Why are all Japanese stories about death?

Why are all Japanese stories about death???  This is a very good question that I haven’t quite figured out yet.  I was flipping through a short story book in the library yesterday that was written in both English and Japanese.  It started out fine and happy, then all of the sudden it’s talking about death.  It seems like a LOT of short stories are like that.  I’m thinking about a couple of stories from the textbook that also end with death.  Let me just give you all a few examples of short stories.  The first is the book I found in the library that comes equipped with illustrations.  (I left in the improper grammar and misuse of punctuation for the authentic feel in each of the stories.)

Title: Not Mines, But Flowers

The most beautiful planet in the ever-expanding universe: our home; the Earth.  (It shows Earth floating in space.)

Sunny thinks about the world. (It shows a white rabbit, “Sunny” standing on the Earth floating in space.)

This is Japan, where Sunny was born.  It is an island country, surrounded by a nourishing and protecting sea.  (It shows Sunny standing over Japan.)

This is a continent.  As you can see, borders may appear on maps, but not on the ground.  (It shows Sunny standing over a big green blob on Earth.)

A gate to a neighboring country.  Unlike the birds, we are not free to pass.  (It shows Sunny standing in the middle of a road unable to cross a fence, but the bird can.)

Oh no!  What is this?!  Something has exploded!  (It shows Sunny flattened to the ground with dirt exploding around her.)

What’s going on?  Thousands of children, grandparents, animals—all walking on crutches or sitting in wheelchairs!  These people are the victims of landmines.  A landmine is a bomb buried under the ground.  If you step on it, it will instantly explode.  (It shows a long line of amputees [including a dog] walking toward Sunny.)

Landmines were originally deployed along borders to ward off invaders from neighboring countries.  They are also buried along roads and bridges to help defend towns.  (It shows several people being blown away by landmines.)

Today, in Cambodia, the former Yugoslavia, the Middle East, Angola, and many other countries, a tremendous number of landmines are still buried underground, even though the wars there may be over.  All told, there are 110 million mines buried throughout the world.  Every single hour, three people are killed or severely injured by landmines.  (It shows Sunny bringing flowers to an amputee in the hospital.)

These landmines are buried in fields, mountains, and even in schoolyards—but no one knows exactly where.  It is extremely difficult to detect and remove a landmine.  (It shows a strip of grass yellow taped off with the words “MINE! MINE! MINE!” on the tape.)

Carefully, one by one, We must clear these landmines.  We must remove them now, or children, adults, and animals alike will all be endangered.  What a terrible situation!  (It shows Sunny with a flower….for whatever reason…..)

To detect and remove a mine takes a huge amount of time and money.  It’s a tremendously difficult task that will require all our efforts.  And only you and I can do it.  Let’s plant a flower for one mine, a tree for another.  (It shows a few birds helping Sunny plant flowers.)

If everyone works together, we can do it.  We can clear all the mines from the mountains, rivers, hills, and towns.  Then, together we will plant flowers for some mines, trees for others.  (It shows a girl planting flowers with Sunny.)

Let’s start planting rice and young vegetables in our field.  Let’s plant bananas and coconut trees in the schoolyards.  Let’s grow and harvest delicious fruit.  (It shows people working together with the animals to plant said seeds.)

Finally the mountains and fields are covered with flowers.  This is wonderful.  Thank you, Thank you.  The Earth is beautiful again.  Our safe and life-giving planet is back.  (It shows Sunny and a kid watching the sunset from a meadow.)

……….thoughts?  That book went from “this is Sunny’s home” to "BAM!  LANDMINES!  PEOPLE DIE!” to “let’s all hold hands and plant flowers” in the span of about twenty-five pages.  The next two stories come from my JHS third grade textbook and are just as charming as the previous one.

Title: A Mother’s Lullaby

A big, old tree stands by a road near the city of Hiroshima.  Through the years, it has seen many things.  One summer night the tree heard a lullaby.  A mother was singing to her little girl under the tree.  They looked happy, and the song sounded sweet.  But the tree remembered something sad. 

“Yes, it was some sixty years ago.  I heard a lullaby that night, too.”

