Only Yesterday Page #3

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Perhaps the fifth grade me

was tagging along...

...with a message for me to reflect...

...and rethink my life.

Anyway, I decided to sleep

the rest of the way.

Ouch!

Excuse me,

has the Tokyo train gone?

Was that your train?

No.

Taeko Okajima, right?

Yes, that's correct...

Thank goodness.

The car's this way.

Excuse me, but who are you?

You don't remember?

Of course you don't.

I'm Toshio.

Kazuo's second cousin.

Oh, I see...

What's so funny?

Nothing.

Sorry.

I thought you were trying

to steal my bag.

That's terrible.

Didn't I ask your name?

Yes, you did.

I just thought... sorry...

I beg your pardon.

No problem.

Where's Kazuo?

He asked me last night

to come pick you up.

It's been raining?

Yeah, but it'll clear today.

I should've used my Dad's car

but I like mine better.

It's a little tight.

May I leave it on?

Sure.

This is unusual music.

It's a Hungarian group.

Hungarian?

You know a lot about it?

A little. It's farmer's music.

I like it because I'm a farmer.

Cool.

Right?

Remember last year's party

at the farmhouse?

A bunch of guys

turned up, right?

Maybe you don't remember.

They came to check out

the girl from Tokyo.

I was one of them.

Watch out, jerk!

I heard you're picking safflower.

Do you dye fabric?

No. I'm just curious.

Safflower's kind of unusual.

Well, maybe not for you.

It's known as a famous

local product but...

...hardly anyone grows it.

- Wasn't it big in the old days?

- For the merchants, sure.

They got rich, but for farmers,

it was just another crop.

Do you know:
In time whose skin

will it grace, this crimson flower.

The famous Basho poem?

I read it before coming.

Is that so?

I only learned it last night.

I also read that the flower-pickers

couldn't afford to wear

the rouge they made.

Is that where you had the barbeque?

There'll be another this year, too.

Are market reforms making

agriculture difficult?

Absolutely.

As things go, Japanese farming

might just collapse,...

...all of sudden, one day.

But then again,...

...anything worth struggling for

will be hard work.

Isn't it the same in the city?

Yes.

But fewer people live for their work.

What about you?

Me?

I don't live for my job

but I don't hate it either.

I could farm twenty-four hours a day.

It's fascinating

to raise living things.

You have livestock?

Not that.

We've got some animals,...

...but I'm talking about rice, apples,

cherries. They're all living things.

If we take good care of them,...

...I feel like

they'll do their best for us.

Listen to me preach.

Not at all. I get what you mean.

To tell the truth,

I used to work in an office.

I only just started farming.

Is that right?

That's why I'm so enthusiastic.

It's very important.

I quit work and joined

my friend's organic farm.

People said I'm nuts,

but I don't regret it.

Organic farm?

"Grown with no

artificial chemicals whatsoever."

Just blood, sweat and tears!

We use all natural stuff,

no pesticides or anything.

I've seen the labels:

"No chemicals used"

But it's not just that.

We bring out the plant's life force.

It's cool...

like lending nature a hand.

Sounds easy, but it's damn hard work.

I was told to take you straight

to the fields.

Yes, I'm starting right away.

Not going to rest?

Don't you pick the flowers early

while the thorns are still soft?

That's right, but...

I'm trying to become an early-riser.

That's why I took the night train.

You're certainly eager.

There it is!

'Morning, everyone!

Great to have you back, Taeko.

Thanks for having me.

Grandma, you're looking well.

Welcome back dear.

Aren't you tired?

No, not at all.

We made your bed just in case.

That's okay.

Look, I'm raring to go!

That's okay.

Look, I'm raring to go!

Wearing work pants too!

That's all I brought.

Young people here don't wear

them anymore.

You look like the real thing Taeko.

That's right.

Taeko!

Don't!

And so began my second

taste of country life.

How could this yellow flower produce

such a bright red?

They told me a sad tale

from the old days.

The girls didn't have gloves,...

...and their bare hands

would get pricked by the thorns.

It was their blood that

made the red so deep.

I could imagine the resentment...

...they must've felt

toward the fancy city girls.

To make a handful of rouge took

nearly 500 lbs of petals.

This rouge was literally worth

its weight in gold.

The petals are washed, trodden,

then exposed to the air and the sun.

As the petals oxidize,

they gradually turn red.

After a few more days,...

...fermentation turns them bright red

and they become sticky.

Pounded, wrung into balls

and sun-dried, they finally become...

...the basic ingredient of rouge.

The liquid from the pressing

wasn't wasted either.

The red pigment in the yellow broth...

...was used to dye fabric.

Let's go dye our cloth.

Safflower do your best.

Cheer me up with

your pretty color.

For those village girls,

with no chance of make-up or kimonos,...

...Safflower dye brought color

into their drab lives.

The yellow pigment dissolves in water

leaving clothes a light pink.

So pretty!

Machines now take away

some of the work,...

...but the petals still need

picking every day.

Rouge cakes soon mold,

and the flowers wait for no one.

No sooner are you done picking,

than they bloom again.

When the rains come,

work continues into the early hours.

Each day flew by,...

...pleasantly tired, I thought about

the flower-pickers of old.

If I could've worked

like this as a child,...

...my school essays would've been

really interesting.

Mom, I need 5,000 yen.

5,000 yen? I can't give you that.

You said you'd buy me new sneakers.

Are they that much?

Nonsense.

They're Pumas.

- Pumas?

- It's a brand.

I'm not sure.

There must be cheaper ones.

How about the ones you've got?

Nobody wears them now.

Everyone's getting Pumas.

Who's everyone?

Kako, Megu, Yachan, Nonchan.

That's only four people.

Everyone's wearing them!

No. You never do your chores.

Did you ask for a dress for

your Barbie Doll again?

Didn't you promise to ask only at

Christmas and your birthday?

You always spoil her.

Is that right, Taeko?

All of a sudden,

the ten year-old me was back.

But...

Yaeko got a kimono and

it wasn't even her graduation.

It's for tea-ceremony.

You keep asking for

lots of little stuff,...

...we get one or two big things.

Right?

Yep.

Stop that.

Always picky about food.

Dad loves the onions, right?

Anyway, that kimono will be

yours in the end.

Always hand-me-downs.

- Some people don't get anything.

- Exactly.

Then give me that enamel purse.

Didn't you give it to her yet?

You're too old for that.

Give it to her.

I don't want it.

Keep the stupid purse.

Then I won't give it to you.

I'm not buying you a new one.

Fine.

Good. I actually really like it.

I hate it.

Ready for dinner.

Take this away.

See, has to be thrown away.

What a waste.

Don't throw it away!

Please Mother.

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