Chapter 170 - Name and Reality 93 {121 Solo} (291–292: The Upbringing of Kuwano Kinya and Onodera Michitoshi 1)
"No, I don't mind, but is it okay?"
"Since the story is quite complex, we won't be able to take a proper deposition anyway unless we organize the points of contention separately. For today, I'd like to just listen to the overall flow."
"Understood. Then for today, just the two of you listen to Oshima's story completely."
Baba, perhaps judging from this exchange that it was better to leave it entirely to Nishida, accepted the proposal quite readily.
When Nishida returned to the interrogation room, he confirmed while standing,
"Onodera-san. I'm sorry, but I'd like to take the formal deposition on another day. Today will just be listening to your story, but that's not a problem, is it?"
"Yes. I don't mind telling the same story many times. In fact, I thought it would turn out that way. I don't mind that at all, so you can do as you like."
Confirming that Oshima answered as if he had reached enlightenment, Nishida sat quietly in the chair.
"Then, regarding that condition, your testament..."
"Regarding that, I would like it to be at the very end. That way, I can entrust my testament to you with a refreshed feeling, and the story should be easier to understand."
Oshima, at this time, was speaking in a way as if teaching a young detective.
"On our end, as long as you talk about the cases, the order doesn't matter."
When Nishida replied thus, Oshima straightened his back and prepared to speak.
"Umu, then, regarding the cases, I shall speak first."
However, Nishida felt that simply having the facts of the series of incidents told would not be very meaningful for the investigation.
"I'm very sorry to ask this suddenly, but regarding these incidents, unless you tell us in chronological order starting from the origins of you and your cousin Kuwano Kinya, I don't think the full picture of the incidents will be clear. So, rather than just about the incidents, I'd like you to talk thoroughly today about your life itself, and also involving your cousin Kuwano Kinya. I will, of course, ask questions about things we know and things we don't, so if you could answer those as well."
"Umu. I had intended to do that myself, so that's just right."
Oshima nodded and began to speak slowly.
"You've likely already investigated and know this, but I was born in the year Taisho 7 (1918) in a place called Ryori in Ofunato (City), Iwate Prefecture (Author's Note: In 2001, Sanriku Town, where the Ryori district is located, was absorbed and merged into Ofunato City, Ryori district. Before that, it was the administrative division of Sanriku Town, Ryori district). At that time, it should have been called Ryori Village. It seems it later merged with other villages to become Sanriku Town... My father was Onodera Michio, and my mother was Onodera Machiko. My father entered the Onodera family, who were amimoto (T/N: master fishermen/ship owners), as a muko-youshi (T/N: a groom adopted into the bride's family) to my mother's family. Since there were only my mother and her younger sister in the Onodera family, it took that form. And the sister's name was Tokiko. This sister married into a family of amimoto called the Kuwano family in Taro Village, Iwate... it was Taro Village back then, I think. Apparently, it was a relationship like sworn allies ever since a ship from the Onodera place almost sank and was saved by a ship owned by the Kuwano family. My mother's marriage was earlier, but the first child was born to Tokiko three years earlier, and that was Kuwano Kinya... I called him Kin-chan or Kin-nii (T/N: older brother Kin) with affection, and he was that person. Incidentally, Kin-chan called me 'Micchan' from my name Michitoshi."
Needless to say, it had already been investigated that Kuwano Kinya was born in 1915 (Taisho 4), but the fact that the reason Onodera Tokiko, who would become Kinya's mother, married into the Kuwano family originated from the bond of a life-saving event was new information.
"Were you very close with Kuwano Kinya-san?"
To Nishida's question, Oshima replied,
"Yes, of course. Rather than being close, it was more like we were real brothers... Especially since I was an only child... Kin-chan was very kind and took good care of me, who was three years younger, and his own younger brother... Not only that, but he was also a good gaki-daishou (T/N: neighborhood kid leader) for the local children and seemed to have a lot of popularity for a child. And above all, he was a very bright boy and must have been treated as a prodigy at the ordinary elementary school back then. He was the pride of his uncle and aunt. That said, he himself was never arrogant, and since he was very good at sports, starting with swimming, there's no doubt his future was anticipated by people other than relatives. His appearance, like mine, wasn't particularly good, but it was decent enough, and his height was quite tall for the time—he was about the high 170s in today's terms. If I had to name a flaw, it was that his Iwate accent was strong, though we didn't notice it at the time because everyone around us was the same... I was also made aware of it after leaving Iwate, and as a result, I ended up making a lot of effort to fix it."
Nishida learned for the first time that the fact Oshima didn't show any hint of his native Iwate accent was the result of his own efforts. While they would soon learn that this had further significance, they had no way of knowing at this point.
"Regarding Kuwano-san, even in the stories after that, only accounts of him being a person respected by others have come up, and to be honest, we also had parts where we wondered, 'Is that true?' but it seems there was no mistake."
When Nishida touched upon Kuwano being treated like a saint, Oshima gave his seal of approval.
"Yes, no mistake! It wouldn't be much of an exaggeration to say it was a great loss for the nation of Japan that such a person fell in the middle of his ambitions during the war!"
Saying so, Oshima bit his lip as if truly regretful. Of course, "falling in the middle of his ambitions" likely referred to the Yubetsu Mine Accident, but this matter would surely be talked about later anyway. Both Nishida and Yoshimura stopped delving further at this point.
"The problem is what came after that. There's a story that Kuwano-san went on to the former Kamaishi Second Middle School, and after that, skipped a grade to graduate from the five-year former middle school in four years and went on to the Second High School in Sendai. On the other hand, what were you doing at that time, Onodera-san?"
