An Aikido Life, by Gozo Shioda: Part XIII

The following translation from the Japanese-language autobiography entitled Aikido Jinsei (An Aikido Life) by Gozo Shioda Sensei of Yoshinkan Aikido is published with the kind permission of the author and the publisher, Takeuchi Shoten Shinsha. The series began with AIKI NEWS No. 72. Read the twelfth part here.

Having earlier agreed to an arranged marriage, Gozo Shioda meets his betrothed for the first time while assigned to Taiwan. Wedding plans, the ceremony on New Year’s Eve and a sea voyage back to Japan against the looming specter of the Great Pacific War are the subjects of this chapter.

The Visit To My Fiancee’s House

It was a little past four when Mr. Nakano and I, leaving Nojima behind, arrived at the Sakaguchi’s. Her parents were at home, but my future fiancee was out at a lesson. However, as an ancient proverb says, “The best way to judge how well children have been brought up is to see their parents.” My first impression of them was good, just as Mr. Nakano had said. I was especially impressed with her mother, who was a very steady and composed woman. She greeted me with such courtesy that I felt ashamed. When I glanced at the decorative alcove, I saw a bottle of Kikumasamune [a famous brand of sake], and from it floated the fragrance of our homeland. Since the outbreak of World War II we could hardly obtain any Japanese made products, much less sake. As a rare liquor it was set in a place of honor in the Sakaguchi family’s alcove. Suddenly, I couldn’t restrain my thirst. “I want to have a drink!” I thought.

Mr. Sakaguchi asked me if I drank sake. I answered that I drank a little. “Here is something just for you,” he said, referring to the Kikumasamune. “It just arrived from Japan yesterday. Let’s uncork it!” He opened the bottle at once and offered us drinks and some snacks. The scent of the fine sake wafted around us. I have never tasted such a delicious, full-bodied sake. As Mr. Nakano was also a fairly good drinker, the bottle was empty before the three of us were hardly aware of it. Just then Mr. Sakaguchi’s daughter came home and he introduced her to us.

As I’d been told, she was the sweet age of 21, and had already been educated and had mastered the various accomplishments that women generally need. She had an obedient character and had graduated from the First Girls’ High School in Taipei. I was already 27 years old at that time, so I began to think it best that I should settle down and get married since this opportunity had come my way. That day, we chatted together about various things, and then returned to Mr. Nakano’s house around 8:00 p.m. At about noon the next day I received Mr. Sakaguchi’s acceptance of my offer of marriage.

Thinking that I should tell my mother in Tokyo the good news immediately, I decided to send an express delivery letter about the details of my upcoming marriage. But World War II had just begun and the man at the post office said to me, “We can’t say for certain when civilian letters will be delivered.” They advised me instead to send a telegram or to make a phone call. So I dispatched a telegram to my mother which read: “Please be home without fail on the evening of December 20 so I can call you.” On that evening I called her and explained all the details of my proposed marriage. She replied joyfully, “You are already 27 years old. After you have considered the matter carefully for yourself, if you decide that she is the best wife for you, make the arrangements for your marriage, and recognize the serious responsibilities that will go along with it. I cannot come to Taiwan by ship because of the war, but I know a man, Kanta Fujimura, who was a friend of your late father’s and who is now mayor of Taipei. Since he is one of my oldest acquaintances, try to get him to act as your go-between.” She added, “I will immediately wire 800 yen to the Taiwan bank for your marriage fund.”

I was very busy after that. First of all, I needed to visit Mr. Fujimura and request him to act as go-between. On the evening of December 21, I went to the Mayor’s official municipal residence at the Taipei City Office, but I was not able to see him. I was quite perplexed, so when a tall gentleman came walking toward me, I asked, “Excuse me, Sir! Do you know where Mayor Fujimura’s residence is?” He answered, “I am Fujimura!” “I am called Takeshi, the second son of Seiichi Shioda of Yotsuya, Tokyo,” I told him. “Oh! It has been a long time since I saw you last! How surprising to see you here! Now come to my house.” He invited me to his home where I was treated to a luxurious dinner and given a wonderful and hospitable welcome. I had not yet brought up the purpose of my visit when Mr. Fujimura asked me, “Are you still single?” So I finally explained to him why I had come. As soon as I told him that I had come to ask him to be my go-between on the recommendation of my mother, he blessed me cordially, saying “Congratulations!” “Where are you living now?” he then asked. When I told him about the boarded-up villa in Hokuto, he began to laugh. “On your wedding day, you had better go to the wedding hall from my house. So, when are you going to have the ceremony?” “Now that the marriage has been decided upon, the sooner the better, so I’m thinking of getting married by the end of this year.” “Oh my! From now till then you will certainly be busy with the preparations. I imagine you haven’t exchanged betrothal gifts yet…” Then he called his wife, and explained to her briefly about my upcoming marriage, and ordered her to provide for the betrothal presents quickly and to inform the Sakaguchi’s of an auspicious day for us to exchange the gifts.

