On Respect-for-the-Aged Day, we visited aged people with hale and hearty in Osori.
Tadashi Suzuki
Tadashi Suzuki-san is a 90-year-old man who live in Miyagahara. He was born in March 1, 1906. At 8 years old, he went to a primary school in the field of Yaso and studied there for 6 years. At 15 years old, his mother became sick and he nursed her for 7 years. At 19 years old, he worked on charcoal making for one year, and he entered a branch forest office and worked there for 40 years. We asked him about his hard times. At 10 years old, he walked from Miyagahara to Yugashima to take a horse to let it put on horseshoes. It was amazing. He was sometimes kicked away by a horse leg. It was also hard for him to nurse his mother for a long time. The hardest thing was that he had lost his eyesight. When he was at work, he was hit by a piece of stone. In 1942, he lost the sight of his left eye, and in 1975 just before his retirement, he lost the sight of his right eye. On the contrary, one of his happiest thing was that he had been celebrated many times for his long service in office.
When he was at school, he didn't have any pleasant memories because he had to take care of his younger brothers and sisters. So he didn't have no play time, nor, he couldn't manage to go to school everyday. As he was the oldest in his brothers and sisters, we can understand that he had to nurse them.
Next, we asked him about his life in wartime. A topic of a bomb shelter was specially unexpected. We thought that there had been no shelter around here because of no bomb attack in wartime. People in this area made their shelter individually.
Finally, he told me about his interesting eating habit. Amazingly, he has been eating only noodles for 15 years (because he lost all teeth.). His family told us that this habit makes him healthy. Other than this, he drinks alcohol everyday and he burns moxa on his head.
Yamamoto-san has a very good hobby. He loves music, so he sing a song and listens to the radio everyday and he also recorded his favorite music. Though the interview, we were impressed by his good memory. He remembers his age when he was a child. When we gets older, can we remember a specific age when we were little?
Haru Yamamto
Haru Yamamoto-san who lives in Yaso was born in 1902 and she is now 93 years old.
Haru-san has 5 brothers and sisters. She got married at 20 years old. First, we asked her about pleasant memories. When she was at primary school, she made OHAJIKI using shells picked up from the seaside. She looked forward to athletic games every year.
What about tough memories? She used to working because people had to do from earlier age. She had a hard time in post-war period. In Osori, there are lots of charcoal makers. Haru-san's family also made charcoal. When she went to work, she took her children and luggage with her.
There was no rice around there and potatoes were stolen, so her family had to eat foxtail millet, Japanese millet, and wheat. After the post-war conditions got better, she managed to get rice. Some local people died at that time as they couldn't see the doctor. So the life time was shorter than 60 to 70, and 80 at longest.
A secret of her long life is a "doctor". But she has her own care for health. That is a "Japanese green gentian". A "Japanese green gentian" is a very strong herb in the fields. When she had a stomach ache, she boiled the herb and took it. As there is no side effect, she is taking now with a medicine prescribed by a doctor. She showed us a "Japanese green gentian". It didn't smell at all. Haru-san also said to us, "Green tea is the best for taste and health." She doesn't drink any other tea or coffee. She used to pick up green tea leave from the fields and make tea by herself. Finally, we asked her about things that she wants young people to do.
Haru-san said to us one word by one word slowly, "Be kind to people and take care of your parents, then this is back to you. If you have money, use it to educate your children." Her words remained deep in my mind. What she said is very important for everybody. We shouldn't forget about her spirit.
Towa Yamamoto
Towa-san was born in July 5, 1902 and she is now 93 years old.
First, we asked her about good memories in her childhood. She lost her parents at 9 years old, but Ishida-san who was a teacher at Osori Primary School was very kind to her, so this was the best memory.
Ishida-san took charge of her classes for two years. During the time, the teacher was very kind to children without parents. When there was a ceremony, the teacher went to Matsuzaki to buy a ribbon and put it on my hair. If there was something we didn't understand, the teacher taught us until we could understand. After the two years, we were not in the Ishida-san's class, but she taught us at her house until late.
Towa-san told us about the above story very happily. We thought that a person like Ishida-san is a real teacher.
Next, we asked her about hard and tough memories. In the past, working was very hard, but everybody around there worked hard, so she didn't feel tough. She worked hardest both on nursing her younger brothers/sisters and housework. We often said "Tired" after study and housework. But we cannot say that after we heard about her story.
Towa-san was brought up by step grandparents. They looked after her like real parents, so she tried to work hard after marriage, in order to return her appreciation.
Lastly, we asked her about the secrets of her long life and good health. She said that there is nothing specially, but to eat vegetables rather than meat & fish, not to each much but to eat three meals/day regularly, to wake up early and go to bed early, and to walk in a passage once a day.
Her life looks like a very healthy and ideal life. We understand well that she has never stayed in the hospital and sick in bed. We have learned about a kind and warm mind to things and people.