Scriptwriter: Kamata Toshio
Watase Tsunehiko
Nakamura Kankuro
subs: maboroshinohikari
Oyaji no Senaka
Father's Back
Mother's Secret
When does my last memory
of my father's back date back to?
I jumped onto my father's back, who was walking ahead of me on the banks of Tama River.
The memory of that huge back
is still alive inside my heart.
After my mother died, my father
sold off the house where they lived, and moved to Shikoku.
I heard he rents care equipment with his old comrades.
But since my mother died
I've never met with him.
- A pilgrimage? - Yeah.
So my father said that?
He told me to ask you to go.
Come to think of it, he always gets in touch with you.
Maybe it's easier for him to talk to a stranger like me.
Sometimes it's like that between parents and children.
Why don't you go?
My father and I?
Going on a pilgrimage?!
Good afternoon.
(The man is chanting "Hannya Shingyo", "Heart of the Perfection of Wisdom", a sutra in Mahayana Buddhism. It is often cited as the best-known and most popular Buddhist scripture of all)
Since we're doing this,
shouldn't we have gone on the Shikoku Pilgrimage?
(A multi-site pilgrimage of 88 temples. The pilgrimage is traditionally completed on foot, and the walking course is approximately 1,200 km long)
I went there.
I walked for 3 months.
Do you think something happened to my father?
Sorry, wait a second.
Okay...
Err?
He didn't tell me anything.
Well, when he held meetings at home, he'd often argue heatedly that
religion is the drug which clouds people's consciences.
That was long ago, wasn't it?
But I grew up hearing those words day in, day out.
I'll call you later. Yes, okay.
The Saigoku 33 Temples.
(A pilgrimage of thirty-three Buddhist temples, sacred to Kannon, throughout the Kansai region)
The 33 Bando Temples.
(A series of thirty-three Buddhist temples sacred to Kannon in the Prefectures of Kanagawa, Saitama, Tokyo, Gunma, Ibaraki, Tochigi and Chiba)
The 33 Chichibu Temples.
(Thirty-three temples dedicated to Kannon in Chichibu, a city located in Saitama Prefecture)
The total was 99.
During the Edo period they added one in Chichibu,
(By 1536 a 34th temple was added, with the consequence that the Saigoku, Bando and Chichibu pilgrimages together form a 100-temple Kannon pilgrimage)
and the total became 100.
Huh?
There it is, found it.
- See this carved frog? - Yes.
If you add the character "on" to "kaeru", you read "Mikaeru".
(In Japanese "frog" is "kaeru". Adding the honorific prefix, which is pronounced "mi" for religious words, you have "mikaeru". "Mikaeru" is the Japanese pronunciation of "Micheal", the archangel in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic teachings)
They say this is the figure of Virgin Mary holding her child.
So even in Chichibu there were Hidden Christians.
(Members of the Japanese Catholic Church during the Edo Period, when Christianity was banned and punishable by death. They continued to practice Christianity in secret, and venerated Jesus and the Virgin Mary by disguising them as figurines that looked like the traditional statues of the Buddha and bodhisattvas)
It is said that Buddhists came to believe in Kosodate Kannon
(Goddess of childbearing and child-rearing. Such statues are also known as Maria Kannon)
by means of the statues originally made by Hidden Christians.
An interesting thing about the Japanese is that we turn anything into an object of faith.
Even mountains. And trees.
And waterfalls.
There's even a shrine dedicated to wolves, here in Chichibu.
(Mitsumine Shrine)
This, this! This is where I made my old man vow
not to drink too much.
If he made that vow to this Buddha, he might actually become a wino!
- Yeah, he might! - What do you think?
- Do you remember? - What?
I think you were about 5 years old.
You suddenly disappeared.
The Sanrizuka conflict had reached a dead end and we were at our wit's end,
(A conflict in Sanrizuka, between the Japanese government and local farmers and their supporters who opposed the construction of Narita International Airport)
so I held an important meeting at home to plan a new strategy.
Then you disappeared throwing us into utter confusion.
Since all the guys attending my gatherings were dissdents,
we quarreled as to whether we should notify the police or not.
You gave us a hard time, son.
When I returned home after searching the neighborhood,
you were drinking milk nonchalantly,
so I impulsively yelled at you.
Where were you hiding that day?
There's no way I could remember, it happened ages ago.
You were hiding inside a wardrobe and fell asleep, Shinsuke.
How do you know that?
Because you told me that story when we were dating.
You said that was your first rebellion against your father.
Think about the speech your father gave at our wedding.
