"You had said you would take a ten-day vacation so I just assumed you would be travelling abroad." "But you are headed for Yamagata, Okajima-san [Miss Okajima]?" "Yes." "Did you break up with someone...?" "I yearn for the countryside." "`Bye!" "See you later!" "Let's go to Hama's house." "Nyah, nyah!" "What do you mean, "Nyah" ?" "!" "Let's go, let's go!" "So...did your grades go up?" "Uh-uh." "But it's all right." "How come?" "As soon as I get home, we're going to Grandma's house." "So I won't be in trouble until much later." "Wow, that's nice." "Toko-chan, are you going to the country, too?" "Yeah, to Nagano." "Are you, Taeko-chan?" "I'm not sure." "Well, guess what--my father bought a cabin!" "Wow, that's great!" "As I expected, your math grade's not good." "Yeah, but I got a "B" in science." "Oh, Mom?" "Are we going somewhere for vacation?" "Nowhere special." "Hey, Mom, take me someplace." "I'll take you to a movie. "Tsuru No Ongaeshi" is playing, isn't it?" "That's not what I meant--someplace in the country." "The country?" "Right, like "Grandma's house in the country"." "Your Grandmother lives here, doesn't she?" "Then Grandpa!" "Didn't he pass away?" "We don't know any places in the country." "Please don't ask for something we can't possibly do." "I was born and raised in Tokyo, and my parents were as well." "I always envied my friends who had a country hometown to return to." "It's impossible to take a trip now, because everywhere will be crowded." "But I want to go somewhere." "How about Ohnohya?" "Huh?" "We've been regular visitors, so if we chose to go to Ohnohya, we might be able to reserve a room." "Where, where is it?" "Oh, sure--Ohnohya is good, because Taeko hasn't been there before." "Say, that's right..." "Hey, is it in the mountains?" "By the sea?" "It's the Atami hot springs." "Huh--"Atami"?" "Right." "You can reach it by bullet train." "Oh, sure, that place would be good." "Atami..." "It's really fun--there are all kinds of baths." "Um, yeah, there's a giant Roman Bath." "That's right, and many smaller ones like the Swan Bath and the Pansy Bath." "Right, right!" "The Pansy Bath!" "Pansy Bath?" "Yeah, it's a really fantastic bath!" "Taeko, you just love baths, don't you?" "Okay, well Father is working and can't go, so why don't you four go together?" "Huh?" "US go TOO?" "1,2,3,4,5,6..." "lean to the side..." "Taeko-chan, it's incredible--you've come to every single radio exercise." "Well, everyone else has gone to the countryside, after all." "Taeko-chan, aren't you going anywhere?" "I'm going!" "Where?" "Atami!" "Atami?" "What are you going to Atami for?" "To go bathing!" "Ohhh?" "Well, it's good timing." "I'll be going, too--my relative's place, next Monday." "So maybe no one will come to exercises for a while." "Hello, Okajima residence." "Ah, Nanako `ne-san?" "It's me, Taeko." "I'm leaving today, and was wondering if Mitsuo `ni-san had anything for me to tell his family at the farm." "Hmm...doesn't seem like he had anything special to say oh yeah, would you buy some cookies or something for Naoko-chan?" "Say it's from Mitsuo Oji-chan and me, and I'll pay you back later." "That's fine..." "I'll say hello for you." "How's Mother?" "She went out today." "She was angry, though--after all, you did turn down her Ohmiai meeting, didn't you?" "Considering that you're 27, you're not going to get any better choices for a husband." "That's all Mother ever talks about." "But you should think about it, you know." "You're not so young anymore." "Is that so?" "Yes, it is--you can't be a cute little girl forever." "You can be so impulsive--you actually pitched in with the farming last year, didn't you?" "Yeah, harvesting rice!" "And this year, I'm going to pick benibana ." "Benibana?" "That's right!" "Because of your husband's family in the country, I can have a hometown." "I might as well make the most of it!" "Oh, cut that out." "You don't get a vacation like this often, so instead of staying at such an old place, why not go to a nice rental cottage and have a "delicious life"?" "You might be able to meet a nice guy." "Stop, stop!" "You're trying to trick me again, like you did with the Pansy Bath at Ohnohya!" "Ohnohya..?" "Oh...ah, that time, huh?" "You just talked about that a while ago, too." "What a burden your past must be if you're still holding a grudge like that!" "At that time, my sisters wouldn't have been caught dead going to a place like Atami." "Hey Grandma." "Hmm...?" "Done yet?" "C'mon, let's go to the bath." "Didn't we just go?" "But that was only to the Swan Bath." "I was incredibly bored." "So starting with the Grimm Bath and then to the Mermaid Bath the Lemon Bath and the Pansy Bath I went from one to the next on my own." "It's enormous!" "By the time I had reached the Roman Bath, I was starting to feel dizzy..." "Wow...!" "...And I finally passed out." "Thus my much-anticipated one-night trip came to an abrupt end, and was followed by a long, long Summer vacation that was still waiting for me." "...Jumping jacks--open, close, open, close." "Next, arm and leg exercises." "1,2,3..." "When I met with my sisters last time, I slipped and mentioned the disastrous bath trip, so we laughed," ""Oh yeah, and then there was that time...", and the conversation turned to other memories of those days." "You've eaten this before?" "Nope, my first time." "Remember, I'm the one who asked for it." "We know." "Where did you buy it, Dad?" "The Senbiki shop in Ginza." "It was expensive, then?" "So, how do we eat this?" "We slice it into rings." "How?" "...I don't know." "Father, didn't you ask the people at the shop?" "Uh-uh." "Let's eat it next Sunday." "Huh---we're not going to eat it today?" "But we don't know how to eat it, do we?" "I'm gonna eat a banana." "Me too!" "Warmer countries have rather unusual fruit, don't they?" "I'm home!" "I found out how to serve pineapple." "What, really?" "I.." "I'll get that." "Carefully, now." "Wouldn't a fish knife be better?" "Nice smell, nice smell!" "Nice fragrance, nice fragrance!" "Oh, I see." "Hey--plates, plates!" "..Oh, right!" "Itadakimasu [We shall try it now]." "Itadakimasu [Let's try it]." "It's tough." "Not such a big deal." "Not very sweet at all." "It's completely different from when it's canned." "If you live a long time, you get to have many experiences." "Taeko can have mine." "Mine too." "...Delicious..." "You don't have to force yourself to eat it." "You'll get a stomachache." "Oh well, that was boring." "Bananas are far more tasty, aren't they?" "True, true." "As I expected, the banana is the king of fruit, I guess." "I'm gonna have a banana." "As I thought, the king of fruit is... the king of fruit is the banana!" "The year I passed out at the Roman Bath and ate pineapple for the first time, was the same year that the "group sound" became a fad, starting with the Beatles' visit to Japan." "Soon after that, the electric guitar boom would come." "My sister Nanako 'ne-san was a freshman at an art college, and was always the first to try out all the new fads." "Yeah, "Michelle," isn't it?" "Another cool Beatles song, huh?" "She tried the mini-skirt when it first came out, and like everyone else, she hid her behind with a bag whenever going upstairs." "My other sister, Yaeko 'ne-san, the smart eleventh grader, was completely in love with someone in the Takarazuka theater [all-female theater]." "Yaeko 'ne-chan..." "D....didn't I tell you to always knock first?" "!" "The memories that my sisters mainly talked about were the stars and fashions that they were into." "1966 was a memorable teenage year for my sisters." "But back then, I was only in the 5th grade." "I became a fan of Julie of The Tigers...but they didn't debut until