A Wedding On New Year’s Eve

Mr. Fujimura endeavored to choose a lucky day for our wedding according to the old calendar, but he was slow in making his choice. Finally, he chose December 31 as the best day. But almost all the wedding halls closed for the year on December 28. He considered this and smiled. “Inaridaimyozin [the God of the Harvest, whose messenger is popularly said to be the fox] will allow you to hold your wedding even on New Year’s Eve,” he assured me because of his connection as the chairman of the Association of Shrines in Taipei. “But I am not completely confident that O-Inari-san [popular name for the God] might not try to bewitch the bride and groom.”

As I’d been told, she was the sweet age of 21, and had already been educated and had mastered the various accomplishments that women generally need. She had an obedient character and had graduated from the First Girls’ High School in Taipei. I was already 27 years old at that time, so I began to think it best that I should settle down and get married since this opportunity had come my way. That day, we chatted together about various things, and then returned to Mr. Nakano’s house around 8:00 p.m. At about noon the next day I received Mr. Sakaguchi’s acceptance of my offer of marriage.

Because of the difficulties in traveling during wartime none of my family or relatives could come over from Tokyo. I intended to ask Lieutenant General Wachi to attend our wedding on behalf of my parents. When I asked Mr. Fujimura, “Shall I discuss the matter of the wedding with General Wachi?” he agreed immediately. “That’s a good idea. Go see him tomorrow.” So I visited the General the next day. I explained the situation to him. He teased me, “What! You are the replacement for Nojima?” But then he added, “Hold the wedding at the Railroad Hotel (said to be the equal of the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo) in Taipei. You should say your vows in front of the Rising Sun flag. I will arrange to have a flag stretched across the hall. And I will be pleased to act in place of your parents,” he said accepting my proposal cheerfully.

I informed Mr. Fujimura of my success. We finally decided to exchange our betrothal gifts on December 25, and to hold the wedding at the Railroad Hotel on the 31st. Later I heard all the behind-the-scenes stories of our wedding. The date was set so quickly that the Sakaguchi family was very busy with the arrangements. I heard in particular that my fiancee’s mother spent each day up to her neck in wedding preparations.

So this is how I took my first step into a new life, and December 31, 1941 became a turning point for me. I felt keenly the wonder and profundity of the pivotal opportunities of life. I rented an apartment in Nishiki-cho in Taipei where we started our life together. The following January, I started working for the Taiwan Colonization Company every day. This period was the most peaceful in my life. Although I didn’t like working for a company, I did my job properly and was a plain salaryman to all appearances. After this, the severity of the war gradually increased, and every day, even on the streets of Formosa, we could see the farewells of soldiers departing for the front. The escalation of this war was felt deeply. I passed the second class physical examination for the draft. Even though my classification was second class, beginning in June 1942 I was required to undergo military drills twice a week at the Veterans’ Association facility. If I were to be drafted, I would be given duties that were not really suited to me because of my classification and I was afraid that it was inevitable that things would end up miserably for both my country and myself. I wondered if there was another way to put myself into effective use in the right place, rather than to simply wait to be called up. As a result I decided that it was better to go on an expedition into the southern districts to work as a spearhead for the military as the war was expanding into the southern area. I submitted a request to be transferred. The Taiwan Colonization Company was at that time in charge of the development of the southern region of Japanese occupied areas, and its purpose was to increase the yield in provisions of the local soil, and to develop natural resources in the area under the supervision of the army and navy.

