Japan Stories: August 1999

A grave children's book

One of the first things that we do is to go to a bookstore. Angela wants to find some Japanese study aids, so she asks Jan to help her. He, in turn, locates a saleslady and asks in perfect Japanese, "blah blah blah?" In a scene that will be repeated many more times during our stay in Japan, the saleslady immediately turns to Angela and says in Japanese, "blah blah blah blah blah!" Jan then says, "blah blah blah." The saleslady again turns to a bewildered Angela and says, "Blah blah blah blah blah." Poor Angela—she feels very unprepared.

The conversation with a saleslady unfortunately does not result in the desired study aids, so we spend time perusing the different selections in the bookstore. After some time, Angela finally purchases what she thinks is a cute children's book about a dog and its owner, told from the POV of the dog. The key factor for her in deciding to purchase this book is that Angela can read and understand the first two pages—which isn't saying much since it's one of those kids books that has only one sentence on each page.

The innocent-looking children's book

Angela is very excited about the book after having read 5 pages. By this time, in 5 sentences, she has been introduced to the main characters and there is even a hint of tension—"We used to be happy." Angela is looking forward to seeing how the story unfolds. The next day, she opens the book to page 6 and reads another tension-building sentence: "I thought we would be together always." Angela turns the page.

There is picture of the dog in front of a hill. On top of the hill is a cross with flowers in front of it. Can you imagine the trauma?!?
   "Aaak!" Angela cries out, "The girl dies!"
   "What?" Jan says. "Let me see!"
Jan turns over the book to read the summary blurb on the back. He bursts out laughing. The summary reads, "This book is good for teaching kids how to understand and deal with the trauma of death."

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