later." "There was no way for me to have big dreams in the days when I was just simply going back and forth between school and home." "...and it's been on the wall for a long time." "That's nice." "And I was told to keep the essay I wrote on the book, because they might send it to a contest." "If that happens, I'll be very happy..." "You didn't eat your school lunch again." "...huh?" "Why do you put it between bread?" "Because I hate namasu ." "Well, if you do this, we can't use the bread or the namasu." "How wasteful." "The kid who can eat all of her food is more respected than the one who can write an essay." "Wow, how can you drink that tasteless stuff?" "The milk's all right." "It's the daikon radish and onion I can't stand." "Since I'm leaving carrots today, I have to drink the milk." "I wonder who decided you could only leave one thing?" "Want me to drink it?" "W..would you?" "And next time, you could eat my daikon or onion in return?" "Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh." ""Thank you!"" "Aah, carrots!" "?" "You can leave one thing, you know..." "I was right, the second bowl is worse..." "There are people who keep running if they are told to start over again by the hall monitors." "I think to keep running is really bad." ""Start over again?" Spare me." "You can't run in the halls." "That's right, that's right." "It's dangerous--you might hurt somebody." "No way--if I hit a girl like you, Toko, I would be the one hurt." "Oh, PLEASE..." "I'm hit!" "Once you ran, what can you do about it?" "Here, here." "Be quiet." "Why not abolish the system of starting over?" "You can't, it's part of the rules." "If you have an opinion, please raise your hand." "I do." "Tani-san." "I think the hall monitor should run after the runner, catch them, and make them go back and start over." "I do!" "Suzuki-san." "And then the hall monitor has to go back and start over, too." "Right, right!" "That's more like it!" "That's right." "Yes, Tani Tsuneko-san." "I don't think that the hall monitors need to start over because their job is just like a police patrol car catching a speeder." "Any opposing arguments?" "Like a patrol car...?" "...Then running is no good." "The decision rests on allowing the hall monitor to run." "Anything else to discuss?" "Yes." "Tani-san." "Her again?" "!" "The show-off!" "Quit chattering." "Lately I've been seeing people leaving food at lunch." "I just read a magazine article about the war in Vietnam." "In foreign countries like those there are many poor people." "We are happily more fortunate." "Yeah,"we're happy."" "We must be thankful for the food we have." "Right now we may leave one thing per meal, but I feel that is too lenient." "Geez, Tsuneko...aren't you the goody two-shoes?" "Bleah!" "Why can't we leave even one thing?" "And then everyone could leave the milk." "Why not ask somebody to eat what you don't like?" "That's obvious." "Some people leave extra by hiding it between their bread." "Ohh, cheaters!" "School lunch stinks." "If you have an opinion.." "If you have an opinion, raise your hand, please!" ""Oh...you got me!"" "After I said goodbye to my sisters and went to bed, one by one, my memories of fifth grade came back." "Memories about our dog, Gon about sports day about the scary feeling we got from reading Kazuo Umezu's comics and even about yearning for an electric pencil sharpener." "Even such trivial things came back vividly, occupying my mind as if I were watching a movie, and overwhelmed the real me." "Is there an "Okajima-san" here?" "There's the one." "Hirota-kun says that "I like Okajima-san of room 5."" "...Shall we go?" "I'm gonna tell Hiro that you know, now!" "Hurry up!" "You see?" "Where, where?" "Over there." "Oh, she's right!" "See?" "What kind of guy is Hirota-kun?" "I don't know." "Me neither." "Taeko-chan, are you sure you don't know him?" "I.." "I.." "I don't know him." "Not at all." "Which one here is named Hirota-kun?" "Oh, it's some room 5 kids." "Hiro, you're being called." "Yes, that's me!" "D...don't write strange things at "Naughty Alley"..." "Huh?" "...Okajima-san said to tell you." "I..." "I didn't write anything." "Ah, but Hiro, didn't you say you liked "Okajima-san from room 5?"" "He did, he did!" "So we wrote it for you." "Whaa...?" "!" ""I love you, but..."" "Cha cha cha cha!" ""...we're apart,"" "Cha cha cha cha!" ""just like the stars..."" "Cha cha cha cha!" "Goodbye." ""...that we see far away."" "Taeko-chan!" "We just got back from meeting Hirota-kun." "Whaa...?" "I certainly didn't forget to tell him you didn't want him writing strange things!" "Tsuneko-chan!" "Oops, not supposed to do that." "Good for you, Taeko-chan." "Here, here." "Look there--that's Hirota-kun." "What, Hirota from room 4 likes Okajima?" "Hirota's incredible--he's an ace." "Oh, a pitcher?" "The only one who can hit that guy's pitches is Tonomura." "Whoa, you don't say?" "We'll be playing against the team from his class in the fifth grade school tournament." "Go for it, go for it, Hirota!" "Go for it, go for it, Hirota!" ""Play ball!"" "Hit it Hinomura!" "Hit it hard!" "Go for it, Hiro...!" "...Okajima-san's watching you!" "Tonomura-kun, good luck!" ""STRIKE!"" "Attaboy, Hiro!" "Strike 'em out, Strike him!" "Taeko-chan, I'll never forgive you if you encourage their side." "I..." "I wouldn't even think of such a thing!" "Hit it, hit it, Tonomura!" "Hit it, hit it, Tonomura!" "Hit it, hit..." ""OUT!"" "All right, all right, Hirota!" "All right, all right, Hirota!" "Get him, Suu'!" "One leg hitter!" ""Strike!"" ""Strike!"" ""Strike!" "Batter out!"" "Amazing..." "All right, all right, Hirota!" "All right, all right, Hirota!" "All right, all right, Hirota!" "Even though I knew nothing about baseball, at least I could tell he was incredible." "All right, all right, Hirota!" "All right, all right, Hirota!" "What's the matter, Taeko-chan?" "Because of the cold and my nervousness, I had to run to the bathroom five times." "Over here!" ""Safe!"" ""Game Set."" "5 to 3." "Class 4 wins." "Thank you for the game." "Terrific, Hiro!" "Way to go!" "You were great!" "It's Suu's fault." "Why?" "You don't know anything." "Even Tonomura couldn't hit the ball, so how could we win?" "Right." "It's because Suu' had an error." "That's how we gave them three extra points." "That's not true." "Hey, the coach is going to buy us all ice cream!" "Really?" "Great!" "Hey, Hiro, why don't you go talk to Okajima-san from room 5?" "Yeah, yeah!" "I..." "I'm...ggg, going home!" "What's the matter, Taeko-chan?" "Hey, she's going home..." "Uh..umm!" "Nah!" "..." "Naughty!" "n..n..nah-Naughty Al.." "luh..." "luh...al..al..." "Ruh..." "Rainy days!" "Huh?" "...Cloudy days, or sunny days...which do you like?" "...kuh.." "Cloudy days..." "Oh, we're alike!" "Rainy days cloudy days, or sunny days which do you like?" "Oh...we're alike." "I didn't intend to bring my fifth grade self with me but once she was revived, she wasn't going to leave easily." "But why the fifth grade...?" "The boys in the fourth period class will play baseball, and the girls will meet in the gymnasium." "Today there is something important to talk about." "After you graduate from elementary school, you will go to junior high school, then high school, then grow up and have a baby." "In order to have a baby, a woman's body starts preparing for it." "You knew?" "Uh-huh." "Really?" "My mom told me when I was in fourth grade since I have been developing faster." ""Developing?"" "Right..." "I've heard that if you're taller or more overweight than average, your period might come sooner." "So, in other words, Enomoto-san, Onobu, and Rie-chan all probably already started theirs." "Oh...?" "Hey, hey..." "Will you buy