77 years after the war
The original owner of a kimono handed over by an evacuated family during the war in Okinawa in exchange for rice was found.
Yoshiko Ota, 88, of Kunigami Village, who kept the kimono in the house, following in the footstep of her mother, who said before her death that she wanted to return it to her someday.
On 1 June, she met the original owner, Hideko Higa, 93, of Yomitan Village, and tearfully embraced her, saying she was happy to see her and that she had taken such good care of it.
The kimono is bright purple with peonies, chrysanthemums and plum blossoms. Higa's family from Yomitan Village were silkworm farmers, and her sister, who was good with her hands, wove the fabric for the 13th birthday celebration, which was then dyed outside the prefecture.
After reports and publicity magazines appeared last year that Ota was looking for the owner of the kimono, Higa had thought it might be hers.
A glimpse of the actual piece, donated to the Yuntanza Museum in Yomitan Village, brought back memories of wearing it and dancing in school arts and crafts events.
Through the intermediary of a concerned person, a face-to-face meeting was implemented.
So impressed to see you have cherished this
Around March 1945, before the US military landed on the main island of Okinawa, Higa and her family evacuated on foot from Yomitan Village to Okuma in Kunigami Village.
About 10 people huddled with their parents and siblings in the home of an elderly couple in Okuma.
The family who shared the water from the well was Ota's family, who lived next door. They had a child of the same age and sometimes played with her.
Higa's family later told her that they had traded the kimono for rice.
A miracle to have met 77 years after the war.
"I'm grateful that you have kept it so carefully. Thank you for taking care of us during the war years", she said tearfully.
Bonds formed by the kimono "We were saved in a world of war"
The ties connected by the kimono that have looked at the war.
Hideko Higa of Yomitan Village who handed over and Yoshiko Ota of kunigami Village who has carefully preserved it met 77 years after the war.
"We must never fight another war", they remind the peaceful world.
That they were evacuated to a mountain during the war. After the war, they were blessed with children and grandchildren. After talking about each other's lives, they went to the altar of Ota's late mother and others.
When Higa put her hands together and said, "Today I came to thank you for saving us in the war time", Ota also said, "I'm sure my mother would be happy".
Higa's family, who had been evacuated from Yomitan to Kunigami, lived in a shelter in a mountain from around June 1945. Japanese fighter planes were hitting US warships. They involuntarily put their hands together towards the sea. His father lost his life to malaria and his brother was killed in the war as a soldier.
Ota, then 10 years old, also fled deep into the mountain. Her parents went down the mountain in the middle of the night to get potatoes so that the US soldiers wouldn't find them.
When she returned to her village after knowing of Japan's defeat, she wept as she passed by those who had died.
The kimono is on display at the Yuntanza Museum in Yomiatn Village from 10 to 26 June. Higa says, "I want people to know that there was a time like this", and her eldest son Yu, 71, hopes that many people will see it as a reminder of the war.
Ota's grandson, Hiroyuki, 32, posted videos about the kimono on TikTok on his account "Southern Island Gramma and Grandson".
He said, "I'm glad the owner was found and my grandmother's wishes were realised. Through this kimono, I could feel that my grandmother's kindness was something she inherited from her great-grandmother."
Comments
Post a Comment