A Dictionary of Mutual Understanding by Jackie Copleton

Author:Jackie Copleton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2015-10-26T16:00:00+00:00

Humility

Kenkyo: Modesty is one of the most important concepts of virtue in Japan. People are expected to be humble and modest regardless of their social position. They are supposed to modulate the display of their ability, talent, knowledge or wealth in an appropriate manner. Self-assertiveness, aggressiveness and ambitiousness are all more or less discouraged, and consideration for others encouraged.

The knock was timid, unsure, as if he expected me to ignore him. I opened the door and we said cautious hellos to one another, shy without the whiskey. He stepped inside and removed his shoes and padded through to the kitchen in his socks. By the time I joined him, he was sitting in Kenzo’s seat.

‘I’ve made tea, and there are doughnuts, or I can make you a sandwich. You must be hungry.’

‘Please, don’t rush around for me.’ He seemed exhausted.

‘How did the conference go?’

He undid the knot of his tie. ‘Speaking in America can be a challenge. You don’t want to be seen as lecturing or hectoring about the evils of the atomic bomb but also you have a duty to speak up, to say, this is what happened, not what you think happened.’ He gestured at his face. ‘And people find this too much, sometimes.’

I did not know how to respond so I set the cups and saucers on the table, brought over a knife for the doughnuts and two napkins. I realised I had no side plates and looked for them in the cupboard nearest the door. Even these small chores flustered me, the simplest task of preparing refreshments for two people, not one, a trial. I sat opposite him, his face so close, the red lids with no eyelashes, the mottled yellow and pink ridges, the scars from surgeons’ incisions. Despite the lack of expression, his face was fascinating. If beauty was uniformity, he should have seemed abhorrent but the blasted skin around his eyes just made them seem brighter, more inquisitive. ‘Have the contents of the package been helpful?’

I answered as honestly as I could. ‘They’re letters from Jomei. He mentions your orphanage and the adoption of a boy called Ko. That’s you, yes? And a girl called Miki.’

‘Ko is me, yes, and Miki, well, how to explain her?’

He told me the story of when he arrived at the orphanage, how the doctor who worked at the centre before Sato made him sleep in the ward, in isolation. They were worried about infections and they didn’t want him to alarm the other children. His injuries were thought to be too shocking. He didn’t like being left in the basement on his own at night. He became convinced there was a demon stalking the corridors when everyone else had gone to bed. He believed this creature wanted to return him to the day of pikadon, or at least carry him off into the mountains. One night, he heard the creak of floorboards and he thought, this is it, this is the end, and he said he felt relieved.

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