Diary+Entry+1+_JH

date: 16th March 1937 weather: warmth seeping through the briskness time: 10.40 pm

Dear Diary, It’s finally the season of beautiful cherry blossoms. This morning I stepped out of my house and found cherry blossoms raining. I could also hear Nana-san, our neighbor, whose son is also in the military, exclaim,“sugoi!” very loudly. The flowers colored the world in color of first love. They danced beautifully and twirled gracefully, brightly smiling at me, seeming to be trying to relieve my depression and loneliness. However, this only made me miss my oldest son and my dead husband awfully.

It's been such a long time since my son, Echizen left to Manchuria to work as a soldier for the country. For heavens sake, he's only 23! What am I going to do if my poor boy gets killed? These days, I can’t even tell if my food is going into my mouth or my nose at the thought of him! Is he having meals regularly? Is he getting enough sleep? Is he praying to God constantly? Thanks to my two younger sons, Hikaru and Kaoru, I am able to rest my mind from those worries from time to time. Kaoru, who is 11, doesn’t seem to know much about the world and also doesn’t seem to care and always gets in trouble at school for misbehaving. That naughty boy gets me off often, however, his wide, playful smile makes me forgive him easily. Hikaru, the youngest, who is only 8, is a sweet boy who possesses the big, deep eyes of my husband. He often hugs me or sits on my lap, then looks at me in the eyes and say, “I miss Ani (big brother)” with his huge eyes widened. I want my children to experience many different parts of this world and be creative, unlike many parents these days.

I am quite annoyed with the government, trying to put everything into the army and military force to expand Japan. They take away our family and our money. This makes us suffer and hurts us both physically and mentally. This country possesses too much ambition. And for their own benefit, they take away all of our possessions, one by one. I may not be very educated, but I do keep an ear for Japan's news. Because of their greed, I feel that my son is being used for their benefits. I must pray harder for my son to come back safely.

It is quite late and I have had a long day. My children are finally sound at dreamland, so I should go to sleep now. After all, I have to go to the town’s well to get some water at dawn tomorrow.