THAT?" "I'll buy it." "I thought so." "Taeko-chan, will you buy it too?" "Uh....uh-huh...." "Buying it's a good idea." "Hey, remember like the school nurse said, you're going to need it eventually, after all." "That's true, you know." "Hey, did you know the girls are buying underpants from the infirmary?" "Huh?" "Didn't you know, Suu?" "Nope." "How come?" "How come you're buying underpants?" "W...well it's...um," "That is..." "Why do they sell underpants at school?" "Are they swimming shorts?" "Say what---!" "?" "You went and told Nakayama-kun?" "What did you have to go do that for?" "You're not supposed to tell any boys!" "That's for sure, girls are supposed to keep it to themselves." "Rie-chan, you like Nakayama-kun, so that must be why, well..." "He must've asked you to tell him." "Um...uh-huh." "What's the matter?" "Well, Rie-chan here went and told Nakayama-kun all about periods." "No way...!" "That Nakayama-kun, he'll tell everyone about it." "I told him to keep it a secret." "You can't trust him on that." "Right?" "Right." "Omigosh." "The boys are so dirty-minded." "They sure won't only look up skirts, now." "Hey!" "Safe!" "Pervert!" "Jerk!" "This skirt-peeping had caught on earlier, and not surprisingly, the knowledge of menstruation only complicated the problem." "Safe!" "Ah, but your period isn't!" "Eek!" "Why you...!" "Wait up!" "Sorry!" "Sorry!" "periodical cleaning." "Jerk!" "Hey, that hurt." "Wait...!" "Ouch!" "You jerk!" "You've got a period." "Do not!" "This is all Rie-chan's fault." "I'm sorry." "What for?" "That I slipped and told Nakayama-kun." "Well, no big deal." "But the school nurse said it was important, didn't she?" "That's true, but..." "I..." "I was a fourth grader, when mine came." "Huh....really?" "So that's why sometimes I skip P.E. class." "You skip P.E. when you have your period?" "Right, my mother told me I should." "Nakayama-kun said that it must be a big bother for girls after I told him." "You told him about skipping P.E. class?" "!" "Uh-huh, though I told him to keep his promise and not tell any other boys." "If you told him that..." "When any girl skips P.E. class, everyone will think she's having her period, won't they?" "!" "Huh, you think so?" "Darn right!" "...really?" "I'll have to tell the guys." "Hey...!" "Please excuse Taeko from P.E. class because of the flu." "I'm not going to skip P.E." "Forget it--that summer flu will only get much worse if you don't skip it." "Well, then I'm staying home." "You don't have a fever, so you're going." "Then I'll go to P.E., too." "Fine, go ahead." "But then if you get worse, it's on your head." "I'm going now." "I wonder when she started liking P.E. so much..." "Taeko-chan, your face is real red." "Oh, it really is." "What's the matter?" "Its a cold." "Do you have a fever?" "You ought to skip P.E." "She's right." "I'll go tell the teacher." "That's okay!" "But..." "I have a note to excuse me from P.E." "What, well, that's okay then." "Right?" "Gangway!" "I'm also skipping it today, so we're together." "That looks nice..." "I wish I could be playing dodge-ball." "Rie-chan, do you...that is, are you...having your period?" "Mmm-hmmm." "I'm not, I've got a cold." "I know that, Taeko-chan, you're just sick." "Right, just sick, that's what I am." "A period isn't being sick, of course." "I'm sure I could play dodge-ball." "Oh, period contagion!" "Huh?" "Back off, back off!" "That was close--any further and we could have been contaminated!" "("Contaminated?" "!")" "Hey, over here!" "Periods are contagious?" "How stupid!" "It..." "It's not funny!" "Taeko-chan [Taeko]...?" "Hey, a pair with periods!" "It's not true!" "What a pervert, huh?" "Rie-chan, how can you stand this?" "But it isn't really a bad thing, or so my mom tells me." "Well, I suppose so, but..." "A larva has to become a pupa in order to become a butterfly." "I didn't want to become a pupa...." "I wonder, maybe the reason I am remembering those days is because my period of becoming a pupa has come once again." "I know something is different now compared to several years ago when I got my job." "I am changing again." "In work and play, we were always more lively than the boys." "We thought we had already flown away from home but now I look back and think maybe we were just too busy flapping our wings and forgot who we were." "I wonder if the reason my fifth grade self is following me is that she is trying to tell me to look back and figure out who I am." "Whatever the case, I decided to take a short nap until I arrived in Yamagata." "Watch out." "'Scuse me--has the "Akebono #3" train already left?" "You missed boarding it?" "Er...no..." "Oh!" "You're..." "Taeko Okajima-san, right?" "Well...yes..." "Whew, that's good!" "The car's this way." "Um, er, excuse me, but just who ARE you?" "Oh, don'tcha remember?" "Well, can't say I blame you, there's small chance you would." "I'm Toshio." "Um..." "Kazuo's second cousin." "Oh...ah, really...?" "Oh dear." "What's so funny?" "Oh, um, nothing." "I'm sorry, it's just I thought you were trying to steal my bag." "Huh, that's cruel--remember, I certainly made it clear I knew your name, didn't I?" "I spoke too soon." "Thanks for coming out of your way to pick me up." "I'm sorry about this." "No trouble." "What happened to Kazuo 'ni-san?" "He suddenly called last night and asked me to pick you up instead." "It's been raining?" "Yep, but it's stopped for today." "I should've borrowed my pa's car...but, well, I happen to like this one." "It's a little cramped, but hop in." "Oh, mind if I keep it on?" "Um, sure." "What unusual music..." "Its a group of five Hungarians called "Muzsikas"." "Oh, Hungarian?" "Yep." "Do you know much about it?" "A little." "It's music for peasants." "I like it 'cause I'm one, too." "Wow, that's cool." "Isn't it?" "You recall the time, when we all had a sake party at the main farmhouse after the rice harvest, that one time...?" "Umm, oh..." "Yep." "And that time, a buncha guys crashed the party?" "Don't you recall that...?" "Well, to be quite frank, since they got wind of a young Tokyo gal being there, they decided to go check her out." "I was one of those fellas." "Ah, ah..." "That fool!" "You came out here to pick benibana?" "Are you into dyes or something?" "No, just curious." "You see, benibana are unusual..." "but maybe not so much for people here." "Nah." "What's famous is just the name of the cosmetics made from it, but it ain't so common anymore." "Like my farm doesn't make it these days, for one example." "But I heard it prospered during the Edo era." "True, 'cause there was a politician who gained influence through its sales." "It would've been a big deal for the wealthier people, but it was only a product as far as we peasants were concerned." "Ummm..." ""In the end,/Someone else's skin would be touched by/The vermillion flower." Do you know this one?" "Right, its a haiku by Basho , right?" "I had looked it up before I came here." "Do tell?" "Well, honestly, I looked it up myself yesterday." "Really..." "That same book also said that the women who gathered the flowers never were able to wear the lipstick made from them." "Is there going to be a festival here?" "Yep, the riverbank'll be full of people." "Agriculture's still in trouble, isn't it, with fields being reduced to make way for markets, and such." "Sure, already there's a lot of trouble, and if it goes on, Japanese agriculture'll be ruined." "Just some day, suddenly "poof," and it's gone." "But y'know, even with all this trouble or not, if you're trying your best, it still doesn't come easy." "The work in the big city must be the same, right?" "Sure...but the people who think work is everything are becoming fewer in number." "How 'bout