends were able to choose their schools for the future and I couldn’t decide even though, I was thinking about an art career. Furthermore, I might have been weak, because I always had diarrhea. When I came home from school, I sometimes crawled. If I talked too much about my stomach condition, my mother wouldn’t give me a steamed potato, so I didn’t tell her. When I asked the doctor later, he explained to me that it was colon catarrh.

I started to go to the evening classes of the high school from April in 1949. During daytime, I sold ice candy at the candy shop. I put a box filled with 50 ice candies on the back carrier of my bicycle, and tried selling calling out ‘Five yen per one candy!’ I felt nervous and ran outside of Maebashi not to meet my friends. One day, I followed kids on school trip, because I thought nobody would find me. While kids were taking a rest on the middle of Mt. Akagi, they came and bought a lot. I tried to move with the kids when they continued on and I fell off my bicycle dropping the box with ice candies into a creek. I took the candies one by one which were floating on the creek, put back to the box, and sold them all at 5 yen per two. I learned a little bit about fun for business. I bought the candy at 3 yen each and sold at 5 yen. I earned 2 yen per candy. If I sold 50 candies, I could earn 100 yen, this was a good deal!

On Aug 31st 1949, Kitty typhoon attacked Kanto, and over 5000 people were killed. The river in our neighborhood flooded, and rice paddies became a lake. We tried to protect the doors of our house with our father, but they were blown far away. I remember that my father ran after them in his bare feet in the strong wind.

My father loved to harvest the vegetables and flowers from the rented land. (later, this became his property from agricultural reform.) He cultivated vegetables like potato, peanut, eggplant, cucumber, tomato, peas, and flowers like cosmos, sunflower, zinnia, rose moss. He studied with a book how to grow, and researched the best way to use fertilizer for each plant. Tomatoes, eggplants, and cucumbers my father cultivated had very high quality, and rose moss was wonderful, too. When he plowed the ground, my cousin came from Tokyo. Another cousin came with his bicycle from over 100km away to give back to us. Back then, we had a lot of consideration for each other, which was common.

My high school was 2km south of the station, and near the big farm. In winter, strong winds blew, and went right through my coat. One baked potato was 10 yen, and I often bought and ate while walking, and it made me warm up. We had a dog named ‘Pero’, I forgot from where she came. She had a cute face with black dots, and mix with a pointer. Sometimes, a male dog that looked like a black bear would try to mate with her, and he finally succeeded. Whenever we found the dog, we shooed him away. One day, the dog attacked my father in the dark, it might be for revenge. Fortunately, my father wasn’t hurt.

Whenever evening class finished, I ran to the house. 10 minutes from high school to the station, 15 minutes by train, 10 minutes from the station to the house. Total is 45 minutes including waiting time. If I walk, it takes 1 hour and a half, and by running I came home in half the time. When I arrived in my neighborhood, Pero found me, and jumped at me. I loved my house where my family and Pero waited for me, even though there was not enough food.

Korean War broke out June of 1950. I stayed at my uncle’s house for some weeks. In the morning, I needed to help my aunt sweep leaves in their garden. When I left some leaves at the corner, my aunt told me to do it all over again. In the evening, I made up stories which I told to my cousin so he could sleep. During daytime, I worked to draw signboards as a part time job for one builder’s office. I drew an illustration of one Japanese style hotel on the billboard on the road in front of the station.
I earned 1500 yen a month.

My father needed to feed seven family members, but he had no job at that time. He went to the unemployment office to get cheap work. (240 yen per day blue-collar work) When he was working for that cheap labor, one journalist interviewed him and the article about was published in the newspaper. The title was ‘college-educated blue collar worker’. He was confident with his strong and healthy body, because we had worked at the beach, and a fox farm on Karafuto island. So he must have worked hard.

One day, my father heard about work which attends to the dead bodies of soldiers from the Korean War. It was 1,000 yen per day. As soon as I heard that, I told him that ‘Dad, we’ll go to Tokyo!’ It was spring in 1951. We were headed to Maebashi station.

Chapter VII: Move up to Tokyo with my father

After we arrived at Tokyo, we visited my uncle’s house first. His step-mother welcomed us warmly, and we stayed a few days. His step-father took care of us as well, although he was under treatment for sickness. We appreciate very much.

Ladies who were born during Meiji period were affected by Samurai or pioneers who proceeded with the Meiji Restoration. I think they have a big heart to adjust to any conditions. Back then, there must have been many ladies who supported their husbands strongly as a virtue. Thanks to them, there were many strong men.

