#未来へ向けた挑戦(13)#戦争を聞いて(3)ー　傷と俳句と、静かな強さ - ( 英語版) - The Third War I Heard About — Scars, Haiku, and Quiet Strength#

I once heard about a third war.
It was the story of my husband’s uncle.

He was born the eldest son of a konnyaku shop owner.
During an air raid, he first helped his family escape.
Then he stayed behind with his father to protect the family business.

When the fire spread, they fled.
Near the Abe River, he opened a manhole to hide.
After letting his father go in first, he stepped aside for a woman who ran up behind him.

At that moment, a bomb fragment struck his face.

He survived, but severe scars remained.
He searched for doctors, tried every possible treatment, but the keloid scars never healed.

He believed he would never marry.

Then he met the woman who became his wife.
When he asked, “Is a face like mine acceptable to you?”
she replied, “I don’t mind at all.”

They married and had two daughters.

After the war, he devoted himself to the anti-war movement and joined the Communist Party.
He became a respected haiku selector.
Many of his poems quietly reflected his anti-war convictions.

He lived modestly in public housing with his mother and wife.
After both passed away, he lived alone—yet never seemed lonely.

In his later years, he moved into a small private room in a care facility,
where he continued reading and enjoying haiku.

When I developed facial paralysis and later published a book about it,
he wrote me a letter.

“Even as a man, my facial keloid was painful.
Yours is not a scar like mine, but I can only imagine how hard it must be to live with paralysis.”

In that letter, I felt both his hidden suffering and his deep kindness.

He has now passed away.
He was likely born in the Taishō era.
I am told his death was peaceful.

From him, I learned many things:
how to live with scars,
how to hold convictions,
how to refine words,
and how to turn one’s own pain into understanding for others.

The third war was his story—
and quietly, it became mine as well.



#WarMemory
#FamilyHistory
#AntiWar
#Haiku
#Resilience
#FacialParalysis
#LifeLessons
#QuietStrength