you, Taeko-san [Taeko]?" "Huh?" "Me?" "I don't think I'm obsessed...with work, but I don't hate it, either." "As for me, well, I think I can do my best in agriculture, 'cause its so interesting to raise living things." "You...raise livestock?" "Huh?" "No, that's not what I meant." "I do have cows and chickens, but I don't mean livestock." "Hey, look there...rice, as well as apples and cherries, they're all living things." "Ohh." "Yep." "If I take care of them the best I can, I feel like they respond to me by trying to grow up their best." "I guess I'm sounding a bit like some hotshot farmer, huh?" "Not at all..." "I feel I understand." "To be frank, I was working at a company until recently." "I'm really just a beginning farmer, so..." "Oh...is that so?" "So y'know, with my parents still in good health, maybe that's why my attitude is positive." "But that's how I have to be, you see?" "I quit the company because someone doing "organic farming" called me and asked me to try it, too." "Everyone said I was a fool, but so far, I have no regrets." ""Organic farming?"" ""Farming that requires guts...farming that gives you guts." That's a little joke." "An "organic farm" uses as much compost as possible and as few agricultural chemicals and chemical fertilizers as possible." "Ohh, I've heard about this, it's non-chemical or uses few chemicals." "But that's not right, it sounds so negative." "It's really an ideal agriculture that takes advantage of the life force of living things." "And people are only beneficial to it." "That's what makes the whole idea so cool." "Huh." "But this "helping" part is extremely hard." "Well, I've been told to take you directly to the fields..." "Right, I'm ready to help out." "Oh?" "You're not going to sleep?" "You see, I heard that benibana should be picked in the early morning, when the dew makes the thorns soft." "Well, that's true, but..." "I'm a night owl, so I thought the best way to switch my life to being a morning person is to come by a night train." "Huh, you really get into it, huh?" "There it is!" "Good morning!" "Taeko-san, welcome back!" "Once again, I'm in your debt." "Obaa-chan, its good to see you doing well." "Welcome, welcome." "Aren't you tired?" "No, not at all." "I made your bed for you just in case..." "I'm fine, look--I'm full of energy!" "Wow, you really are ready--you're wearing a farming uniform." "Though this is all I'm prepared for." "Young farmers' wives seldom wear them these days." "But Taeko-san, you're more into it." "Ain't that a fact." "Taeko-san!" "Quit that!" "And thus began my second experience with country life." "How can such a vivid crimson color be born from this flower?" "Kiyoko 'ne-san [my sister-in-law, Kiyoko] once told me a sad story that goes with it." "Long ago, there were no such things as rubber gloves." "When the young girls picked the flowers with their bare hands, they were pricked by the thorns and bled." "The blood turned the color deeper crimson." "I felt as if I heard the hostile feeling the girls, who never got to put the red color on their lips, must have had against the women in Kyoto that wore it." "In order to get a handful of rouge, 60 heads of flowers are necessary." "That shining, iridescent color had the same value as gold back then, I've heard." "After washing them with water and stamping on them, kneading them by hand, and letting them sit in the air and water, they become oxidized, and begin to get closer to red in color." "In addition to that, if you let it sit two or three more days, the flower will ferment, becoming sticky, and turn into a deep red." "Next, you stamp it with a mortar, squeeze it, and shape it into balls." "And if you dry it in an oven, you finally are done with the flower patty, from which the main ingredient of rouge is made." "A long time ago they didn't waste the remaining water which we got from compressing it earlier." "Now this by-product usually goes unsaved." "The crimson color, which is still in the leftover water, could be used for making a dye, which cloth can be stained in." "This is the "benibana-dye."" "Be dyed!" "Be dyed!" "It's benibana-dye!" "Nice colors dye well--Nice colors make my heart brave." "It's said that the village women, who were denied the rouge or bright kimonos, used to add color to their simple lives by using the benibana-dye." "The remaining yellow color dissolves in water, and the cotton or hemp is dyed with a beautiful light rouge color." "Oh, pretty!" "Although a little time and labor has been cut these days, by using machines for example, every day they repeat the work of harvesting the flowers." "The flower-patties get moldy easily, so precise timing when harvesting the flowers is necessary, for they never wait." "If you turn around after you've finally finished picking the flowers, you'll see that other new flowers have emerged in the meantime." "The rainy season comes without mercy, and sometimes work can continue until midnight." "Day after day passed in the blink of an eye and as I comfortably became tired, I wondered about the women flower harvesters and their conditions." "If I had a chance to help with such things during my childhood, I surely would have been able to write more lively compositions than my book reports." "Hey, mom, lemme have 5000 yen ." "5000 yen?" "We don't have that kind of extra money." "You said you'd buy me a new pair of sports shoes, didn'tcha?" "Are sport shoes so expensive?" "Yep." "I don't buy that." "`Cause they're PUMAs." "PUMA?" "Yep, Pu...ma!" "I don't know anything about Pumas, but I DO know you can find ones for cheaper." "Like how about the same kind you have now?" "No one's wearing boring shoes like them anymore." "Everybody's getting Puma sports shoes." "Who's everybody?" "Kako-chan an' Megu-chan, an' also Ya-chan n' Non-chan." "See, only four people, right?" "I know others--everyone's buying them." "Nope, you can't ask for that anyway when you're not helping with the chores enough." "Hey, you got another dress for "Barbie-san" {*} ["Barbie"], didn't you though you promised to ask for presents only on your birthday and Christmas-- and you must have at least known it wasn't your birthday, right?" "!" "I can't believe Dad's so soft on Taeko!" "Did you promise that, "Ta-bo" ?" "Unexpectedly, my fifth-grade self emerged yet again." "But...you bought Yaeko 'ne-chan a long-sleeved kimono, didn't you?" "Even though it wasn't even an Adult Celebration day." "That was for my tea ceremony." "Well, we see you get a lot of little things all the time, while we get something big only once in a while...right?" "Right!" "Would you stop that...picking only the food you like?" "!" "Daddy, you like onions, don't you." "Uh-huh." "Well, as for the long-sleeved kimono, eventually that dress will be yours anyway, so don't complain." ""Hand-me-downs"...oh gee." "Well, some girls don't even get "hand-me-downs"." "True, true." "Then give me that enamel bag of yours soon." "Oh, didn't you give it to her yet?" "What a baby!" "The sooner you give it to Taeko, the better." "I don't want it." "That handbag, I don't want it..." "Oh, really?" "That's fine, then I won't give it to you." "I won't be buying a new one." "Fine by me!" "Whew, that's good." "That bag was a favorite of mine, anyway." "I totally hate that one!" "Hey, I'm ready." "Could you take care of this?" "See--and the food gets thrown away anyway." "Wasteful, isn't she?" "No, don't throw it away!" "Hey, Mother...!" "You picked these out, didn't you?" "If you're going to complain now, then you should have eaten all the food on your plate." "All of my kids are so selfish." "Yaeko 'ne-chan won't give me hers." "You did say you didn't want one." "But..." "You said you didn't