It was stately and brilliant, wasn't it?
That's because he gave propaganda speeches since his university days.
I was so moved I was about to cry,
but you muttered something as if spitting out.
"Stop posing as my father just 'cause it's my wedding", you said.
Since the day you hid inside that wardrobe,
you've always rebelled against your father.
Shinsuke.
What was your favorite dish among the ones your mother made?
- Huh? - My favorite was cabbage rolls.
Your mother's cooking was popular with the guys who came to our house too.
Many of them came to our place looking forward to her food.
We must wait and see, guys!
- I agree. - We can't just go and decide!
Now that our crusade has reached an impasse, we especially need flexible ideas.
The breakthrough-ism will lead us to ruin.
When violent internal strives grew rampant, my father
abandoned the movement's front line and set up a publishing house with his comrades.
In those days, things as being a dissident and aspiring to change society
were seen as a matter of course.
That's why my father published many bestsellers,
and kept supporting the movement financially.
My mother never joined their meetings.
A woman would never understand difficult discussions.
I guess that's what my father thought.
Delicious!
Sweet child!
7, 6, 3, 2, 7. Who will you choose, Kitao-san?
(This show is Quiz Derby, the Japanese version of Celebrity Sweepstakes which ran weekly from 1976 to 1992. You can see actress Takeshita Keiko for a second)
Err, 1,000 points to Hara Taira-san.
(Also, this man is Kitao Koji, a former sumo wrestler and professional wrestler, and Hara Taira was a manga artist and tarento)
Shut up!
We're having an important discussion, make him be quiet!
I'm sorry.
My mother disliked my father's gatherings.
I had already realized that.
She didn't hate their discussions,
but my father's attitude towards her.
No need to be afraid any more.
"There's a secret bond between my mother and I",
that's what I was convinced of back then.
Say cheese!
You gave us a hard time upon entering high school.
You opposed whatever your school did,
and the head of the instruction department would often summon your mother.
One day he told her "Your son became such a problem child"
"because his father is an anti-establishment activist".
So I went and stormed into your school to complain.
"It's only natural for a teenager to rebel", I told them.
The actual problem kids are the obedient ones
who follow the school's rules submissively.
After that day,
you started to associate with those pranksters.
That was the only thing I couldn't leave alone.
One day, I was waiting for you to come back to punch you.
Then, all of a sudden, your mother came to yell at me.
Our kid is all right.
And the boys he's associating with
are not as bad as you think they are.
You don't know anything about our son, do you!
That was the first and last time
your mother opposed me.
I think you were a 2nd year middle school student.
We went to Izu and competed with each other at a pool in Shimoda.
Start!
You didn't want to lose and got frantic.
In the end, you had about 1 meter lead on me and won.
You defeated your father. I guess you were happy.
You turned toward me and raised your fist.
I made it!
That time, when I raised my fist,
I wasn't looking at my father.
I was looking at my mother who was on the poolside.
My mother's facial expression at that moment
is still alive in my heart.
We swam together at the pool,
but we didn't take a bath together.
Cut it out.
Guess you were embarrassed because hair had started growing down there.
Stop it.
"Kids grow up before parents even know it", that's what I thought deep down.
I said cut it out!
Say, what's the point in talking about that old stuff now?
What? You brought me here 'cause you wanted to talk about old times?
From that moment, my father stopped talking.
I hope you'll enjoy your stay.
I'm going to take a bath.
I had a feeling you two might quarrel.
You're the one who told me to go.
Since you didn't meet him for a long time, I thought going on a trip together may be a good idea.
Well, that's true.
I didn't spend some time with my father for a long time.
You're father and son.
Didn't you say parent-child relations are complicated?
There's something I've never told you, Shinsuke.
- What? - When I went to see your mother at the hospital,
one day she told me something.
"My husband is so good at speaking at his gatherings,"
"yet he never tells me anything."
"Although we've lived together for almost 40 years,"
"I don't have the slightest idea"
"how my husband feels about me, or what he thinks about our family", she said.
Hey...
Did you tell my father about that?
I did.
I think your mother said that because she wanted me to tell him.
Why did you never tell me about it?
- Because you're not mild, Shinsuke. - What do you mean I'm not mild?!
That's what I mean.
There's something that's concerning me.
What is it?
- Excuse me. - Come in.
May I set the table?
Ah, yes, please.
I'll call you back.
Ah, the water was great.
I'm glad to hear that.
I'm taking a bath too.
Enjoy your bath.
Let's talk about work first.
I received an e-mail from Miyazaki-san, about Saito-san's carrots.