"Was it Nishida-san? Regarding Kin-chan, it's as you've investigated. He advanced through school smoothly and went as far as Sendai. On the other hand, I was by no means a genius type, but even so, my academic performance was above average, so I had gone on to (the former) Ofunato Middle School. That said, in my case, I only vaguely thought about taking over the family in the future, and I hadn't clearly decided on a career path for what to do after graduating from (the former) middle school... Kin-chan, if things had gone smoothly, would have gone to either Tokyo Imperial University or Tohoku Imperial University... However, just when we were at a sensitive age, Tohoku was in a terrible situation... It was what they call the Great Famine... The 'yamase' (T/N: cold seasonal wind) blew violently, and farmers who couldn't eat overflowed in Tohoku. The so-called 'selling of daughters'... you know of it, of course? That also occurred frequently during this time. In fact, even at my age then, which could still be called a child, I often heard such stories... However, because rice cultivation wasn't very active along the Sanriku coast and fishing was the main industry, it didn't become that serious around me... In any case, the kind-hearted and smart Kin-chan was deeply pained by this situation. And he would go on to lean toward communism and socialism."
Regarding this point, it seemed to be exactly as the old man Amai in Miyako had explained to some extent.
"Actually, regarding that, we have also heard stories from a junior of Kuwano-san's from his middle school days."
When Nishida supplemented this, Oshima seemed impressed.
"Hou. You two are really investigating old things thoroughly. Even things not directly related to the case."
"To be honest, it was really hard, investigating you... However, your life was so complex that we had to wash (T/N: 'arau', to investigate/comb through) from the surrounding facts rather than the case itself."
When Yoshimura spoke in a way that showed how much trouble they had been put through, Oshima nodded.
"I'm sorry for that. However, because it was so, I also think it was good that I made you the people I would talk to at the end," he said, linking it to his "condition."
From 1930 (Showa 5) to 1934 (Showa 9), the Tohoku region was struck by repeated great famines. They are often collectively called the "Showa Tohoku Great Famine" or the "Showa Tohoku Great Crop Failure."
The cause was the occurrence of the "yamase." The cool, humid summer seasonal winds from the Pacific Ocean brought by the Okhotsk High bring low temperatures and thick fog, mainly to the Pacific coast of the Tohoku region. If this continues for a long time, it causes cold weather damage.
During this era as well, that yamase blew violently, and a great famine occurred as agriculture suffered devastating damage. However, in the case of a normal level yamase, on the Sea of Japan side of the Tohoku region, the so-called foehn phenomenon occurs as the wind crosses the mountains, so it can instead be a factor for a rich harvest. The equation of yamase = cold weather damage is not something that can be said for the entire Tohoku region.
In the Showa Tohoku Great Famine, famines occurred not only in the Tohoku region and Hokkaido but also in places like Nagano. The "selling of daughters," where people were forced to sell their daughters to brothels and the like, occurred frequently, and it is said that many so-called "human traffickers" gathered in the Tohoku region. Starving people sometimes endured hunger by eating tree bark, acorns, and the like.
Also, at a bad timing, the damage became even more serious because it overlapped with the Great Depression that occurred in 1929 (the sericulture industry, which was the main industry in Japan's rural villages, suffered a devastating blow due to the decrease in demand for raw silk in America), the Showa Depression that occurred in Japan thereafter in 1930, the "rich harvest famine" due to the bumper crop of rice in the same year, and the Showa Sanriku Tsunami in 1933. These factors are also said to be the remote cause of the "February 26 Incident," the 1936 coup attempt by officers mainly from the Tohoku region. These points will be detailed later.
That resulted in strengthening the power of the military and rendering politics powerless, and along with the flow from the Manchurian Incident in 1931, Japan would strengthen its inclination toward militarism.
*
"After that, the Showa Sanriku Tsunami struck, didn't it?"
When Yoshimura asked somewhat hurriedly, Oshima replied,
"That is so, but before that, I forgot something important. It was said to be at the end of Showa 7 (1932). Kin-chan was on winter break and had returned to his parents' home from his lodgings in Sendai... Ah, he was lodging at a place called Asaka Shoten, a wholesaler for dried goods and such, because both the Onodera and Kuwano families had dealings there and were indebted to them. And while he was helping with the fishing for the first time in a long while on a boat, a small 'fuka'—that is, a shark—was caught in the net. At that time, because it wasn't very large and seemed weakened, Kin-chan let his guard down... When he tried to remove it from the net, the shark bit off the majority of the thumbs on both his hands. In a rural village, and moreover because he was out at sea, just stopping the bleeding was the best they could do. Unfortunately, he lost his fingers just like that and ended up with a disability."
Oshima testified while distorting his face in pain as if it were his own.
"I see! So that was the reason why Kuwano Kinya's thumbs were missing... I had also considered the possibility that it was something he suffered in a form like a labor accident during the time he was working as a laborer (T/N: 'ninpu')..."
Nishida leaked such words at the development he hadn't imagined, and Yoshimura also looked unable to hide his considerable surprise.
"Hou. You had investigated that point as well!"
Oshima was surprised once again, but Nishida informed him,
"From the matter of the bond that Kuwano Kinya held and you likely inherited, various things have become clear... I even went so far as to investigate the employment contracts of the current Sanyu Metal Mining, which operated the Konomai Gold Mine, in Tokyo."
"I've been thinking this for a while, but your investigative power is quite something. If that's the case, wouldn't it be fine even if you didn't go out of your way to ask me?"
He stared at the two of them.