In September 1947, Kiryu City was struck by a storm later named the Kathleen Typhoon. The Watarase and Kiryu rivers, which sandwich the town, overflowed their banks; many people were killed or went missing, and 63% of the houses were flooded.
At the time, Ms. Osawa was living in a house that had just been newly built. It was a magnificent mansion constructed over three years starting in 1944, using carefully selected materials. The fragrance of Japanese cypress (hinoki) permeated the entire home.
They had moved into the new home in the spring. That summer, the typhoon hit, and the Osawa house, located near the Kiryu River, was flooded with 30 cm of water above the floorboards.
"I was carried on someone's back and evacuated to a nearby area where the water hadn't reached".
Fortunately, the entire family was safe. However, the marks of the encroaching water remained clearly on the pillars and walls, and the scent of cypress, once so fragrant, never returned.
The house had an electric phonograph, and jazz and blues—rare for the time—were always playing.
"There was a lot of Benny Goodman and Frank Sinatra".
Around this time, Ms. Osawa was sent to take Nagauta (traditional epic singing) lessons. It was an order from her mother, who enjoyed the koto and shamisen (the three-stringed Japanese lute). While Ms. Osawa resisted her father, she seemed obedient to her mother, Asako. Perhaps they had formed a "women's alliance" to oppose the "one-man" father.
"To go to lessons, I had two attendants and one guard accompanying me".
A girl raised in the lap of luxury was, on one hand, a neighborhood tomboy, while on the other, she was learning to paint under a semi-professional, surrounded by the rhythms of jazz, and studying Nagauta. It was an outlandish combination.
In 1952, this young girl entered junior high school.
Soon after, Ms. Osawa was given a nickname: "Taisho" (The Boss).
She had a large entourage of boys. They were not boyfriends; they were her subordinates. Eventually, even the teachers began to rely on Ms. Osawa. A teacher would come and bow his head.
"Hey, Taisho, I'm counting on you. Can you do something about that delinquent?".
It was Ms. Osawa's job to calm down and lecture the "bad kids"—troublemakers who were so wild that not only students but even teachers were afraid to approach them. The junior high student, Ms. Osawa, had built a major power base.
"I grew up holding a grudge against my father because he often made my mother cry, but I suppose we are parent and child after all. I may have inherited some of the blood of my father, who managed so many people".
Touzaburo was, in Ms. Osawa's words, a "playboy." Her mother, Asako, was made to cry many times by her philandering father. That is why the young Ms. Osawa resisted Touzaburo.
However, Touzaburo was not just a man who played around. He was also a man of chivalry who could not ignore someone in trouble and would do his utmost to help.
"During the war, Kiryu ran short on soy sauce. At that time, my father transported a large amount of hot spring water from Isobe Onsen (in Annaka City, Gunma Prefecture) and distributed it to everyone for free. Since the hot spring water was salty, he wanted them to use it as a substitute for soy sauce".
Perhaps it was this sense of chivalry that tickled women's hearts, which explains why women appeared one after another before Touzaburo. Touzaburo, the head of the Osawa household where people were constantly coming and going, was literally a "Boss".
The daughter, also a "Boss," had been good at her studies since elementary school. However, when she became a second-year junior high student, her grades plummeted. She stopped doing schoolwork entirely.
Second year of junior high. It is an age when one begins to think seriously about one's life.
Some children dream of being baseball players from a young age. Some admire bus drivers. Others might swell with hope that they will become doctors or ministers in the future. At that time, many girls pictured themselves in their wedding gowns. For most, this is the period when dreams, admirations, and hopes collide with reality and begin to fade, replaced by realistic goals.
"I decided I wouldn't go to high school".
The girl who loved painting above all else wanted to become an artist. She also thought that being a fashion designer would be nice. Before long, she made up her mind that she would absolutely become one or the other. She wasn't going to let her dreams end as dreams; she was going to realize them.
Ms. Osawa thought: both are professions that rely solely on one's talent and sense. Academic background is of no use at all. Therefore, going to high school was just a waste of time. If she wasn't going to high school, there was no need to do troublesome studies.
Once she decided this, she painted with all her might. She also tried her hand at fashion design and sewed clothes using the sewing skills she had been taught by her mother since she was young.
Before long, graduation arrived, and her subordinates scattered to high schools and workplaces. Ms. Osawa stayed at home and continued to paint and design. She was convinced that she was moving straight toward her dreams.
Kiyomi Osawa Gallery
This time, we feature animals again. The first four pieces from the top have no titles. Only the fifth one is named "Green Curtain." Please enjoy.
(Green Curtain)
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