want us to get you one, so you don't need one." "Hurry up and get ready." "I think these shoes will do instead..." "Mom, why does Yaeko `ne-chan have to come, too?" "Daddy, Mom, and me--you said it would just be us three, didn't you?" "I'm going because I'm through studying." "Are you saying I can't come too?" "We're having Chinese food." "The more of us, the merrier-- right?" "But Grandma said she's not coming." "Your Grandmother doesn't like fatty foods, you know that." "If you don't want us all to come, why don't you stay with her?" "!" "Hey, we're leaving, Taeko." "Mmm..." "Hurry up, slowpoke!" "I don't have a handbag." "Yae-chan, would you let her have that enamel bag?" "Here." "That hurt..." "Well, let's go." "I'm not going." "Oh, really...?" "Well, shall we go then, Mother?" "Well, then you can stay with Grandma." "What, "Ta-bo" isn't coming with us?" "I'm not going!" "Oh well, let's go then." "I'm coming, too...!" "Barefoot..?" "!" "Father!" "Father, please stop!" "A button came off..." "Going out was postponed, of course." "My cheek was swollen and smarted for a long time, even though I tried cooling it with a towel." "It was difficult falling asleep that night, thinking things like, "why do these things always happen only to me?" "I must be an adopted child." "Yes, that must be why."" "And so I sobbed in my futon bed." "Was that the first time you were slapped by your dad?" "Uh-huh." "The first and last time." "Only once." "Hmmm....in my case though, sometimes, but not too often, it happens a lot." ""Sometimes" might be better than once, I think." "If it's only the one time, then you'll wonder why that time in particular." "But I can't believe Taeko 'ne-chan was so selfish as a kid." "Oh, I was selfish." "So onion wasn't the only thing I didn't like." "Oh---what's with me, I feel over-privileged now." "Oh--what a fix, what a fix!" "I'm going to give up the Puma shoes." "Way to go!" "Then...you might expect a handsome allowance from me." "I getcha." "Hey....!" "What's up?" "100 yen each!" "Taeko-san, tomorrow, why don't we drive to Zaoh, for a break?" "Zaoh?" "Uh-huh." "'Cause I heard you went up to Yamadera last year." "Oh, I already got the family to okay it before I came." "Sheesh." "Zaoh was fantastic." "But Zaoh is Zaoh, after all, and the site is now just another holiday resort." "Taeko-san, I'm curious why you're not married yet." "Huh...um, is it so strange to be unmarried?" "Well, nah, I wasn't saying that, but..." "The number of women who hold jobs has increased these days, you know that, and even most of my friends aren't married yet." "Hmm...is that right?" "Uh-huh, sure it is." "Ain't it?" "Sure enough." "I see." "Right, it's common." "Hmm..." "Oh, Toshio-san?" "Hm?" "When you were in elementary school, was it easy for you to understand dividing fractions?" "Huh...?" "You have to switch the numerator with the denominator first, and then multiply it together." "Could you do it like you were taught?" "Hmm, I don't really remember, but I wasn't very weak in arithmetic." "Oh, I see..." "Yep." "That's good." "You probably don't remember because you could do them with little trouble, I suspect." "Uh-huh." "But why do you ask?" "It seems like people who could divide fractions easily would have little trouble with their life after that, too." "Huh?" "There was a modest girl named "Rie-chan." Though she wasn't really good at arithmetic, she switched the numerator and denominator as told and then got 100%!" "Since then, she grew up doing what she was told, and had no troubles." "Now she's a mother, with two kids." "Hmmm." "I wasn't very good, actually." "Though I am weak-minded, I get picky about things." "Uh...um, you know...be-before this test, you know?" "We had art class...and, you know...we did "blow pictures."" ""Blow pictures?"" "R...right." "You drop paint on drawing paper, blow like this: "phooooo", and you make patterns that way." "And so?" "You keep blowing, "phoooo", you know, "phoooo."" "So?" "My head...started hurting, from going "phoooo" so many times, and..." "And that's what is responsible for this score?" "Th...that's right." "Uh--huh..." "So did you get a copy of the right answers for the problems you missed?" "Huh?" "The right answers, did you get them?" "Um...uh-huh." "Ask Yaeko 'ne-chan about them, okay?" "Yaeko 'ne-chan?" "Of course." "Nanako 'ne-chan is fine, too." "O..oh..." "I'll try Nanako 'ne-chan, then." "Nanako 'ne-chan isn't back yet, so is it okay if I wait until after dinner?" "I guess I'll ask Yaeko 'ne-chan, then ." "Mommm!" "Mom!" "Mom!" "What the heck is THIS?" "Ho...how could this happen?" "!" "Please explain it to her." "It seems she can't make heads or tails of it." "B-b-b-but, but this many...how could she..?" "!" "So work with her and find out." "Does Taeko have something wrong with her head?" "I'm asking you to explain it to her, okay?" "But it's impossible, if you do the problem normally, to get this kind of score!" "So then Taeko isn't normal, is she?" "!" "Taeko....why don't you go over it with Yae-chan?" "You had a headache from "blow pictures", right...right, Taeko?" "SIT." "Recite the drills from the beginning." "Recite the drills...?" "I'm in the fifth grade now, I know them." "If you know the drills, then why did you make those mistakes?" "Because it's dividing fractions, you know that." "All you need to do is switch the numerator with the denominator, and multiply the fractions." "Didn't they teach you this in school?" "Um..uh-huh." "So, then why all the mistakes?" "!" "Yae-chan, could you try it step-by-step?" "...how does "dividing a fraction by a fraction" work, anyway?" "Huh?" "Okay, dividing two-thirds of an apple by one fourth--that could mean you divide two thirds of an apple among four people." "How many parts of the apple does a person get, right?" "Huh....?" "Um...uh-huh." "So then, one, two, three, four, five, and six so one sixth of an apple for a single person." "...wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong." "That's MULTIPLYING fractions." "Huh...?" "How come?" "Does a number become smaller when you multiply it?" "!" "Two thirds of an apple divided by a quarter means, uh it's totally off-track!" "You can't understand this because you're fussing about apples." "You'll have no trouble if you'd just simply memorize that you leave multiplication as is and switch in division." "Isn't her sister a member of Takarazuka?" ""S.K.D." [a group of performers, like Takarazuka]" "Taeko got a "D" in math class." "Huh, a "D"?" "!" "Right, it's finally gone down to a "D"." "Hmmmm." "If her score were 50 or 60%, I could simply reprimand her." "That's true..." "Do you think Taeko ought to have an I.Q. test?" "But when she entered school, she was diagnosed as "normal."" "Maybe she's turned stupid." "When Taeko was a baby, she fell downstairs from the second floor, remember?" "Right, right, in her walker." "I thought she'd killed herself that time." "She only got a bump, though." "Well, that's what is affecting her now." "Right, that's got to be it." "Not at all--she's just incredibly weak at arithmetic." "She must be talking in class." "Dividing fractions is quite easy if you pay attention, of course." "Even a complete idiot can do it." "I'm worried about her future." "She is going to be in the sixth grade, after all." "But how can I imagine dividing two-thirds of an apple by a quarter?" "But it's got to be right--dividing two thirds of an apple means you..." "Even now, it's still tough when I think about it, you know." "Dividing fractions." "Hmm..." "It's true." "We farmers should've been more picky, too." "We've always gone with the larger flow, and just followed the big cities--we've lost our identities." "So we