Mister Timeless Blyth by Alan Spence

Author:Alan Spence
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
Published: 2022-12-30T00:00:00+00:00

Is it Ueno? Asakusa?

Ashes and dust.

If this were a film…

Fade.

Things had moved quickly. Tomiko and I, with little Harumi, had moved to Tokyo, encouraged by Yamanashi and Suzuki who had resolved to find me employment as soon as possible after my sojourn in Kobe. They sensed, rightly, that the teaching of English would be of crucial importance after the war. And who better to teach it than this cultured Englishman already living among them? And where better to teach it than at Gakushuin, the Peers School where sons of the aristocracy had studied – the rich and powerful, even the Imperial family – where Yamanashi had recently been Chancellor. Suzuki had also studied and taught at the school, and was held in the highest regard. With recommendations from both men – the Doctor and the Admiral – I was what the Americans would call a sure thing.

I was summoned to a meeting at Gakushuin. Yamanashi had been Head of the School since resigning as Deputy Minister for the Navy. Ironically that resignation had been forced on him because of his pro-Western sympathies, his opposition to the war. Now he was effectively to be purged from his position at the School by an edict from the occupation forces, removing anyone who had ever been tainted by association with militarism. Even his designation, his rank of Admiral, was enough to condemn him.

Damned if he did, damned if he didn’t.

I expressed my sympathy and he thanked me but said he was having none of it. He accepted the situation as he had no doubt accepted every setback in his life, with a true Samurai spirit, a stoicism and fortitude.

He said, Shikata ga nai – It can’t be helped.

It was an expression I heard everywhere, repeated like a mantra. Poverty, hunger, the sheer devastation after the bombings. None of it could be helped. But uttered by Yamanashi it did not sound trite or banal. Instead it resonated with his own inner strength, with all the quiet power of Hakuin’s Is that so?

Besides, he said, I am seventy years old. I look forward very much to having time to tend my garden.

His eyes, those ancient glittering eyes, crinkled.

But first, he said, I have a proposition for you…

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