After we stayed one night, my father and I visited a factory where my uncle was working. At that time, I didn’t know why we visited, but probably my father wanted to say thank you to my uncle. (He helped my father with money before.) In the evening, we visited Taizo Noda (my grandmother’s brother) ’s house. He told my father. “I won’t lend money, because I don’t want to feel bad later. So, I’ll give it to you” and he gave us enough money to live for a while. Furthermore, he introduced us to our jobs. We owe a huge debt to him, and cannot express how much we appreciate.

My father started to work at the company where Mr. Noda was the president. The company made neon signs. My father’s job is to carry the neon sign to the customer. To carry neon signs you have to be very careful, because they are big and fragile. So that type work needed a responsible person. His boss was younger than him, and it was not comfortable for him. But for his family, he seemed to endure. I remember his salary was about 7,000 yen per month. (The president’s salary was 45,000 yen, and the oldest lady manager was making10,000 yen.)

I worked as a server under Mr. Noda. The office was at Marunouchi. The company had 15 employees, and was selling products made from grain. My monthly salary was 4,500yen, three times as much the building office at Maebashi. I had my seat at the entrance, and worked as a receptionist for the customers. Mr. Noda gave us the apartment, and my father and I lived there for a few months. From my father’s recommendation, I entered the technical high school and studied electronics. At the office, there were four women employees, and they took very good care of me. The leader was the same generation as my father, and her husband was Noh the actor. The youngest lady was 18 years old. One day, the leader saw that the youngest employee was sitting on my knee in the lounge, and she was mad. We didn’t care, because our relationship was like that of a brother and sister. But for the leader, it was not. I was working mostly following her instructions. One of my jobs was going out to buy the president’s lunch (butter role bread and strawberry jam). Back then, there were many red brick buildings which divided companies from the new one to the big family-run conglomerates like Mitsui, Mitsubishi, and Sumitomo, all trying to survive. My office was in the building 5 minutes walk from Tokyo station, and the building occupied with GHQ was near there. During lunch break, we sometimes played catch ball, and walked in the park in front of Imperial Palace with my colleagues.

I worked there for four years until 1955, and it was the most comfortable period to be protected from various severe conditions. My father and I went to the theater to watch movies during our off days. Back then, most movies were mono-color, and we watched French or Italian movies, like ‘Sous le ciel de Paris’, ‘The Bicycle Thief’, ‘Le Diable au corps’, and ‘Jeux interdits’. Japanese movie ‘Rashomon’ got a prize of Cannes International Film Festival at that time.
　



Chapter VIII: Living with family

We decided to live together in a Tokyo public housing complex in autumn 1951. My father sold our house in Maebashi, and all my family members came to Tokyo. We left a lot of memories with friends in Maebashi. I met my mother, brothers and sisters after a long while, but they all were fine. In this housing complex there were many families of employees who worked in the foreign offices of Mitsubishi corp. We were able live there because of Mr. Noda. That house was wooden, and had three rooms with an additional bathroom. It had a veranda on south end, and a small back yard. Mr. Shimizu’s house was east of our house, Mr. Tomita’s house (We still have a close friendship with them) was at south through the well.

We had a close relationship with the Tomita family next to our house. They came back from Thailand after the war, and were very open-minded. The husband Yoshio was chubby, and often took a shower near the well outside in summer. He worked at the Bangkok office of Mitsubishi Corp and for an insurance business. He sometimes took his wife to the theater alone, and they were a nice couple. His wife was open-minded and unhesitating, and got along with my mother. One time, she argued with her daughter and came to our house and stayed until she got calm again. Our connection has continued for over fifty years.



Chapter VIIII: my two brothers and two sisters

My brother Hideyuki went to evening classes at the high school, and worked at a plating factory during the day. After he quit the factory, he lived in the house of our aunt-in-law’s family, took a driving license and helped with the transportation. He entered Nissan in 1957, quit and tried to start his own business with his friends, but gave up. Later, he worked as a long distance driver until his retirement. He was conscience and loyal, and coworkers depended on him. He was married in 1965 with a lady from Kyoto as he expected, and she had a boy in 1969. First, it seemed not be easy to get along with Okada family, but gradually she got accustomed to our family members and later looked to be happy and bright. She had been taking care of our parents. He got asthma from 40’s, entered a hospital several times, and we were worried. But he overcame it, and continued to work as a driver for kinder garden after retirement. He was interested in Japanese chess, art, sculpture, and astral body.

Another brother ‘Saburo’ entered the company in 1953, and also went to the evening high school classes. He was a basketball player, and sometimes was selected as a long distance runner. Once he was chose for a relay competition in Miyagi, and we went there to support him. My father was very impressed. Saburo was married in 1962 with a lady to whom he met at the company, and they had one boy and four girls. He worked as a bearing assembly technician until retirement. After his retirement, he opened a Yakitori restaurant, and enjoyed Japanese chess. His wife is bright and caring, and contributed to the success of the restaurant business.