need to re-think what we consider "real wealth" and become more fussy about traditional farming again!" "...you caught me off-guard." "I guess you meant "organic farming" by that, right?" "Uh-huh." "Actually, it's what my "Sempai" [older colleague] told me, but it's the way I feel, too." "I think it's great you're keeping your memory of being picky about dividing fractions as an important one." "Oh, no, I didn't mean it to sound like that." "Besides, now some people tell me I have an enviable job, but my job is not the kind I could be absorbed in anyway, so..." "I can't help but admire you being so absorbed in your own job, Toshio-san--farming, that is." "So, you mean it's ironic, right?" "Huh?" "No way!" "No, such people are difficult to find now, in fact." "Now farming's totally declining, as you know." "I wish that I could be completely absorbed by my job, and not worry about outside problems." "But this isn't the case, and I can't help but think about all these things." "I suppose we farmers can't survive without encouragement and support that comes from working with our fellows, for instance..." "Taeko-san, you go skiing, don't you?" "Oh, a couple of times, with my co-workers." "Well, then why don't we go skiing this Winter, then." "I'll help you learn." "Are you a good skier, Toshio-san?" "Nah, not so great, but I work here each Winter as an instructor, so..." "Oh, an instructor?" "Then you must be a good skier." "Actually, a whole bunch of my friends are such instructors!" "Oh, now this is the country I was expecting." "It's the real thing." "Not like Zaoh." "Well...." "The "country"....." "Oh, I'm sorry." "I keep saying the "country"." "No, it's an important point, y'know." "Oh?" "Uh-huh." "You see, when people from big cities see the forests, the woods, or the flowing water, they quickly accept such things as natural." "However, except in the highest reaches of the mountains, all the sites that are called the "country" are actually made by people." "People?" "Yes, farmers." "That forest too?" "Yep." "That wood, too?" "Yep." "This stream, too?" "Yep." "It's not only rice paddies or fields." "Every place has its own history say, from someone's great grandfather who had been planting or cultivating, or had been gathering kindling or mushrooms, since long ago." "Oh, I see." "While people've been either fighting with nature or gaining its benefits, some good had come from what they did; the way the countryside has come to look now, all of this." "Hasn't the appearance itself come without people's help?" "Well..." "Farmers couldn't live without getting continuous benefits from nature, could they?" "And that's why the farmers, for a long, long time, have also been doing many things for nature themselves." "One might say this is the interdependence between nature and people." "Maybe this is what "the country" is." "I see." "I think that's why it's nostalgic." "I've been thinking for a long time about why I feel like this is my home, even though I wasn't born or raised here." "Oh, so that was it." "Ah, my back is starting to hurt." "Organic farming...it's not so cool after all!" "What's cool is the concept." "I told you before, helping living things is quite difficult." "But it's no different from a hundred years ago, is it?" "And that's why even organically grown rice is often processed with herbicides instead of by hand-weeding like back then." "There's just not enough labor." "You sure have been working hard, Taeko-san [Taeko]." "Why don't we break for tea?" "Whew, you're a life-saver!" "I was just thinking of taking a break." "Toshio-san helped me experience many things step by step." "I was taking pride in pretending I had already known everything about the country." "How nice!" ""Oh, the crows are returning home." "First one..."" "Oh my, at last I could say that in a real village!" "It was my dialogue in a school play when I was in the fifth grade." "My role was "village child #1" in "Kobutori Jii-san"." "Oh, is that it?" "I get it--I only got parts as an extra, too." "How about you, Naoko-chan?" "Umm, well, I usually only got important parts because there were only a few people involved." "I guess that when our generation was born, the amount of immigration to the city for jobs had boomed." "In other words, the population drifted from the country to the city and the amount of younger people has dwindled here." "I see." "So then you must have had many interesting experiences, haven't you?" "Not really." "I prefer sports meets." "I may not look it, but I'm a fast runner." "That's good." "In my case, I was always in the middle, like I was "village child #1" in the school play, for example." "But the dialogue I said was something I will never forget, not for the rest of my life." "Because of that dialogue, I could have become a star." "A star?" "Yes." "A star, how...?" "Because of "village child #1"?" "Yes." "Not because of "Ojii-san" or "Oni"?" "Right." "Due to my great enthusiasm." "Were you so pretty?" "No, not like that." "I practiced excessively in front of a mirror in my house." "But you were "village child #1," so..." "Right." "The dialogue was so short I couldn't be satisfied with it even after practicing it a hundred times." "You can imagine that because the whole thing was "Oh, the crows are returning home." "First one!"..." "I know!" "You added extra lines!" "You got it!" "Oh, look at that!" "The crows are returning home." "First one second one third one fourth one." "Farewell, crows!" "Take care!" "Yay...!" "Then your teacher praised you?" "The exact opposite." "Okay, you all did very well." "But let's stick with what's in the script." "I worked hard to come up with that..." "In fact, they weren't so good, so I gave them up easily..." "but that didn't mean I had lost my will." "I realized that I could still express myself with actions in the parts with no dialogue." "Yaaaay!" "Oh, the crows are returning home." "First one second one third one fourth one." "Yaaaaay!" "That was it." "But it was worth making the effort, and my acting actually got a good reputation anyway, believe it or not." "My mom was asked if I belonged to a child actor's troupe, teachers from other classes praised me, things like that." "However, something even far more fantastic happened..." "Excuse me..?" "Yes?" "...oodles of dynamite exploded with a "KER-POW!" right in front of me, don'tcha know?" "Don'tcha know?" "What?" "You mean Taeko?" "The three of us--myself, President Kid, and Granny Dokonjo--were digging for potatoes, and what a surprise, the pototoes were actually dynamite!" "Well...but...." "In fact, a child actress is necessary for the play we will perform at our school festival ...and....as a student-community collaborative production...." "I mean..." "Whatever the cost, we want Okajima Taeko-chan to perform..." "A child actress!" "In her case, we will practice early like in the daytime on Saturdays, so..." "Well...." "But....." "Ah..." "I will escort her back home every time, so.." "Am I going to perform in a grown-up's play!" "?" "Not with amateurs like those guys." "I can perform with grown-ups!" "...A star!" "Ko-ke-ko-ke-ko-ke-ko-ke, ko-ke-kekko!" "M.." "Mom...!" "So, so...?" "That gentleman from NICHIDAI said he wants you to perform for their play." "You really shined at the school play." "And...and...?" "He was quite insistent, and begged for my approval." "Wow, it's great, isn't it?" "I guess everyone has at least one strong point." "Wait, she's also good at compositions." "Taeko may have a talent in those areas rather than for arithmetic." "That's right, that's right!" "In my case, I played an old man for "Shitakirisuzume" {another similar folk story}, but nobody paid that kind of