Chapter 2 Chapter Two

When I was in the first and second grades of elementary school, I often played various games at home. For example, go, shogi, mahjong, as well as flower cards, poker, karuta poem cards, one hundred people one poem card and so on. Among them, go and shogi are mainly played by my father and the uncles in the neighborhood. I am still young, so I mostly watch the games from the sidelines. Mahjong, flower cards and poker are usually played by parents and neighbors "teacher father" and "teacher mother". The titles of "teacher's father" and "teacher's mother" are because both of them used to be elementary school teachers like their father.

Of course, both of them quit their jobs as teachers at that time, and the host joined Mitsui's company.Still, I'll call them what I used to call them. If I play games with those adults, I’m afraid I will be scolded if I play them today-every kid still plays that!However, no one said anything at the time. Not only that, my parents also took the initiative to greet me "come and play", and often praised me for "learning so fast". Thanks to my parents, I learned to play flower cards and mahjong when I was in the second grade of elementary school. Moreover, in the first month of the lunar year, I am particularly keen on playing "Hundred People One Poetry Card".

In Hokkaido at that time, it was usually popular to grab a wooden sign with only the second half of the poem written on it.For example, when the singer began to read the first half of the verse "The spring is infinitely good, the smoky wind is warm...", both sides shouted "Ha-Yi" and grabbed the second half of the verse "I only sigh that the cherry blossoms are in a hurry." Fall, why is the fragrance dying too quickly" wooden sign. This game is very fun to play, and once it starts, it can't be stopped. Moreover, because only listening to the first half of the poem is necessary to grab the second half, it is necessary to write down the entire poem.

"Late spring is gradually passing, and early summer is coming slowly. The plain clothes are dried in the mountains with incense, and the wind is swaying." This is the famous line that sings about the current season. Just listening to this poem, the beautiful scenery of Tianxiangjiu Mountain in early summer will emerge in front of your eyes. In this way, in the process of playing "Hundred Players One Poetry Poetry Card", the so-called "hand card" of personal expertise will be formed. I have a lot of cards myself, and one of the poems accompanies me with particularly happy memories.

There are towering mountains and rivers, and the road is far and rough.The letter from home has not yet arrived, and Amanohashidate has not been seen. Nearly forty years ago, I had the opportunity to pass by here and see Amanohashidate with my own eyes. I thought of this poem there. I heard that the best way to look down at Amanohashidate is to stand with your back to that side, and then bend your legs apart and look back from your crotch. So, like the same way, I saw the long sand embankment rising to the sky from the bottom of my crotch, and then sighed, "It turns out that the overpass was erected like this."

Not long after that, I learned something from someone in Kansai's financial circles. "Doctor, the 'viewing from the crotch' is actually not watching by yourself, but a gesture for the geisha to do. It is to lead the young geisha there, and then let her lift up the hem of the kimono to view the view from the crotch. At this time, from behind her Just wait and see, it's a stunning view!" So that's how it happened!Although I nodded solemnly to express my understanding, I have never seen the crotch view of a geisha. Even so, since I was in elementary school, I have never been reprimanded for playing flower and poetry cards.

Thinking about it carefully, because I was playing with my parents and neighbors, uncles and aunts, so of course I would not be punished. Some people may ask "what about your homework", but I remember that there seemed to be no homework at that time. Moreover, neither my father nor my mother taught me to "study hard". Because my sister is four years older than me, I asked her how she was, and she said no.Not only that, but when I got home from school and took out the school supplies from my schoolbag and sat at the desk, my mother stopped me. "Son, you've worked hard at school, so go home and have a good rest!"

This may be because that era or family was more relaxed. All in all, I have gained a lot of learning from playing Bairenyishishi and Hua cards since I was a child. One is to learn about ancient Japanese texts through poetry, and to learn about Japan's various flowers and colorful seasons through flower cards. Later, the reason why I was able to enter the world of short songs easily was probably because I was very familiar with Bairen Yisong. Also, by playing a game of poker, I was able to get a feel for Western European games and games. And most importantly, through these, I re-recognized myself who was happy and sad.

In the coal mining town, there is also a miners' residence some distance from our staff residence street. The place where the staff live is called Chaoyang Balcony, and it is a quiet and comfortable residential area.The company cadres all live in a higher area here. Although I haven't been to the miners' residential area, it is a bungalow street with four or five small houses next to each other, and there are many such houses. When I saw such a big difference between the places and houses where the staff and the miners lived, I really felt that the life of the miners was very poor.

Of course, although the children of employees and miners study together in school, the teachers still treat them differently in some respects. For example, when recording the number of teeth in a health class, the teacher must look at the mouths of the staff members' children every time. However, in reality, there has never been a fight between the children of employees and the children of miners. All in all, the school teaches everyone that the coal mine staff and miners should work together to develop the mining area. In the mining area, there are Koreans living together with the Japanese.

They seemed to be laborers conscripted from North Korea and lived completely separate from the Japanese. For example, in Shangshachuan where I live, they live in a dormitory by the river under the cliff in front of the block. I heard that North Korean laborers ate standing there, and were often beaten by the Japanese, crying and shouting "Ouch, Ouch". I wanted to see it, but Uncle Senda, who runs a newspaper shop in the city, reminded me that "never go downhill to the river". Does he not want me to see North Koreans? Even so, I once saw North Koreans being physically punished when I took to the streets. North Korean laborers with only shorts left and their hands and feet tied were hung from wooden posts and taken away. That scene was terrible, but I was surprised again by the foreman who was exactly the same as the amiable uncle on the second floor of my grandmother's house next to me. All in all, I felt that the man was quite pitiful, so I asked Uncle Xiantian "Why did he treat him like that", and the uncle said "It's because he didn't work hard". I thought to myself, then there is no need to strip naked and hang up, right? What happened to that laborer? Not only this incident, it seems that many North Koreans were forced to work in the mining area at that time. Although we did not have direct contact with them, in the winter, the North Koreans would come to help us clear the snow from our roofs. Of course, that could have been sent forcibly.But whenever they come, my mother must make hot rice balls and say to me, "give them to those people".When I handed them the onigiri, they all nodded in silent acceptance. Along with those laborers, there seemed to be family members of North Koreans living in the outskirts of the miners' housing complex. Although some of their children also entered Japanese schools, they must have received a lot of discriminatory treatment. At that time, there was a small shrine dedicated to the photos of His Majesty the Emperor and Empress at the main entrance of the school.According to the rules, you must bow and salute here when you go to school. However, when a North Korean child ran into the school gate without taking a bow and was discovered by the teacher, he would be severely reprimanded and fined to stand for a day. For them, even if they mentioned His Majesty the Emperor and Empress, it would be impossible to understand how noble and great they are. Anyway, what happened to the North Koreans at that time? Although I don't know the specific situation of each person very well, it is an irrefutable fact that the Japanese stand on their heads and do whatever they want.