Sister ‘Toshimi’ was loved by our parents the most. She achieved the role of reincarnation of ‘Yumi’. She had learned Indian dance from first grade, went to Thailand for a tour, and played on TV. My father was very proud of her. After she graduated high school in 1965, she entered Mitsubishi Corp, and was married in 1972. She had three boys, and her mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law loved her a lot. Her husband passed away in 2007. She was looking forward to her retirement life with her husband, and she was very depressed after such an unexpected early separation.

Another sister Midoriko was quiet and not outstanding, but had a presence. While at a big event for many family members, she walked onto the front of the stage and sang, and received big applause. Later mother said happily that all family members loved her song. After she graduated high school, she entered a popular insurance company. She was married in 1977, and had one boy and two girls.


Chapter X: And I..

May 1st, 1952 was the bloody May Day. I went to the office as usual. Around noon, I heard big noise with shouting and gunfire from around Imperial Place. From the second floor of the building, I saw riot police. Later, I heard that two people were killed and 1500 hurt.

During Spring of 1955, I took an entrance test for Tokyo Fine Arts University to learn Japanese-style paining, and failed. One of the interviewers was the well-known Japanese-style artist ‘Seison Maeda’. I imagined later that when he saw my drawing, he didn’t feel passion from my work. I don’t remember at all which kind of questions he asked during the exam. My father went to the university to find out the result of the exam, and came to my office to let me know. I was very sorry that I couldn’t respond to his expectation. I still remember his sad face now.

Back then, I could not concentrate on anything, I remember. I didn’t try big jobs nor draw with innovation for art. I didn’t have enough passion for art, and just tried to paint because people around me had interest in my work. This kind of lack of passion usurped my progress. I was not interested in studying for electric in high school, and sometimes I didn’t go to the school but instead went to the movie theater. I never finished the project of connection diagram. But fortunately, I did graduate.

I spent four years from 16 to 20 years old in the comfortable environment with easy work and less concentration of school life. Nonetheless, I sometimes felt guilty and concerned, because I recalled sometimes from sentences my middle school teacher said ‘take the bitter with the sweet’, ‘Life is too short to be stupid’. But even such I thought English must be very important, and tried to study it. My father used to tell me that even without college graduation, anybody can live happily depending on how they work hard. But I couldn’t agree about it, and wanted to enter college. And I took an entrance test for Tokyo Fine Arts University, as I previously mentioned. I thought Mr. Noda expected me to enter Waseda College to learn electric, and it meant I betrayed his expectations, so I quit the company which he introduced to me. Now I think, I must have worked hard in strict society when I was young. My high school life went by, with no special interest or passion. I forgot all my friends’ names and faces except Mr. Suzuki. I had no special girlfriend, and I just spent time in the movie theater.



When I was twenty years old in 1955, I was thinking that my future was only for art. I remember I told my sisters not to move, and drew them. Once, I drew my mother working with a hand-knitting machine. She was working hard with her hair loose and disheveled in darkness. I wanted to express her real life, but she did not want to see my sketch. It was during this year, they moved.

After I quit the company, I worked at the post office to deliver telegrams. I delivered by bicycle everyday traveling 80km for a whole year even in the rain or snow. Thanks to that work, I gained weight, and became healthy. But delivery work was only to use physical body, not brain. I didn’t intend to keep that job as long as there wasn’t any chance for promotion. Furthermore, I was worried that I could not continue my painting, because the delivery work left me very tired.

At that time (1956), the Japanese economy seemed to start recovering. One novel fascinated the young Japanese and gave rise to the Sun Tribe and fashion. On the other hand, the serious disease from pollution name ‘Minamata disease’ had occurred. The disease was caused by mercury poisoning from factories which made plastic. At that time, the government allowed mercury to be swept into the river, and they put value on economy more than human life. It was shameful. Around that time, in daytime I worked at the gas stand which my uncle managed, and nighttime I learned plaster drawing at Aoyama Art Institute. Between my house and gas stand, and Institute, I rode my bicycle 25km round trip. It was not difficult for me from my experience at telegram delivery.

Near the gas stand, there were some actors’ houses and many were our customers. My uncle let me draw attractive advertisements on the glass, and I was happy to be praised by him about my colorful paintings. Over 10 Artists in the making came to the institute, and were discussing artistic theory more than drawing. I felt, my way to draw looked a little bit powerless. I knew I depended on methodology, and lack of passion or punch, but I couldn’t do it. I had some kind of complex. One day, I saw the advertisement for a contest for Shiseido poster. I completed it in one month with an illustration of a swan. But I wasn’t satisfied with it, and didn’t apply. To draw a poster a marketing target was needed to attract customers. I couldn’t understand their target for the poster, and gave up applying. I became interested in drawing posters, and looked for a place to learn. At that time, the Japan Industrial Designer Association was established. ‘Made in Japan’ was admitted put on goods, and there were ‘good design prizes’ started by Mr. Katsumi and Mr. Kenmochi. I visited Mr. Kenmochi’s house and asked to become his pupil. I was refused, but he did introduced Kuwazawa Art Institute to me, the predecessor of Zokei University. I took and the entrance exam and a class of science of color by Ostward. It was very valuable especially for me because I was not good at expressing colors.