attention." "I see, I see..." "So will you...?" "Maybe it could be a chance for you to become a professional child actress." "Ah..." "Why don't you join Takarazuka?" "Sure, you might be able to join it if you begin preparing now." "Acting is no good." "Show business is no good." "Come on, now, "show business" is going a bit too far..." "That's true, isn't it?" "No way." "Now, dinner." "...Right." "Father is real stubborn, isn't he?" "Hey, why did you have to say "professional child actress"?" "Can I take my bath first?" "Sure, that's okay." "You said "Takarazuka" and "show business", so Father..." "Hey, why did you have to say all that?" "Nanako `ne-chan, jeez!" "Lay off, would you?" "We're not asking for much of your time, so..." "Um...well, but..." "Please grant this small favor." "...she's embarrassed, herself...she's shy, so..." "I'm terribly sorry you've had to come here so often." "Um..." "Aoki-san from room 1 was chosen instead of me, after all." "Mm-hmm." "Aoki-san is bragging to everyone about it, now." "Uh-huh." "Like today, her mother came to our school." "She changed to formal clothes, and her mom took her to Nichidai." "Her dress had frills that fluttered alllll over the place!" "Taeko." "Huh?" "You can't tell anyone at school that the young gentleman came to us first." "What...?" "If Aoki-san [Aoki] heard that, she would feel bad." "Understood?" "Do you UNDERSTAND?" "Uh-huh..." "Waves splash, splash, splash, splash as they are parted." "Splash, splash, splash!" "Clouds zip, zip, zip, zip, as they speed past." "Zip, zip, zip!" "Where is Hyohtan Island going?" "Where is it headed, as it brings us along?" "Where the sea meets the horizon of the earth," "Something must be waiting." "You may have hard times," "You may have sad experiences," "But we will never be discouraged:" "We don't want to cry, so let's laugh" "Go ahead!" "Hyokkori Hyohtan Island," "Hyokkori Hyohtan Island," "Hyokkori Hyohtan Island!" "I feel sorry for you, Taeko-chan." "I joined the drama club as soon as I entered high school." "I guess I couldn't be expected to forget that experience." "And?" "It was really fun." "I actually got to perform as an actress, too." "But I wasn't fit for acting." "So, it's not really true that I missed the chance to become a star, unfortunately." "But..." "Dads--either in Tokyo or the country--used to be very similar, I believe..." "When I was in high school, I wanted to go to Tokyo at any cost, and, well..." "I had sent a letter to Mitsuo-san for advice about my course of action, in fact." "Oh, really...?" "Even after I gave up, when I saw my former classmates, who hadn't been as good at school as me, coming back from Tokyo and putting on airs, I was really quite humiliated." "Oh, I've changed since then." "Now I have a little bit of respect for Dad, at least." "As my senior in farming." "Anyway, I can really understand Taeko-chan's feelings." "Oh, no--I wasn't serious about that." "No--it's the same thing." "I can understand." ""But, we will never be discouraged."" ""We don't want to cry, so let's laugh," right?" "It's interesting--I also used to watch "Hyokkori Hyohtan Island"." "Oh, really?" "!" "Yeah..." "Machine-Gun Dandy--he was cool, wasn't he?" "Wow, he was my idol!" "I can imagine." "Oh, it reminds me that we used to have so many encouraging songs back in those days--don't you think so?" "Ummm, there was the another one in "Hyokkori Hyohtan Island"...." "Oh!" ""If today is not good, There will be tomorrow."" ""If tomorrow is not good, There will be the next day."" ""If the next day is not good, There will be the day after that."" ""There will be tomorrow, No matter how much time passes." "Don, Don Gabacho, Don Gabacho."" "Weird song...!" "Toshio-san has been keeping the memory of the song in his mind as a positive song, even though it was really a song about procrastination which meant, "If today is not good, why not put it off until tomorrow?"" "From this, I could get a nice picture of his way of thinking." "I'm afraid you're headed back tomorrow." "Yes." "I really must thank you for having me for so long." "Please take care of yourself too, Obaa-chan [Auntie]." "Thank you so much." "Taeko-san, do you like it here?" "Yeah, a great deal." "I feel completely at home, here." "Really..." "I've only lived here since I was born and the wedding of Mitsuo to your sister was the only opportunity for me to go to Tokyo..." "but do you really like it here more than Tokyo?" "Sure, why not?" "Tokyo is messy...only buildings and cars everywhere you can see..." "It doesn't seem like a place for people to live at anymore." "For me, being from Tokyo, this is like a whole different world here." "Honestly...?" "You really like this place so much?" "Sure, because of the rich nature here...and also the very kind people here..." "Then, Taeko-san, would you mind if I asked you to become..." "Toshio's wife?" "Huh?" "Mitsuo's living in Tokyo, you love this place, so naturally you could live here in his place." "What do you think?" "Ban-chan!" "Mom!" "You shouldn't blurt things out like that." "Can't you tell Taeko-san is upset?" "Please think about it, Taeko-san." "Sorry, never mind her, she's just kidding." "Right, you're just kidding, aren't you, Ban-chan [Ban]." "No, I'm very serious." "And I know both of you would like what I asked her, wouldn't y'all?" "Listen here...it doesn't matter at all if we want her to change or..." "Of course we'd like to do that." "But y'know, Taeko-san is clearly a Tokyo woman, so..." "And that's it." "But y'know, Taeko-san likes it here, an' works hard in the fields, so it's fine with us." "In fact, of course it'd be great if she became Toshio-san's wife." "What, you too--what're you saying?" "Don't you think this is rude to Taeko-san?" "Think:" "Taeko-san's got a job already in Tokyo, and Toshio is younger than her, to boot." "Oh, but she could find a job in Yamagata, too, couldn't she?" "Taeko-san, please don't get angry, just hear me out." "All young wives of farmers have other jobs on the side, these days, so..." "Why did you have to bring all this up?" "Besides, Taeko-san's only visited here twice to enjoy her vacation." "You're only embarrassing her by saying this kind of thing out of the blue." "So you're against us, then." "That's beside the point." "I'm trying to say you should face this kind of thing realistically." "We haven't even asked Toshio about his feelings, anyway, so I wonder how Ban-chan can come off and say..." "I can tell right away just by looking at Toshio." "Right." "Instead of assuming its impossible from the start, like you, why don't we ask how Taeko-san feels..." "Taeko-san!" "Leave her alone." "See what I've been saying?" "You should know better and build up to that kind of question more slowly." "I don't think I was wrong." "Becoming a farmer's wife." "I never imagined that before..." "Yet the fact it's possible for me to live in such a manner was enough to give a strange impression." ""If you don't mind..." Just like in some movie I'd seen before." "How wonderful it would be if I could speak with such an open heart." "But I couldn't." "My vague belief that I love the country, and my playing at work in the fields made me have a guilty conscience all at once." "I was ashamed of myself, always saying "what a nice place" without knowing hard winters or the reality of farming." "I wasn't prepared for anything." "And everyone knew this from the start." "I felt too awkward to stay." "I'm not gonna shake hands with you." "Hey, hey, the shirt Abe-kun's wearing today" "What, what?" "It's the exact same one Tanaka-kun wore when he was in the fourth grade." "Wha....?" "Keep it secret." "You know what?" "When its Abe-kun's [Abe's] turn to feed the