I smiled and made some polite comment. Then the two .en looked at each other again.
?You?re looking splendidly well, Ogata-San,? Shigeo Iatsuda said. ?You find Fukuoka to your liking??
?Yes, a fine city. My hometown, you know.?
There was another pause. Then Ogata-San said; ?Please don?t let us keep you. If you have to hurry away, I quite understand.?
, ?No, no. I have a few minutes yet. A pity you weren?t passing a little earlier. Perhaps you?d care to call in before you leave Nagasaki.?
?Yes, I?ll try to. But there?s so many people to visit.?
. ?Yes, I can understand how it is.?
?And your mother, is she well??
?Yes she?s fine. Thank you.?
For a moment, they fell silent again.
?I?m glad everything?s going well,? Ogata-San said, eventually. ?Yes, we were just passing this way and I was Biting Etsuko-San you lived here. In fact, I was just remembering how you used to come and play with Jiro, then you were both little boys.?
Shigeo Matsuda laughed. ?Time really flies by, doesn?t ? he said.
?Yes. I was just saying as much to Etsuko. In fact, I was St about to tell her about a curious little thing. I happened remember it, when I saw your house. A curious little thing?
Oh yes??
Yes. I just happened to remember it when I saw your house that?s all. You see, I was reading something the other day. An article in a journal. The New Education Digest, I think it was called?
The young man said nothing for a moment, then he adjusted his position on the pavement and put down his
briefcase.
?I see? he said.
?I was rather surprised to read it. In fact, I was quite astonished.?
Yes. I suppose you would be.?
It was quite extraordinary, Shigeo. Quite extraordinary.?
Shigeo Matsuda took a deep breath and looked down at the ground. He nodded, but said nothing.
?I?d meant to come and speak to you for some days now,? Ogata-San continued. ?But of course, the matter slipped my mind. Shigeo, tell me honestly, do you believe a word
of-what you wrote? Explain to me what made you write such things. Explain it to me, Shigeo, then I can go home to Fukuoka with my mind at rest. At the moment, I?m very pled.?
Shigeo Matsuda was prodding a pebble with the end of his shoe. Finally he sighed, looked up at Ogata-San and adjusted his spectacles.
?Many things have changed over the last few years,? he said.
Well, of course they have. I can see that much, What kind of answer is that, Shigeo??
?Ogata-San, let me explain.? He paused and looked down at the ground again. For a second or two, he scratched at his ear. ?You see, you must understand. Many things have changed now. And things are changing still. We live in a different age from those days when - . . when ? you were an influential figure?
?But, Shigeo, what has this to do with anything? Things may change, but why write such an article? Have I ever something to offend you?
, No, never. At least, not to me personally.?
?1 should think not. Do you remember the day I introduced you to the principal at your school? That wasn?t so long ago, was it? Or was that perhaps a different era too??
?Ogata-San? ? Shigeo Matsuda had raised his voice, an air of authority seemed to enter his manner ? Ogata-San, I only wish you?d called in an hour earlier. Then perhaps I?d have been able to explain at greater length. There isn?t time to talk the whole thing over now. let me just say this much. Yes, I believed everything I wrote in that article and still do. In your day, children in Japan were taught terrible things. They were taught lies of most damaging kind. Worst of all, they were taught not see, not to question. And that?s why the country was plunged into the most evil disaster in the entire history
?We may have lost the war,? Ogata-San interrupted, but that?s no reason to ape the ways of the enemy. We lost the war because we didn?t have enough guns and tanks, not because our people were cowardly, not because our society was shallow. You have no idea, Shigeo, how hard we worked, men like myself, men like Dr Endo, whom you also insulted in your article. We cared deeply for the country worked hard to ensure the correct values were reserved and handed on.?
I don?t doubt these things. I don?t doubt you were sincere and hard working. I?ve never questioned that for one moment. But it just so happens that your energies were spent in a misguided direction, an evil direction. You weren?t to know this, but I?m afraid it?s true. It?s all behind flow and we can only be thankful?
?This is extraordinary, Shigeo. Can you really believe us? Who taught you to say such things?? ?Ogata-San, be honest with yourself. In your heart of hearts, you must know yourself what I?m saying is true. And to be fair, you shouldn?t be blamed for not realizing the true consequences of your actions. Very few men could see where it was all leading at the time, and those men were prison for saying what they thought. But they?re free now, and they?ll lead us to a new dawn.?
