Fish of the Seto Inland Sea

‘Now, what is wrong with you this time?’ she would ask a villager who appeared and stood timidly at the kitchen door. ‘Come in, come in. You won’t get better standing outside.’

And they would tell her their symptoms, worries and difficulties.

‘It sounds exactly like what Yohei had the other day. He is fine now. Go in and see the doctor. Only, don’t mention your own opinions and everything the others have said. You won’t die yet.’

Kei had beautiful skin. She washed her face thoroughly every morning with rice bran in a small cotton bag and consulted a thermometer to choose what to wear for the day. The thermometer had been given to Tei-ichi as a thank-you present when he attended one of his well-off patients and it was the only thermometer in the surrounding villages. Schoolteachers occasionally brought pupils to see it. Kei did not use make-up, but her hair was always fashionably done up and she carried a parasol in summer to protect her face from the sun. The villagers called her ‘okkasama’, which means mother, and greeted her warmly as her neat figure hurried down the village street followed by a maid.

She would buy damaged material and sale goods at a cloth shop. She was clever at cutting and sewing kimonos and clad the whole family handsomely. All her household were well mannered and disciplined. Shobei knew this as well.

Kei also made ointment to sell. It was a simple mixture of beeswax and a few other ingredients. Although the recipe was not secret, her special skill was needed in heating and kneading. The finished product was put in sealed sea shells and was sold widely as Shirai Ointment for cuts and bruises. Kei carefully saved from the income for their sons’ education. She was determined that her sons should go to the Imperial University like Dr Shintaro and succeed their father as modern doctors. But she did not have much ambition for her daughter, Ayako. She should marry one day but not into the kind of family that would involve the Shirais in spending a lot of money for a trousseau. Kei hoped that Ayako would be treated kindly by her husband’s family when she married and would be sufficiently provided for. Ayako was a pretty girl so this did not seem like too much to ask for.

‘Being a doctor, he must have a secret recipe for making his daughter so lovely,’ the villagers remarked when they saw Ayako.

She was nicknamed ‘Drop off a bridge’. This strange name came from a story about a man from another village who was crossing a narrow bridge when he saw Ayako coming towards him. Gawping at her, because she was so beautiful, he missed his step and fell into the river.

* * *

When a distant relative brought the marriage proposal from the Miwas, Tei-ichi was surprised. Until then, he had not thought of Ayako as a woman. Wasn’t she running around with her brothers and catching fish in the river? The last time he saw her up a tree, he had vaguely wondered if it was time he should tell her off for behaving like a boy. Wasn’t it only a few years ago? Besides, he had never considered the possibility of his daughter being asked for by the most sought-after bachelor he knew.

‘Let me think about it,’ he said eventually to the go-between. At first he could not believe what he had heard. Then he reconsidered.

‘Why, we are not such a bad family. We have nothing to be ashamed of. And Ayako is an intelligent and beautiful girl.’

But he had not expected to part with her so soon. Ayako seemed totally unprepared for the role of a young wife in such an august family. However, if he missed the opportunity to marry her to Shintaro, he was convinced that he would never find as good a match as this most accomplished young man. Tei-ichi also wanted very much to become the father-in-law of such a well-educated doctor. He would be a fine example for his sons. Undecided, he called Ayako. She was not at all demure. She looked her father straight in the eye and said, ‘Dr Miwa, otohsan? Oh, yes, I will marry him.’

‘W-wait a minute. You don’t have to rush. Think about it carefully,’ he stuttered, confused. ‘In any case, you don’t know him. I ... I am not telling you that you have to marry him.’ He had expected her to be either shy and hesitant, or look totally innocent.

‘I have heard a lot about him,’ she said, ‘and I have seen him.’

‘What?’

Tei-ichi felt that his stern control of the household was crumbling in front of him.

‘When did you see him?’

‘I went to the station with Yasuharu san to see what Dr Miwa looks like, when he came back from Tokyo.’

Yasuharu was one of her younger brothers. The family had the custom of referring to each other with a respectful ‘san’ at the end of their names.

‘Oh!’

‘Everybody says he is very intelligent, and very kind,’ Ayako said.

