OBACHAN'S SCRIBBLES

I was going to post this entry right after the one about visiting my parents’ house last weekend if Nabi didn’t hit Japan. But it did and I HAD TO post something about the typhoon because I was too bored on that day with the work cancelled.

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At my parents' house last weekend...

When I dragged out several old family albums from the closet at my parents’ house, I found this O-L-D one that I’ve never noticed before. Assuming it to be my dad’s or mom’s, I brought it under the light in the living room and dusted carefully. No it didn't belong to either of them. It was the album of my uncle M who I'd never met.

Uncle M (with round glasses in the photos) was my grandparents’ first and only son. You might be puzzled to read this, but yes, he was. He joined the army and went to Manchuria in WWII, and died there when he was in his early twenties, I heard. That’s all I know about him. I don’t know if he died in a battle or from a disease. Several years after his death, my grandparents adopted a boy from a distant village, the youngest of 15 siblings. That is my biological father.

Now that I think about it, I don’t remember seeing my grandparents and my dad talking about uncle M at all. Maybe just a few times, I heard my dad reminding grandpa or grandma about the Buddhist memorial service for uncle M, but that was it. I almost never heard about what kind of person he was until I told my family, more than 10 years ago, that I was going to the U.S. for several years.

None of my family really liked the idea of me going abroad for such a long time, but they just couldn’t stop me. Later my grandma told me that she finally okayed it because of uncle M. According to her, uncle M was an enthusiastic learner who wanted to study more but couldn’t achieve it, so she wanted me to achieve it instead of him. I never thought I was living my life to achieve someone else’s goal or wish, but I did remember that piece of information about him. Most of the time, however, he seemed to have been totally forgotten in our family, even when my grandparents were still alive. Maybe they didn’t talk about uncle M on purpose because they cared about my dad’s feeling.

When I opened uncle M’s album and saw the sepia photographs, I was a little surprised… and understood why my grandma wanted to see uncle M in me. My dad is a serious person and he never puts humorous captions to photos in his album. Uncle M’s album, on the other hand, was full of handwritten captions in blue ink on sepia-colored pages of the album. They showed his young enthusiasm, cute but not arrogant (over?)confidence, and sense of humor. There were some funny captions playfully teasing his friends in the photos, written in our local dialect on purpose.


I'm not sure but I guess the scene in uncle M's photo (top) is the same place as in mine (bottom). It's the view of the beach about 1 minute from my parents' house.

Looks like photo-taking was his hobby and he had his own camera when he was in his early twenties, which must have been a luxurious hobby at that time. I bet for many people in such a rural area, photo-taking was something for special occasions and at sightseeing spots only, but he was obviously interested in taking snaps of things he liked in everyday life. I’m 100% sure that he would be photoblogging if he were alive now.

I especially liked the shots of some girls he took, and I assume he had a crush on one of the girls who often appeared in his photos. The biggest surprise was that a few times he signed his name in English, and it was very similar to the way I signed my name in English when I was in junior high school.


I think this letter has a scarcity value now --- I don’t think most Japanese families kept something like this until today. This is a letter to my grandpa sent from an educational section of Japanese army in WWII. No, not the one to inform of uncle M’s death. As far as I can understand from the old Japanese written there, the letter seems to be telling grandpa that his son, uncle M, is almost finishing the training and they are ready to provide him with those items on the list so grandpa needs to send them money. The red letters stamped on the envelope say “military mail” and “official business,” and the name of the regiment is stamped on the back.

Going through uncle M's album, I felt as if a vacant spot inside of me was filled somehow. It was surprising, because I never thought that not knowing about him was such a big issue for me. I felt happy that he didn’t die young without living his life at all. This album told me that he lived, and enjoyed his life to the fullest in the time given to him. I’m not sure why that makes me happy – or relieved – though. Was I feeling unconsciously responsible for the things he wanted to achieve in his life? I don't know. All I know is I feel much closer to him now and at the same time feel freed from his “unknownness,” and somehow I feel encouraged to live my own life. And I don’t see much logic there. ;P (Well, my feelings are illogical most of the time anyway.)


Dear Uncle M,
The boy who was adopted after your death did his best and took a real good care of your parents. I guarantee that. His daughter often takes pictures of her hometown just like you did, and now she is sharing them with the whole world.
And she will probably keep your album as long as she lives.

--- From your niece who is now twice as old as you :)