On the morning of that day, a big bomb fell on the city of Hiroshima.  Many people lost their lives, and many others were injured.  They had burns all over their bodies.  I was very sad when I saw those people. 

It was a very hot day.  Some of the people fell down near me.  I said to them, “Come and rest in my shade.  You’ll be all right soon.”

Night came.  Some people were already dead.  I heard a weak voice.  It was a lullaby.  A young girl was singing to a little boy. 

“Mommy!  Mommy!” the boy cried.

“Don’t cry,” the girl said.  “Mommy is here.”  Then she began to sign again.

She was very weak, but she tried to be a mother to the poor little boy.  She held him in her arms like a real mother.

“Mommy,” the boy was still crying.

“Be a good boy,” said the girl.  “You’ll be all right.”  She held the boy more tightly and began to sign again. 

After a while the boy stopped crying and quietly died.  But the little mother did not stop singing.  It was a sad lullaby.  The girl’s voice became weaker and weaker.

Morning came and the sun rose, but the girl never moved again.

………..American guilt, anyone???  I feel awkward every time I have to read this story in class.    What makes it even worse is that several schools make their kids memorize this for the speech competition in October.  Out of the dozen JHS schools in Kuma-gun, I would easily say that at least half of them choose this story for the speech competition.  Finally the last story is about (surprise! surprise!) death.  This one comes off as more of a kiddie story, but don’t let that fool you.  IT’S STILL ABOUT DEATH.

Title: The Fall of Freddie the Leaf

Spring came.  Freddie, the leaf, was born on a branch of a tall tree.

Hundreds of leaves were born on the tree.  They were all friends.  Together they danced in the breeze and played in the sun.

Daniel was the largest leaf and Freddie’s best friend.  He knew many things.  He explained that they were part of a tree in the park.  He also explained about the birds, the sun, and the moon.

Freddie loved being a leaf.  Summer was especially nice.  Many people came to the park. 

“Let’s get together and give them some shade,” sad Daniel.  “Giving shade is part of our purpose in life.  Making people happy is a good reason for living.”

Old people sat under the tree and talked of old times.  Children ran around and laughed.  It was fun to watch those children.

Summer passed and fall came.

Soon the leaves changed their colors.  Some turned red and others turned yellow.  Freddie turned purple.  They were all very beautiful. 

One day a strange thing happened.  Some of the leaves were blown off by a strong cold wind.  The leaves became frightened.  “What’s happening?” they said.

“It’s the time for leaves to change their home,” Daniel said.  “Some people call it dying.”

“Will we all die?”  Freddie asked.

“Yes,” Daniel answered.  “Everything dies.”

“I won’t die!” said Freddie.

But his friends started to fall one after another.  Soon the tree was almost bare.

“I’m afraid of dying,” Freddie told Daniel.

“We’re all afraid of things we don’t know,” Daniel said.  “But you were not afraid when spring became summer, or when summer became fall.  Changes are natural.”

“Will we return in spring?” Freddie asked.

“I don’t know, but Life will.  Life lasts forever and we’re part of it,” answered Daniel.

“We only fall and die.  Why are we here?” Freddie asked again.

Daniel said, “For the friends, the sun and the shade.  Remember the breeze, the people and the colors in the fall.  Isn’t that enough?”

That afternoon, Daniel fell with a smile.  Freddie was the only leaf left on his branch.

The first snow fell the next morning.

The wind came and took Freddie from his branch.  It did not hurt at all.

As he fell, he saw the whole tree for the first time.  He remembered Daniel’s words, “Life lasts forever.”

Freddie landed on the soft snow.  He closed his eyes and went to sleep.

He did not know this.  But, in the tree and the ground, there were already plans for new leaves in the spring.

Ta-da!  Another story about death!  Honestly, Japan!  Remember…these are all stories that JHS kids are reading.  Are you as shocked as me?  I’m not sure why the Japanese are so intrigued with death.  That remains a mystery to me……  That’s all for this blog, which was an aside from my normal day-to-day activities.  I’ll write about those in the next blog, I promise!