He thinks it'd be okay to have him enlarge that acreage.
I replied that I agree with him.
I told him I'd call you.
And so... what is concerning you?
Can I tell you?
Well, it was you who brought it up.
Could it be your father is unwell?
Maybe he found out he doesn't have much time left, so he's trying to take something back.
Where were you hiding that day?
You gave us a hard time upon entering high school.
What was your favorite dish among the ones your mother made?
- You're drinking beer? - Yeah.
- Is that okay? - What?
Are things going well at work?
Yup.
I'm doing fine too. My business is finally on track.
I see.
Guess you were surprised when I quit the audit corporation.
If I hadn't quit, I would've gotten a pretty high salary.
And sooner or later I would've probably set up a consulting firm.
I would've lived in luxury.
Well, I guess you're not interested in what I'm up to.
- Say. - Mm?
Why did you decide to go on the Shikoku Pilgrimage?
Since I live in Shikoku, I just felt it'd be nice to do that.
- That's it? - Yeah.
Are you in, Dad?
So you've sold this house?
I'm really sorry I won't be able to leave it to you.
They'll write off your company's debts, right?
Yeah.
Good for you.
I caused your mother so much trouble...
When I entered college, campus strives did no longer exist.
No more looking at society critically, or rebelling against the Establishment.
That kind of ideology had faded away.
Obviously my father's publishing house stopped selling.
When his company went bankrupt, in a sense,
my father's life ended as well, I guess.
Hey.
Since we're here,
we should buy canes at least.
- I haven't caused you any trouble. - Of course you have!
When?... Hello, good afternoon.
- You really can't appreciate a favor. - I told you that was none of your business!
Don't shout!
That's called Mount Buko, right?
- Yeah. - So the skyscrapers of the economic boom
were built using mainly the limestone quarried from that mountain?
I learned that last night.
No matter how many buildings go up,
the mountain just changes its shape a bit and survives.
Mountains are so huge.
One day Mom went out
even though she knew you were holding a meeting.
Actually, I persuaded her to do that.
I told her she shouldn't be cooking as a housemaid all the time.
But Mom couldn't relax.
When it got dark she decided to go back.
When she returned home, you were standing firm at the front door.
You asked her "You know there was a meeting, so where did you go?!".
You yelled at her.
I was so sure Mom would flare up at you.
But she apologized saying she was truly sorry,
and rushed to the kitchen.
What the heck was that?
I've been wondering all this time.
That time I didn't look at you, Dad.
I raised my fist looking at Mom.
I had defeated you.
I thought Mom would surely be pleased.
But she looked so very sad.
Why did Mom give me that sad look?
I always rebelled against you for her.
I thought
Mom and I had a bond you'd never know about.
If she was contented with just making meals as a housekeeper,
why did Mom let me see her dissatisfied look?
Why couldn't she show me a more cheerful expression?
Why did she say such things before she died?!
What did she say?
Kanako told you, didn't she?
"Although we've lived together for almost 40 years,"
"I don't have the slightest idea"
"how my husband feels about me, or what he thinks about our family."
- Dad? - What is it?
Did you invite me to this place
- 'cause you don't have much time left? - What?
Did you think you'd do for me
what you were unable to do for Mom?
Did you decide to go on a pilgrimage with me because you feel regretful about Mom?
Was that why you went on the Shikoku Pilgrimage?
What's the point in doing such things when it's already too late?!
I'm not such a sentimental man!
Then why did you come?!
Why did you decide to go on a pilgrimage with me?!
What exactly have you been doing all this time?!
You talk boastfully about changing the world and making everyone happy.
But you can't even bring happiness to those around you!
I've always fought
to make you and your mother happy!
And so what did you change?
If you and those guys had done the right things
it would've been way easier to live in our society!
Let me tell you this.
My generation's going through way harder times than yours!
We're desperately hanging on not to be shaken off by this world!
If you're not satisfied with the present situation
you should try to change it, 'cause you're young!
You're wasting your one and only life!
I'm not interested in changing the world,
but! I'm going to
make my wife and child happy at any cost!
So it's fine as long as you're okay?
Don't you feel like looking at the world in a more open-minded way?
Will you really be contented with your life
if you cling on to a small happiness?
We all fought against something huge.
Does today's youth have such vigor?!
Do you have the energy to hurl yourselves at the authorities?
I didn't want to involve her! I didn't want to draw her into that whirlpool!
Liar! "Women don't understand difficult talks,"
"they just have to serve meals and support their husbands".
- That's what you guys thought! - Stop being cheeky!
Mom hated that attitude of yours!
