Across three generations of mother and daughter. A story about recording life stories.

Hello🌱
I'm Niji🌈

About a month ago, I went to visit my grandmother, who just turned 90, with my mother.

Today, I'd like to talk about "wanting to record my grandmother's life story."
That is what this is about.

Recording a life story means listening to a storyteller, transcribing their words, and writing it as if they were telling the story themselves.

I think I first learned about this practice when I was a graduate student. When I attended a gathering hosted by a professor I still frequently consult, they talked about the practice of recording life stories.

They told a story about how, after recording these stories and giving the transcribed booklets back to the people who shared them, those people became more vibrant and full of life.

From that moment on, I became interested in recording life stories and hoped to learn how to do it if the opportunity ever arose.

Then, in October 2024.
I was blessed with the opportunity to learn how to record life stories through a community course, and I took the volunteer training.

In line with that, I wrote a letter to my grandmother to tell her I wanted to record her story, coordinated a date with my mother, and went to visit her.

Due to various circumstances, we had become somewhat estranged from my grandmother, so she was happy to see me again and to reunite with my mother.

And, being able to witness the moment my mother became a "child" again for the first time in decades made me very happy and filled me with joy.

I could feel that the grandmother in front of me was my mother's mother, and it struck me that my mother is also someone's daughter and someone's child.

It is obvious, but seeing my mother, whom I always rely on and act spoiled around, being someone's child and opening her heart to her own mother was fresh and delightful to me.

I am glad I could be there for that moment of "thawing."

From little things, I also felt that my grandmother is getting older, and I think that the time we have to talk like this might be short.

Originally, I had set out wanting to record my mother's life story. When I talked to my father about it, he suggested that it might also be a good idea to record my grandmother's story, and that is how it all started.

Also, my mother's siblings' children—my cousins—now have children of their own.

Just as I only remember my maternal grandfather, who passed away early, through photographs, I wondered how much my cousins' children would remember of their great-grandmother.

I thought that if I could record the oral history and capture my grandmother's personality in written form, it might become a good opportunity for my cousins' children to learn about their ancestors when they grow up and pick it up.

And when I looked into it, I found that there was a community course on oral history being held, so I decided to give it a try.

What kind of people were my ancestors?

I feel that knowing the roots of my own existence helps to solidify the ground I stand on.

It might become a source of pride or confidence, and perhaps even give me a push forward.

That might not always be the case, but it depends on how one accepts that and grows from it. I believe it was a necessary lesson for that person.

I exist here now,
I breathe, think,
eat, sleep, and move.

If even one of my ancestors were missing, I would not exist here.

The life that has been passed down to me,
while it resides within me,
might not be mine alone.

Thinking about such things, I enjoyed coffee at a local cafe.

Oral history is often compiled into a booklet after several interviews, so the completion of my grandmother's oral history booklet is still a way off, but it is progressing little by little.

I want to create it while enjoying the time we can talk together across three generations of mother and daughter.

Thank you to my mother who gave birth to me.
Thank you to my grandmother who gave birth to my mother.
Thank you, thank you to my ancestors who have passed down life.

I am so grateful to be able to record this oral history.

Thank you for reading until the end today as well!

I was finally able to finish writing this article that had been sleeping in my drafts.

Thank you for your hard work this week!
Let's meet again 🌈

🌟 For your reference, I am posting a link to an oral history volunteer group. Please take a look here if you would like to learn more about oral history.