In 1957, my cousin’s son told me that he had a friend who works at a printing company, and he could introduce me. The first applicant was my brother, but I broke in and took an entrance exam. The test was sketch of ‘Japanese tea pot and cup’. As a result, I was assigned for retouching of planograph department. That work was difficult and needed technique and experience for coloring and art. My first salary was 215 yen per day. During 4 years, I concentrated on the work of retouching. Gradually, I was able to amend on film freely, and I felt fulfillment. I had very good eyes at that time, and could see each halftone dot on the film and create 0.1mm halftone dot with a very thin pen. Four years work helped me to judge by bare eyes what percentage of a halftone dot is on a film, and I could complete high quality work which was strictly required from Shiseido and Toyota. Back then, companies had a big heart to grow up their employees. I made many mistakes, but they said mistakes make success. That time was very good for engineers. From around 1957, the printing industry started to use film. 40 years after then, they changed the way to CTP (Computer to Plate) using computers to make digital images from film. According to the rapid computer technology development, the way for printing changed a lot, and many skilled mechanics lost their jobs. My job also required working with computers.

For 38 years 22 and 60 years old, I was a workaholic in the printing field.
May 2nd, 1964 (Tokyo Olympic year), I was married and we had a daughter ‘Eri’ in 1967, and a son ‘Taro’ in 1970. I recall that I felt much happiness when I looked at my wife walking with Emi and Taro in a baby car. I am sorry for my wife to have given her trouble, because I didn’t care about our family life. During honeymoon life, I took my friends to my small house and played mahjong until midnight. I regret that I didn’t have enough time to spend with family because of overnight work, and business trips to the foreign countries.

When I was 44 years old (in 1979), I went to Taipei, it was the first business trip to a foreign country. My friend who worked with me at the printing company, quit, and started his own business, asked me to take the trip. I advised technique to print grain for the company there. Back then, Japanese technique for printing grain pattern on film drew attention from around the world. I visited Taipei several times a year. After retirement, I continued to visit factories to the various countries in Asia (Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, etc) to consult technique. I did this over 50 times.

When I was 65 years old, I applied for the senior volunteer program by JICA, (Japan International Cooperation Agency) and succeeded. I was assigned to the international printing training center of University of Thailand for one year. I also took an English test, but gave up. So when I heard about the result, I was very surprised. (My experience for working in foreign counties must have worked.) When I was 67 years old, I applied again and worked at the newspaper company in Bhutan for 1 year and 2 months. After I finish the job in Bhutan, I went to the different printing company in south of Bhutan by request from NGO and worked 6 months to give advice for offset printing techniques. When I was 69 years old, I again applied to JICA and worked in Costa Rica for one year to consult on process for environmental management for printing. I came back to Japan when I was 70 years old. I will write again in another book about post retirement.

Chapter XI: Farewell with my parents

My father passed away in a hospital in the early morning of March 4th, 1990, when he was 86 years old, from pneumonia. In the hospital, he said he will work for acupuncture with hope for life. I remember he never showed negative attitude to me as a strong Meiji man, and told me. ‘I had experienced real poverty to a prosperous life, and obtained many good things. I was very happy to live in good period.’ My mother Setsuko got diabetes after 70 years old. April, 26th 1998, she passed away from a heart attack. After she entered the hospital, her children came to the hospital every day, and went to heaven when she was 83 years old. I remember she said ‘I saw a dream I went into the beautiful flowers. I’m sure she passed away happily.

To compare with people who were unhappy from the time they were born, our family was very fortunate to get much support from relatives and good circumstances. We appreciate it very much, and wish we’ll have a good life for as long as we live.



My desire is for this book to be a good support or something for young people who are contemplating their future.



Translators: Miwako & Rey Waters
While Okada-san worked in Costa Rica (2004-2005) as a JICA senior volunteer, I (Miwako Waters) also was a volunteer as a software engineer. Not only in Costa Rica, but also after completing volunteer work, he kept supporting his friends, co-workers, and juniors. I appreciate his support and admire his adventurous spirit. When I read this essay, I wanted to share with my American husband (Rey) and started to translate roughly. He enjoyed reading this story very much, and amended with correct English. We hope you enjoy Okada-san’s story.