I didn't come to Tsugaru to scrounge for food. Although I looked like a purple beggar, I was a truthful and loving beggar and not a polished-rice beggar! In order to be the glory of all the people of Tokyo, I hid my determination to cut out the pretentious attitude in the tone of my voice. If someone looked at me and said, "This is rice. Please eat until your stomach bursts. Is the situation horrible in Tokyo?" Even if they said it with kindness from their hearts, I would only eat a little. I imagined I would say, "I'm used to it. Tokyo's rice is delicious. When I think the side dishes were almost gone, more rations come. Without my noticing, my stomach shrinks, so I'm full after eating a little. It happens a lot."
However, this warped caution of mine was pointless. I visited the homes of friends here and there in Tsugaru. Not one said to me, "Here's some rice. Please eat until your belly bursts." My eighty-eight-year-old grandmother at my parents' home, in particular, looking ashamed said, "Since Tokyo probably has all sorts of delicious food, it would be hard to find something delicious for you to eat. Why would you want to be forced to eat pickled melons? These days, there are almost no sake lees." I was actually happy.
In other words, I only met gentle people who were not sensitive to things like food. I thanked god for my luck. No one said, "Please, take this. Please, take that," and persisted in pushing food gifts on me. Thankfully, I continued my pleasant journey carrying a lightweight backpack. However, when I returned to Tokyo, I was surprised to find small parcels sent from the amazing people at each place I visited before returning home. I digress, but T never recommended food to me, and the state of food in Tokyo never came up. We mainly talked about our memories of the times spent together at my home in Kanagi.
"I think of you as my close friend."
My words were conceited and filled with the theatricality of outrage, rudeness, and sarcasm. I squirm at having said that. Was there no other way to say that?
"But you're uncomfortable." T made a perceptive guess.
He said, "I worked at your home in Kanagi, so you're my boss. If you don't think so, I would not be happy. It's strange. Although twenty years have passed, even now, I constantly dream of your house in Kanagi. I even saw it on the battlefield. I forgot to feed the chickens. Dammit! I thought and instantly woke from the dream."
The time for the bus came. I went out with T. The weather was no longer cold but pleasant, and I drank hot sake. Was it cold? Sweat stained my forehead. We talked about the cherry blossoms in Gappo Park being in full bloom. The streets of Aomori City were dry and white. No, I will be prudent in my explanation of the nonsensical impression reflected on my drunken eyes. Today, Aomori City is zealous about shipbuilding. We hurried to the bus depot, but along the way, I visited the grave of Papa Toyoda, who had been so kind to me during my middle school years.
The old me would have asked, "Why don't we both go to Kanita?" without a care in the world. But as I aged, I remember to be a little more reserved. No, my feelings are hard to explain. In other words, we have grown up. Being grown is miserable. Despite sharing mutual affection, we must show discretion and preserve good manners with others.
Why is so much discretion required? There is no answer because too much treachery and humiliation abound. The discovery that people are treacherous is the first theme when a youth moves into adulthood. An adult is a youth who has been backstabbed. We walked without speaking until T said, "I'll go to Kanita tomorrow. I'll take the first bus tomorrow morning and drop by N's house."
"What about the hospital?"
"Tomorrow is Sunday."
"Oh, really? You could have said so sooner."
Traces of our foolish youth remained.
Chapter Two
Kanita
The Tokai coast of the Tsugaru Peninsula was a prosperous shipping route long called Sotogahama. I boarded the bus in Aomori City and headed north along the Tokai coast, passed through villages and towns like Ushirogata, Yomogita, Kanita, Tairadate, Ippongi, Imabetsu and arrived at the famed Minmaya from the legend of Yoshitsune. The trip took about four hours.
Minmaya was the last stop of the bus line. I would walk north along the narrow road from Minmaya at the water's edge for almost three hours to the hamlet of Tappi. As the name, where the dragon flies, says, this place is where the road runs out. The cape is the northern tip of Honshu. However, recently, this area has become very important for defense; therefore, I must avoid mentioning the number of miles and other particulars. The belt of Sotogahama boasts the oldest history in Tsugaru.
Kanita is the largest hamlet in Sotogahama. From Aomori City by bus, they say the ride via Ushirogata and Yomogita lasts about ninety minutes, but I reached this town, that is, the center of Sotogahama, in about two hours. There are close to one thousand households and a population larger than five thousand. The recently built Kanita Police Station stands out as the most eye-catching of the buildings passed by the Sotogahama line.
Kanita, Yomogita, Tairadate, Ippongi, Imabetsu, and Minmaya, namely all of the Sotogahama hamlets, are under the jurisdiction of this police station. According to A Brief History of Aomori Prefecture published by Takeuchi Umpei, a native of Hirosaki, long ago, sand iron was produced at the beach at Kanita. Today, it's no longer produced, but the construction of Hirosaki Castle in the Keicho era used refined