Dispatched To Borneo

Towards the end of September 1942, I was at last assigned as one of the staff members to be dispatched to Pontianak in Borneo, where we were ordered to grow gambirs and mangroves. This city was occupied by the Japanese army, and gambirs were grown and harvested there as pharmaceutical ingredients for jintan (a digestive medicine) and as an agent for tanning leathers. Mangroves are also essential in the tanning process. A company called Taiwan Tanning was formed in order to cultivate, develop, harvest and increase the production of gambirs and mangroves. The Taiwan Colonization Company provided the initial business capital. I was placed in charge of business affairs, and took my position as chief of both the general affairs and accounting sections for the Taiwan Colonization Company. Noboru Kagawa, who is long since dead, a player on the Meiji University rugby team, was the person in charge of the Taiwan Tanning Company. There were also several engineers as well. They were Mr. Shiro Omori, who was the head, and Mr. Kikuchi, a Kyoto University graduate. Nine Taiwanese were also transferred from the Taiwan Colonization Company. Mr. Omori was the head of the technical sections for both companies and the Chief Executive of the group based in the southern area.

Mr. Fujimura endeavored to choose a lucky day for our wedding according to the old calendar, but he was slow in making his choice. Finally, he chose December 31 as the best day. But almost all the wedding halls closed for the year on December 28. He considered this and smiled. “Inaridaimyozin [the God of the Harvest, whose messenger is popularly said to be the fox] will allow you to hold your wedding even on New Year’s Eve,” he assured me because of his connection as the chairman of the Association of Shrines in Taipei. “But I am not completely confident that O-Inari-san [popular name for the God] might not try to bewitch the bride and groom.”

In the early part of October, 1942, we gathered in Tokyo, and were scheduled to leave Yokohama port on the 1st of November. My wife and I left Taipei for Tokyo in early October. The official reason for our travel was business in Tokyo. Since the expenses for the trip and hotel were paid in advance, I had a lot of money with me. We arrived in Tokyo safely, feeling as if we were on a second honeymoon and went to stay at my house. The money for hotel expenses was pure profit. Although the war was escalating, the Japanese victories encouraged trust in the Japanese yen. So we were able to eat delicious dishes and enjoyed our second honeymoon thoroughly.

But my free time was running out, and the day when I must say goodbye to my wife was near at hand. I was to receive a monthly salary of 400 yen which included various allowances for being transferred to the southern area. I asked the company to pay 200 yen to my household in Tokyo during my absence and to pay the rest directly to me. At that time 200 yen was a large sum, so my family was able to live in affluence while I was gone.

November 1st arrived. My ship was the Kamakura Maru, a most luxurious merchant ship which had just returned from exchanging prisoners. We met at the Tokyo branch office of the Taiwan Colonization Company at 11:00 a.m., and then went to Yokohama by bus. We boarded the ship at about 3:00 p.m., and we were each assigned a cabin. After all these restless circumstances I finally felt settled. Many other companies’ employees who were also being sent abroad had already boarded. When all the passengers appeared to be on board, the captain gave us a number of directions. He ordered us to obey and to follow all of his commands quickly since there was a war in progress. We all remembered vividly the fact that the Kashima Maru had left only a little earlier than our ship, and had been torpedoed and sunk by an enemy submarine. Thus, we were to proceed in zig-zags across the ocean. Our destination was Macassar on Celebes Island, but the captain said, “Although this trip usually takes only one week under normal circumstances, we cannot say for certain when we will arrive at our destination. So there is nothing to be done about it.”

Our ship left exactly at 5:00 p.m. We had no idea what awaited us. But we had a great time on the ship in complete contrast to the dangers of our situation. Although meat was then being rationed in Japan and most Japanese couldn’t buy even a single piece, the Kamakura Maru was a repatriation ship on a return voyage and was therefore loaded with three years worth of meat, in other words, three times the yearly ration in Japan. The foods we were served every day were rare delicacies of all sorts, and the tableware was all quite expensive as well. We truly lived the high life. The Kamakura Maru was the most deluxe of the Japanese passenger ships after the Asama Maru and was equipped with a pool and recreation facilities. The atmosphere was quite gay, as if everyone on board had managed to forget about the war. All kinds of imported cigarettes and cigars were available. There was an enormous gulf between our shipboard existence and the rationed life in Japan. So we spent quite unbelievably pleasant days as if in a fantastic dream. It took us sixteen days to make the trip, twice as long as usual. But at last we entered Macassar Port on November 16, 1942. As soon as the ship arrived at the dock, I got off and went sightseeing in the city. Everything in it had changed. The names of streets, towns, and hotels were all Japanese. Since Japan had won a series of victories, her national dignity was enhanced and so the native people treated us courteously.

Next: An Aikido Life XIV

Josh Gold

Executive Editor of Aikido Journal, CEO of Budo Accelerator, and Chief Instructor of Ikazuchi Dojo.

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