#未来へ向けた挑戦(15)#戦争を聞いて(5) ― 叔母の沈黙と、流れに沿う人生 ― (英語版) Stories of the War I Heard (5)― My Aunt’s Silence and a Life Lived with the Current ―

My mother was the fifth of five daughters.
Just above her was my fourth aunt—the aunt in this story.

She was not particularly fond of studying.
After graduating from junior high school, and because the family was not wealthy, she apprenticed herself to a kimono dressmaker. I do not know the details, but she became highly skilled with a needle.

When she was young, she fell in love with a man.
However, he came from a background that was discriminated against at the time. Their families strongly opposed the marriage. The two, who had hoped to wed, were separated. My aunt was sent to stay with her older sister’s well-to-do in-laws—effectively removed from the situation.

She may not have agreed with the decision, but she could not resist it.
As a daughter of that era, she had little choice but to follow the current of her family’s will.

Later, through an arranged meeting, she married the man who became my uncle.
He came from a poor family and had only a high school education, yet he worked for a Canadian-affiliated company. At night he attended an English school, improving his skills. In a performance-based corporate culture, he advanced through ability rather than credentials. Eventually, his annual income exceeded ten million yen, and he filed his own tax returns.

Watching him, I realized that in the English-speaking business world, merit often outweighs academic background.

My aunt supported him quietly.
She hosted home parties for his foreign colleagues. They were never extravagant, but she prepared thoughtful meals with what she had. I was invited several times. There was warmth in those rooms, and I sensed that she found joy in walking beside her husband.

Their three daughters grew up and chose their own paths.
The eldest became a hairdresser and married someone in the same profession.
The second fell in love with a Korean resident of Japan. There was tension again, yet my aunt did not oppose the marriage. Perhaps she remembered her own youth.
The third seemed happily married, but her child was born with severe hearing loss, bringing unexpected hardship.

Life does not unfold as we wish.
Even when prejudice is overcome and effort bears fruit, new trials emerge.

My aunt never spoke about her first love.
I do not know whether she carried regret.
Yet I sometimes feel that something of it remained within her.

Perhaps life cannot always be fought against.
Perhaps we must live as the current carries us.

Still, within that current, my aunt chose to protect her daughter’s love.

She spoke little.
But in her silence, I believe there was strength—the quiet strength of a woman who lived through her time without bitterness, and without surrendering her dignity.



#StoriesOfTheWar
#FamilyHistory
#HiddenDiscrimination
#WomenOfShowa
#Meritocracy
#InterculturalMarriage
#LifeLessons
#MyAunt