Showa, Men Had It Tough 25: Childhood (1)

This is the story of Tsugio (my father), who was born in a farming village in Kagoshima in the early Showa period and lived out his 82-year life there as a farmer.

So far, I have discussed his birth year, his birthplace, his father, Kichitaro (my grandfather), his mother, Haru (my grandmother), the origin of the name "Tsugio" given to their only child, the family (①, ②, ③), and his relationship with his cousins, who were like siblings to him.

Next, I wrote about the superwoman nature of Haru, who was of course gentle toward her only son, but also managed to scrape together necessary cash by peddling vegetables and homemade miso and soy sauce on the side of her farm work ("Mother was not just gentle" ①–⑤). Although I have digressed into different themes a few times, I would like to continue Tsugio's story again.

Once Tsugio, who had been a mama's boy, reached the age where he could run around, he began playing with his cousins, who lived so close it could be said they were on the same property, and with the other children in the hamlet. In an era when every family had many children and both men and women married young, children were born one after another and generational turnover was fast, so even in a small hamlet of only a few dozen houses, there were many children and it was lively.

Boys played with boys, and girls played with girls. From the boys' perspective, the feeling was, "As if we could play with girls," and as for the girls, there was not a single child who would go against their parents' teaching that "Mixing with boys to play is not something a girl should do. Girls must act like girls."
For the boys, the older children—roughly middle school age—became the leaders. A chain of command and a system of leadership naturally formed in order of age, and Tsugio followed his cousins and joined that group.
The older children led the play by demonstrating physical abilities appropriate for their age. At four or five years old, Tsugio did his best to imitate his "big brothers," but he was happy just to be part of the group. He was also happy when he was praised for showing agility beyond his years or for his contributions within the group. The importance, difficulty, and sense of accomplishment of imitating others and competing with his peers were stored in his young brain while he moved his body.
Although Tsugio was an only child, he had been interacting with his many cousins every day from the start, so he was learning, in his own young way, about things like positioning within a group. He was learning how to meet the expectations of those around him and how to be recognized by them.
However, the weakness of being an only child inevitably remained. He would lose out in competition when it really mattered. Compared to children raised in the rough-and-tumble of a large family, he lacked a certain mental toughness, or perhaps audacity. Because he was treated as a precious only child when he returned home, there was a part of him that felt, "Someone will do it for me in the end."
That would become something Tsugio would carry throughout his life as a sign of his kindness, and in one respect, his weakness. (Continues directly to "Childhood"


②



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