The Heart Page #6

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I'd ask now.

What do you think

about taking over this place?

You're the eldest, you move back home.

I couldn't bear living in the country.

You think about it.

"When you first asked me

about my past,

"I couldn't find the courage

within me to tell you.

"Now I believe the time has come

for me to be frank with you.

"This is why I asked you

to come back to Tokyo."

Jiro? Jiro!

Jiro, bring some ice.

"By the time this letter

"is delivered into your hands...

"...I shall no longer be of this world."

Is that a letter from your sensei?

Please, you should be

by your father's side.

Please, keep him alive

for two or three days, that's all I ask.

Give him injections, anything!

I beg you!

I am doing everything I can, as it is.

But with this kind of illness,

one never can tell...

Please!

"In my heart of hearts..."

... I still burn with the memory of that

night when Kaji committed suicide.

My conscience told me to confess

to having caused his death,

but I was afraid

of what people would think.

The best I could do as his friend

was to set up his gravestone.

It was very soon after that,

that I moved to this house.

As soon as I graduated,

I married the daughter.

Righteous Layman of Josho Temple

A new grave for Kaji,

a new wife for me.

My thoughts turned to his bleached

bones buried beneath us in the earth,

and I could feel nothing

but utter contempt for my fate.

From that moment on,

I decided I would never visit

Kaji's grave with my wife ever again.

Excuse me?

Are you the mistress of the house?

I'm from the employment agency.

I've brought along your new maid,

madam.

Hey, show some manners!

Her name's Kume.

She's a country girl, so you'll have

to excuse her rough edges.

- But she's fit and healthy...

- Please wait a moment.

My dear... the new maid has arrived.

Maid?

Oh, yes.

Well, as long as she seems nice...

Didn't I say we didn't need a maid?

Well, she can look after the house

when you're out,

and I want to enable your mother

to take more time off, too.

But we can't afford the expense.

Day by day, we're using up

all your inheritance.

And you've never had

any gainful employment.

Tell me, what's the point

of all your studying?

All day every day,

shut away in this room...

Do you hate me that much?

Don't start that again!

You don't want me to do anything.

Ever since we've been together,

I've never once seen you happy.

- Shizu...

- Are you sorry you married me?

No... I have no regrets at all.

I'll try to get a job,

if it's what you want.

Right, I'll go and see a friend

about it now. Bring me my kimono.

Every time I looked at my wife,

I was reminded of Kaji.

So long as she was there,

I could never forget Kaji.

So many times I wanted

to confess everything to my wife,

but each time, something inside me

sapped my strength.

I couldn't tell even my wife, the one

person I trusted most in this world.

And then her mother passed away.

The country was celebrating victory

in the Russo-Japanese War.

What are you sewing?

I wonder if you'll like it. It's something

I bought for you at Mitsukoshi.

Looks nice.

Would you have preferred

something darker?

I now have no-one but you in this world.

You're an unhappy woman.

Why?

Why must I be so unhappy?

The very fact that I was alive

made my wife unhappy.

It certainly wasn't my intention

to die that day,

but if I'd continued

swimming further out,

then I'd probably have drowned.

Hioki... that's the very first time we met.

I realised that I'd put myself

under intense nervous strain,

and all I wanted was to find relief

from the pressure.

- Will it grow?

- I wonder.

Welcome back, sir.

A Mr Hioki came by earlier to see you.

Really?

- What did he want?

- I'm not sure...

It's not often we get someone

coming round to visit you.

- Who is this Hioki-san?

- He's a student.

- Where did you meet him? Is he nice?

- Yes, he's a nice lad.

Well, it's good that

you've made a new friend.

Is it?

The garden needs tidying up, my dear.

It's such a mess.

Hioki, you were the only bridge

between us and the world outside.

I wish I'd told you everything

I felt in my heart.

Opening up to you

would have saved me, perhaps,

but for me that was impossible.

I should simply have died

and said nothing.

But I couldn't die

without leaving this testament.

Whichever way I look at it,

I lack the strength of spirit.

First Year of the Taisho Era (1912)

Funeral Ceremony for Emperor Meiji

After 45 days of official mourning,

the funeral procession leaves

the lmperial Palace at 8:00pm.

Aren't you going to bed yet?

I'm staying up.

The Emperor's funeral procession

is just leaving the Palace.

The Meiji reign has ended and passed

into history, but time marches on.

I didn't want my wife

to have to watch me die.

I will offer you my reasons for dying.

Maybe they will teach you something.

You are the only person I can tell.

But please, it must be our final secret.

My only wish is that

my wife's memories of the past

remain unsullied.

"In Mourning"

Hello?

Madam...

I lacked the strength to help him.

The End

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