‘You don’t understand.’ Tei-ichi struggled to regain his composure. ‘You don’t know what it means to get married. You have no idea, do you understand? You have no idea. It is not playing house. You have to leave us and your home for ever and live somewhere else with someone else.’ Then he said, even more sternly, ‘It is not like going to stay at your cousin’s. You cannot come back. I will not allow you to come back.’ But after a moment, he added wistfully, ‘That is, as a member of this family. You can visit here, of course, but not to live.’

Ayako was listening respectfully but Tei-ichi did not feel that she was in any way impressed by his speech.

‘Did you realise that Ayako is growing up to be a daring modern girl?’ Tei-ichi complained when he was alone with Kei that night.

Kei put a cup of tea in front of her husband and sat directly on the tatami floor without a zabuton, a cushion.

‘Has Ayako done something wrong?’ she asked.

‘I asked her what she thought of marrying Dr Shintaro.’

‘It was kind of you to ask how she feels about it.’

‘Hum!’

Tei-ichi realised that it had been thoughtful of him. A lot of girls would not be given the opportunity to express their opinion. Marriage was the union of two families regardless of the sentiments of the persons immediately concerned.

Kei had not been told about the proposal from the Miwas.

‘So, are you giving her to the Miwas?’

‘There is no reason why not. He is a splendid fellow. But Ayako is too young. She does not know what marriage means. She does not know anything about men and women.’

‘So, what did Ayako say?’ As Tei-ichi went silent, Kei prompted him.

Tei-ichi remembered his surprise.

‘Amazing!’ He suddenly looked animated and young, telling Kei what he had discovered. ‘Kei, she is not a child any more. She said she wanted to marry Dr Shintaro. She said she knew about him already. Can you believe it? She seems to understand what marriage means.’ Then he repeated, ‘I thought she was only a child.’

Kei laughed. She was not disquieted. She merely said, ‘Girls mature early.’

Tei-ichi felt that he was slighted by both mother and daughter. He straightened up a little. He regained his air of importance.

‘She said she had gone to the station to see Dr Shintaro. Such behaviour is not allowed. From now on, teach her manners and be strict with her. You must not let her go out on her own.’

‘Yes.’ Kei bowed a little and stopped laughing. She admitted to herself that it had been indiscreet for a young unmarried girl of a decent family to go out with her brother, without her knowledge. But in the big house that the Shirais had to manage, there were not enough maids to accompany Ayako every time she went out. Kei had to spare Shige to accompany Ayako for sewing and koto music lessons. Kei’s youngest son, Hideto, was not a year old yet. Shige’s daughter, Kiyo, would have to clean the kitchen and perhaps Kei herself would carry the baby on her back while she prepared the meals ... She could manage. It would all be worthwhile if Ayako could marry such a well-qualified man.

‘We have to prepare her to become a suitable bride for the eldest son of the Miwas,’ Tei-ichi was saying. ‘Don’t be lazy about chaperoning her. It is your responsibility.’ While he was talking to Kei, he made up his mind about his daughter’s marriage.

‘Yes,’ Kei said, looking at her folded hands on her lap.

‘There will be a lot of expenses, to be equal to the Miwas. But we must do our best not to shame ourselves. We must also think of Ayako’s position after she has married. We have to send her off properly. The boys’ education might have to be reconsidered. I hope you understand that,’ Tei-ichi told his wife solemnly.

‘Yes,’ Kei said again, but she was not as worried about money as Tei-ichi was. When the negotiations started, she would gently suggest that her husband have a frank talk with Shobei. Shobei must know the Shirais’ financial situation. If it was money he wanted, he certainly would have accepted the Abes’ daughter. He would not be as unworldly as her husband. Kei sensed that her sons’ education, on the other hand, was far more important than before. They were the family assets, not a large trousseau.

She went back to the kitchen where Shige was supervising Kiyo, who was measuring rice and washing it ready for the next day. Shige had come to the Shirais as Kei’s personal maid when she married Tei-ichi. They had grown up together.

‘O’Shige san,’ Kei called. ‘Come here a minute.’

When Shige went into the chanoma, a small back living room next to the kitchen, Kei was sitting by the hibachi, an elaborate charcoal burner. An iron kettle was always placed on it during the day and from it now came the soft noise of water evaporating.

‘Sit down for a minute.’

Kei pointed towards the other side of the hibachi. As soon as Shige sat down, Kei giggled and whispered, ‘Ayako gave dansama such a surprise.’