"I told you old folk tales. While looking at my face, I fed you each bite. You were trouble, but I loved you. Now, you are this adult man, and all of that is like a dream. I went to Kanagi once in a while. Were you there when I was walking around Kanagi? I walked around and looked at every boy about your age. It's wonderful you came."
With each word spoken, like in a dream, she plucked a flower on the cherry blossom branch in her hand and threw it away.
"Do you have children?" she said and finally broke the branch and tossed it away. She squared her elbows and adjusted her monpe pants.
"How many?" she asked.
I approached a pine tree on the side of the path and answered, "One."
"Boy or girl?"
"A girl."
"How old is she?"
She fired off questions one after the other. I was moved by Take's expression of unrestrained love. I thought, Now that is Take. I realized that among my siblings, only I was childish and lacked composure. This was the effect of this unhappy foster parent. For the first time, I understood the essence of my upbringing. I concluded I am not a man with a polished upbringing. I don't come across as a child from a rich family.
The unforgettable people to me are T in Aomori, Nakahata in Goshogawara, Aya in Kanagi, and Take in Kodomari. Aya still serves my family today. The others were a part of my home one time long ago. I am their friend.
Although I'm not pretending these are the final writings of an old sage, this new record of the culture and geography of Tsugaru during a holy war resembles the confessions of a writer on a hunt for his friends. I think a serious mistake will not be committed by putting down my pen for a while. I still want to write, there's this and that. For the most part, I believe I've exhausted the stories about the vibrant atmosphere of Tsugaru. I was not ostentatious. I did not trick the reader. And reader, if alive, we'll meet another day. Go in health. Don't despair. Well, good-bye.
Credits
Japanese source text:
Dazai, Osamu. Tsugaru (津軽), Maeda Shuppansha, 1947. Retrieved from Aozora Bunko (January 16, 2014).
Cover image:
Derived from: Asamushi Hot Springs Nebuta Festival - By 663highland [GFDL, CC-BY-SA-3.0 or CC BY 2.5 ], from Wikimedia Commons
Dazai wearing cape graphic derived from:
By 不明 - http://kida.shiga-saku.net/e296995.html, パブリック・ドメイン, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32640415
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About the Author
Osamu Dazai (June 19, 1909 - June 13, 1948) was born Tsushima Shuji, the sixth son of a wealthy family in Aomori Prefecture. He was an important mid-twentieth century Japanese novelist and part of the I-novel literary movement. His bestselling work was The Setting Sun (斜陽). His other works include The Late Years (晩年), Schoolgirl (女生徒), Run, Melos! (走れメロス), New Hamlet (新ハムレット), Fairy Tales (お伽草紙 ), Villon's Wife (ヴィヨンの妻), and No Longer Human (人間失格). He ended his life troubled by addictions and left an unfinished novel Goodbye.
From the Japanese Wikipedia page for Osamu Dazai. (Retrieved July 17, 2018)
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