So why did she have to be compliant just because you yelled at her?
If she had something to say, she should have told you!
She should have hurled herself at you!!!
Dad? how did Mom feel about you?
And how did you feel about Mom, Dad?!
What the heck's a married couple?!
After I heard from Kanako-san,
I went to see your mother at the hospital every day.
But I had no idea what I should tell her.
And before I could tell her any thing
your mother died.
When I went on the Shikoku Pilgrimage and walked for 3 months,
I talked to her all the time.
I just interpreted the words "dogyo ninin" in my own way.
(The words written on the Shikoku pilgrims' hats. "Dogyo ninin" literally means "to go with one", or "two on the road", but it actually signifies that Kobo Daishi, the Japanese monk said to have founded the pilgrimage, is always walking with the pilgrims)
You mother
asked me to tell you something once.
What?
She didn't dislike making food for me and my comrades.
Nor did she want to take part in our discussions.
M-Mom told you that?
She just wanted to live to the fullest with me.
Did Mom tell you that?!
When you raised your fist at the pool,
she couldn't be genuinely happy
because she knew I felt sad when you beat me.
Stop making up stories!
I'm not making it up!
You two have always been like that.
She always thought of me.
I didn't even realize that.
I was unable to notice that until the very end!
??I'll bid farewell to you in the night fog
(This is a Russian folk song called "??????", "Small light", translated into Japanese as "Tomoshibi". Its lyrics were written by Russian poet Michail Isakovsky in 1942)
??and go to join the brave men.
??In the flickering light by the window,
??I see the shadow of the girl's eternal love
One of the guys who came to our house was a huge fan of Utagoe coffeehouses.
(Coffeehouses that featured the customers' joining in singing songs together, which was very popular in Japan in ca. 1955-1975)
He'd sing this song aloud whenever he got drunk.
It was the only song your mother ever liked.
??The gentle girl's pure feelings
??are seas and mountains away from me
When we made street demonstrations, the riot squad would rout us,
and we'd take refuge here and there.
Back then shop employees would often hide us from the police.
What we're trying to do
is nothing as big as changing society.
We think about how to deliver organic vegetables to the consumers at a low price.
It's just a small attempt.
An old greengrocer who hid me from the police told me something.
"You guys say you're fighting for the masses,"
"but I don't even know what to do with my own wife."
"What you call "masses" are those people who experience things at first hand."
"What could you possibly know about the starving men living at the ends of the earth?", he said.
It's not just because organic farming's become popular.
Organic vegetables are delicious.
People find out that vegetables can be really tasty, and sweet.
That's the reason they keep buying from us.
- Does it hurt? Are you okay? - Do you want some water?
- Are you all right? - He's okay, thank you.
I met many people during the Shikoku Pilgrimage.
People live thinking about all sorts of things.
That's what I realized.
When I told her I'd quit the audit corporation,
Kanako... she cried.
I'm so happy.
I'll finally
be able to live with you.
I have no idea what will happen to us.
I'll be able
to worry about that with you.
We'll be able to struggle together, Shinsuke.
When I worked at the corporation
I thought the same things as you.
"Even if I told Kanako how hard and bothersome my job is, she would never understand."
"As long as she does the housework and raises our child,"
"I'll be able to let them live in luxury."
I think Mom's feelings probably reached Kanako.
She wanted to fight with you.
To suffer and to worry with you.
She wanted to share her feelings with you.
Thank you very much.
Shinsuke.
When I went on the Shikoku Pilgrimage,
I heard your mother's voice.
She said, "Tell your children about your imperfection,"
"and show them your weakness."
"That, too, is a parent's job."
Talking to her now that she's dead
is useless, isn't it!
Right, Shinsuke?
Kanako's going to pick me up with our car.
Spend the night at our place, if you like.
No, I'm going home.
Really?
Yeah.
Let's part here.
'Kay.
A train for Kumagaya Hanyu
will shortly arrive on platform 3.
See ya.
See you.
I had no idea how my father felt when he bowed to me.
Still, at that moment
I had a feeling I'd finally become one with him.
And with my mother as well.
My father, my mother, and I
had finally become a family.
Dad...
Talking to her now that she's dead
is useless, isn't it!
Right, Shinsuke?
Your father has his own way of living.
Your mother had her own too.
And we have our own way of living.
I think that's just fine.
Then, three years later,
my father died.
Next episode is "Dobuko", written by Kizara Izumi and with Horikita Maki, Endo Kenichi, Mizobata Junpei, Tanimura Mitsuki, Yakushimaru Hiroko...