English follows after Japanese
今回は戦争の事を母に尋ねました。
母への質問
１第二次世界大戦の時何歳だった？
私が５歳の時開戦〜11歳の時終戦でした。
２戦争中に一番怖かったことは何？
-最初頃は空襲警報のサイレンが鳴った時
-年月が過ぎて音に慣れ自宅より離れた横穴まで逃げる時
３戦争中に一番大変だった事は何？
布団の上で寝たい。靴を脱いで寝たい。（いつでも飛び出せる様、逃げる支度をしていたから）
４戦争中に一番楽しみだった事は何？
-近所の人達と横穴で顔を合わせホッとする時
-梅干の中の種を噛んで白い小さな実をわり少しずつ皆で食べる時（非常用食として毎日干して集めたものだったので）
５原爆が投下された時３キロの場所に居たって聞いたけど、どんなだった？
爆心地から３.４キロの地点の家に移ったのが投下半月位前だったので余り覚えていない。遠くでピカッと光が見えた。（後で母から聞いて驚いた）
６戦争を知っているママが戦争を知らない人たちに伝えたいメッセージは何？
私達は横穴から出て自宅へ戻る時、また会えたらいいね！大人から子供までお互いを思い合っていました。なので命の尊さをよく分かって、平和の有り難さを身にしみて味わってると思います。今日も会えてよかったね！！ニッコリ！！していました。
７その他に伝えたい事はある？
郁子へ
質問に対して昔を思い出し何日も眠れませんでした。弟と語り合い苦しかった時、辛かった事より人間の魂の優しい触れ合いを笑って話せた事に心より感謝してます。有難う
*母は長崎県出身、長崎で被爆しています。
*横穴とは防空壕だそうです。初めは地面を掘って穴を作りそこに藁や葉っぱで見えない様に隠してその中に避難していた様です。でもそれだと敵の爆撃機に発見されやすかったらしいです。長崎の地形は坂が多く崖が多かったのでその斜面に穴を掘って防空壕としていたのが横穴だそうです。
以上を読んで
私は母から戦争についての話は色々と聞いていましたが、これを読んで涙が止まりませんでした。“また会えるといいね！”と別れる際にお互いに言っていたのは、横穴で2度と再開することが出来なかった人たちが多くいたからだそうです。母の一番の楽しみが梅干の種の中の白い実を食べることだった。これは皆さんご存知でしょうか？大きさはお米より小さいでしょうか、プチっとしょっぱい味がします。梅干の種を歯で割ってこの米粒ほどの白い実を少しずつ食べた。この小さな実を少しずつ食べることが楽しみだった。今私達はコロナで非常食を備蓄していますが、その中にこの様な質素な備蓄品はありません。私達は色々な事で悩みます。でも母の文を読んで思いました、私達は恵まれ過ぎているから悩みも多いのだと。戦争中は毎日生と死が精神的にも肉体的にもすぐ間近にあったため、悩むと言う余裕さえなかったのでしょう。私達が日常的には今ほとんど忘れている 平和の尊さ、布団で寝ることの快適さ、当然の様にまた会える友人達、これらが本当にどれだけ大切なことなのかを母の短い文で再度気づかされました。今全世界がコロナと向き合っている中この母のメッセージは本当に大切なものを伝えてくれた様に思います。ママありがとう。
I asked some questions to my mother regarding her experiences during World War II.
Questions to my mother
1 How old were you at the time of World War II?
The war started when I was 5 years old and ended when I was 11 years old
2 What were you most scared of during the war?
-In the beginning, when an air-raid siren would sound
-A few months later when I became used to these sounds, I was scared when I was running from home to a tunnel, functioning as an air-raid shelter, about ten minutes away.
3 What was the hardest thing for you during the war?
I wanted to sleep in a futon (Japanese bed). I wanted to sleep without my shoes. (We had to prepare to evacuate as quickly as possible all the time.)
4 What were your pleasurable moments during the war?
-When I saw my neighbors at the air-raid shelter and we could look at each other at ease.
-When I was eating with everyone, slowly a white seed within a seed of pickled plum. (We used to save seeds of pickled plums after eating them and dry them for emergency food)
5 I think you told me that you were within a 3 kilometer radius when the atomic bomb was dropped. What was that like?
We were 3.4 kilometers from the epicenter of the blast. We moved to this location 6 months prior to the blast, so I don't remember much about that day. But I saw a gleam in the distant sky. (My mother told me about that day later on and I was shocked.)
6 Do you have any message, as a person who had war time experience, for people who do not know about war?
We, from children to adults, cared for each other by saying “Isn’t it so nice if we can see each other again!” every time when we left the shelter to go home. We all knew the preciousness of life and value of peace. We used to do “It’s so nice to see you today!!” with a smile!
7 Anything else you would like to say?
To Ikuko
As I was answering your questions, I could not sleep for a couple of days as I was remembering that time. I spoke to my younger brother over the phone. Instead of talking about hardships and pains during the time, we were able to share how people’s soul kindly touched each other. I appreciate from the bottom of my heart that my brother and I could talk like this. Thank you.
*My mother was born in Nagasaki-prefecture and exposed to radiation in this prefecture.
*In the beginning, shelter was below ground. They dug a large hole into the ground and covered it with leaves or straw. However, this was easy to be found by enemy bombers. There are many slopes and cliffs in Nagasaki prefecture, so they dug against these slopes and made safer shelters.
After reading this:
Although my mother told me many things regarding the war, I could not stop crying after reading it. The reason for saying to each other “Isn’t it nice if we could meet again!” every time when they left the shelter to go home was that there were many people including children my mother did not see again. My mother’s most favorite thing to do was to eat slowly the white seed after breaking off a plum seed with her teeth. Does anyone know what this is? It is a size of a grain of rice and when you bite on it, it snaps and taste salty. Her most favorite thing was to eat slowly this tiny white seed. Because of the Corona virus, we are stocking emergency food, but there is no food as austere as this white seed. We worry about many, various matters. After reading my mother’s story, I realized we are too fortunate and that yields too many worries. During the war, there was no time to worry because every day both mentally and physically, life and death were up close. I came to realize once again how important it is to remember how precious the peace is that many people have forgotten. How comfortable it is to sleep in a bed, how wonderful to meet friends as a matter of course. My mother reminded me once again with few words, how truly important all this is. Especially during this Corona crisis, my mother gave me a very valuable message. Thank you mama.