ducks, he takes the bread crumbs home for food." "Say what?" "Have you seen Abe-kun's palms?" "Incredible!" "I'm sure glad my seat's not near him." "I feel sorry for you, Taeko-chan [Taeko]." "Why don't you ask the teacher to have your seat changed?" "Right, Right." "Boys ought to sit with boys... right, Taeko-chan?" "I..." "I don't mind." "It's rude to Abe-kun [Abe] to act like that." "You really don't mind?" "!" "Say what?" "Aren't you the goody-goody?" "You better keep this conversation a secret, all right?" "You want to get beat up?" "Abe-kun!" "What're you doing out here?" "Nothing." "I needed to walk around a little." "You're all soaked." "But c'mon, hop in." "It's a present, I just..." "It's pickled vegetables my mom made." "Um, don't go back to the farmhouse." "Huh?" "How come?" "Please." "Anywhere but there." "Is something the matter?" "I had a friend, a boy named "Abe-kun"." "He transferred to my school." "He got the seat next to me." "Abe-kun once said, "I'm not gonna shake hands with you."" "Abe-kun was, you see..." "I guess his family was quite poor, so he didn't even have a P.E. uniform." "He was filthy, and wiped his nose noisily on his sleeve or picked it." "And if you tried to keep from looking shocked by him, he threatened you by saying "You want to get beat up?"" "I hated it and could hardly bear it, so I was looking forward to the Summer vacation we wouldn't be able to change our seats until then." "When we danced the "Oklahoma Mixer" {yes, the American square dance}, I hated to hold his hand, and I also hated how he forced me to lend him my notebook when he didn't bring his homework." "The girls gossiped about Abe-kun, whispering things like anti-contagion hexes ." "However, at least I didn't join that group." "Because I felt it was the worst thing to hate someone by talking about them behind their back.However..." "Before the summer vacation, it was time for Abe-kun to move to another school again, and our teacher decided that all his classmates should shake his hand, one by one, to say good-bye." "The feeling that no one really wanted to do this spread out immediately." "Some lines of dirt were visible on Abe-kun's palm." "He walked around shaking everyone's hand, but it was obvious that Abe-kun was being teased a lot." "He was supposed to shake hands with me at the end." "But when I reached out, Abe-kun said," ""I'm not gonna shake hands with you."" ""I'm not gonna shake hands with you..."" "The one who was thinking the most..." "that Abe-kun was dirty, was me." "Abe-kun must have known this, in fact." "So that's why he didn't let me shake his hand..." "May I ask what happened at the farmhouse?" "I have been such a person since I was a child." "I just act nice." "I still am." "You seem strange today." "It's not like the Taeko-san that I know." "Anyway, its not my business what you've been saying at the farmhouse." "Um, don't misunderstand--it's not related to the farmhouse at all." "I'm sorry." "I remembered my time in elementary school, and immediately was ashamed of myself." "That's foolish." "Could it be that Abe-kun liked you so that's why he didn't want to shake your hand for goodbye?" "Huh?" "No way!" "The one Abe-kun liked was Kobayashi-san, the girl class president." "He was always bullying me." "He'd put his hands in his pockets and say things like, "Grown-ups are people who can spit or tear leaves off bushes if they feel like it, tsk!" when I met him." "And then he'd saunter off." "See, I thought so--I can understand Abe-kun's feelings." "I also have made a girl whom I liked cry by teasing her on purpose." "It wasn't like that!" "He shook hands with all the other classmates." "I was the only one he didn't shake hands with." "Well, that's the trouble with you girls." "You just don't understand the way boys feel at all." "...jeez, don't act so presumptuous." "Well, can't I say the truth?" "Abe-kun wasn't so strong, was he?" "He couldn't bully boys around." "And as a transfer student, he didn't have any friends." "Taeko-san, you sat next to him, so it was much easier for him to bully you." "He was dependent on you, Taeko-san, as someone he could tease." "Essentially, he must not have wanted to shake hands with everyone, right?" "But with you, Taeko-san, he could express himself honestly, like, "I'm not gonna shake hands with you."" "Don't act so foul!" "I..." "I felt guilty about Abe-kun, and tried behaving like him." "But it was too late, in spite of my actions." "Because I can't amend the fact I hurt him by avoiding him." "Oh, its stopped raining." "Hey, you're right." "The moon's come out." "Quite often you can see tanuki or martens if you drive around here." "Wow..." "Should we head back, now?" "Oh!" "This is terrible, they must be all worried about me." "Whoops." "I wonder if there'll be wild rumors flying around now?" "I'm sorry." "I needed your help to recover, Toshio-san." "I wonder what really did happen at the farmhouse, anyway..." "Oh, uh, please, don't ask a single thing about it when we get back, okay?" "Then...shall I play some folk music?" "For the first time, I was trying to think about what my feelings about Toshio-san were, and Toshio-san's feelings about me." "Even if it was accidental, what a surprise it was that my closed-off heart was fixed by Toshio-san." "It was a kind of mystery to me how I could rely on Toshio-san so much." "I felt as if Toshio-san was older than me." "The one whom I wanted to shake hands with...was Toshio-san." "Merely "shake hands"...?" "What could this feeling be...?" "Feeling Toshio-san near me, I was absorbed by this question." "Have you forgotten anything?" "No, it's all right." "Okay, I'll be waiting for you this Winter." "Sure, I'll study a bit more on farming until then." "Huh?" "Wasn't it supposed to be skiing?" "In any case, you can't learn more about skiing without doing it." "Consider what I said, okay, Taeko-san?" "Huh?" "What, Ban-chan?" "What's this?" "Oh, nothing." "It's Taeko-san's and my secret." "Well, you seemed different yesterday, so..." "I'm sorry." "I'll be okay next time." "I won't bring my fifth-grade self along anymore." "MAN:" "Wait up!" "Take care, Naoko-chan." "Goodbye...!" "Washing away tenderness, love, it's a river." "Cutting the soul to pieces, love, it's a knife." "An incessant thirst, love is, they say, but love is a flower, the flower of life;" "you are the seed." "Afraid of being discouraged, your heart never dances." "Afraid of waking up, your dream never takes chances." "Hating to be taken away, your heart won't give." "Afraid of dying, you cannot live." "Long night, all alone, long road, all alone." "Love doesn't come when you think it will;" "please remember, though it's buried under the snow in winter, in spring, with the sun's love, the seed blossoms into a flower." ""Kokokko ko-ke kokko ko-ke-ko-ke-ko-ke-ko-ke ko-ke kokko"" "I crow in a loud voice," "Announcing the hour, my day begins." ""Au-an-an-aah," how invigorating---my day will be!" "Then I--"splish, splash"--wash my face," "Then--"rub-a-dub"--with a dry towel," "Then I "gobble, gobble" breakfast down" "This is the beginning of my day...!" ""Au-an-an-aah," how invigorating---my day will be!" "Ko-ke-ko-ke-ko-ke-ko-ke, ko-ke kokko!" ""Po--or boy," "po--or boy,"" "Poor me, Torahige." ""Po--or boy," "po--or boy,"" "So far away from me home." "Oh I...," "When sailing' the seven seas," "Wuz working' real hard too." "And now..." "Hyokkori Hyohtan Island's where I've come." "Hey, look--must I work on 'n on?" "Or if not, will I be shipping' off somewhere again?" "Hmm?" "Waaaah--ahhh-aaah--ah." ""Po--or boy," "po--or boy,"" "Poor me, Torahige." ""Po--or boy," "po--or boy,"" "Far away from me home." ""Pooo--oooor boyyyyyy--y!""