March 3, 2015
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Massan Plot Summary - Week 23
#133 Ellie has not been able to go outside of the safety of factory for three years. She writes a letter to her mother that may never be delivered. She realizes that she chose to stay in Japan, but sometimes looses sight of why. Hana and Ema come back from the market, but there is not much to buy. Ema notices that Ellie is feverish. Kazuma has been gone for two years. The papers report major cities being bombed to ruins. What about their town of Yoichi? There are coal reserves and Massan's factory does have a contract with the Japanese Navy, which has warned him to be ready for an attack. Massan determines to move the barrels of aging whiskey to a safer place. The factory's women must do the heavy work, as all the men are at war. The older men in the town come to pitch in to help move the whiskey. One of them brings Ellie some inoshishi (wild boar) meat to restore her strength. She remembers the saying, "The good you do for others is the good you do for yourself." In her letter Ellie says that she is still proud that she has gotten to know Japan. Everyone is pulling together for the future of Yoichi. She is afraid, but still does not regret coming to Japan. Air raid sirens howl. Massan is going to stay with the unmoved barrels to put out any fires, but Toshio tells him it is no use becoming a flambe should the barrels be bombed. He has to stay alive for the future of Yoichi.
#134 Only half of the aging whiskey barrels have been moved, but air raid sirens begin to wail overhead. Morino runs outside with his hunting gun to shoot the enemy US planes down. Everyone dons fire hoods and goes into the least burnable building. Evening comes. Only two bombs have fallen and there is no significant damage. Hana suggests that they take some cards to the shelter next time so they don't get bored. Ellie continues her letter home. "Mother, the war is getting closer. It is trampling our soil and blackening out skies." Massan broods over the barrels that are his and Yoichi's future. Is there some way to camoflage them? Three weeks later, a soldier appears bringing a letter of Kazuma's death. Ema cries herself to sleep, saying that Kazuma had something to tell her when he came back. Ellie has felt the same pain many tears ago and does her best to comfort Ema. Morino is so sad that he can't even drink. Ellie wonders aloud what she and Massan can do to comfort the sorrowing. Someone hand Massan a hanky. Someone hand me a hanky. That background music gets to me every time. Kazuma's bones are delivered in a small box, and Hana welcomes him home.
#135 Massan is in the lab brooding over the wheat seeds that Kazuma bred. Ellie comes in and tells him that Kazuma is "back." The box containing the urn with Kazuma's bones is placed in front of the family Buddist altar. Morino tells Massan to open the urn. There is nothing in it but a slip of paper with Kazuma's name on it. Ellie suggests they have a "welcome home" party for Kazuma to celebrate his life. A place is set for Kazuma, and of whatever is available from the family's meager fare, the biggest portion is at Kazuma's seat. Massan shows everyone the flask of seeds that Kazuma bred and says that they will be planted in his memory. News of the Hiroshima bombing comes in over the radio. The phones in Hiroshima are dead, so Massan sends hie family a telegram. Later, Ellie hears a noise in the kitchen and staggers in to find a boy rummaging in search of food. He pulls a knife on Ellie, wanting to know what an "American " is doing there. Americans killed his father and he hates them all. (In the past it was assumed that all Caucasians are American.) There is no news from Massan's family in Hiroshima. Nagasaki has been bombed. The Emperor makes an announcement over the radio that the war is over and that Japan has lost. Massan tells Ellie that she is now free and can go where ever she wants. (This seems premature.) Ellie collapses. Ema asks why the war could not have been ended sooner. Kazuma would still be alive and her mother would not have had to suffer.
#136 Ellie has collapsed upon hearing about the end of the war. The stress has just been too much. (Is her pillowcase by Laura Ashley? Ema's bedspread looks like Cath Kidston.). She has flashbacks of the kid in the kitchen and nightmares about a dead soldier screaming for her to get out of Japan. She continues the letters to her mother. "The war is over, but no there is no solace. Everyone is lost and searching for answers. There is no escaping from sadness or forgetting the dead. What can I possibly do about all the anger and sorrow?" Massan decides to make the factory estate available to the employees to grow vegetables. Ellie is extremely proud of his quick thinking and his kindness. Everyone is destitute and struggling to live. Three little pigs arrive in a pushcart and provide some much needed comic relief. Massan receives a telegram from Hiroshima saying that his family is safe. Ellie is having difficulty moving on and has still not set foot outside the factory compound.
#137 Two months have passed since the war ended, and life is slowly getting back to normal. Ema taking typing lessons. Massan is flicking his abacus. In six months the factory will be in the red. Massan decides to go to Osaka to check on business prospects and invites Ellie to go along, but she is still afraid to go out. Hana runs in and announces that American soldiers have arrived. Morino, still fighting the war in his mind, gives them an unpleasant reception. They say that they have come to make sure that Ellie was safe and ask if she suffered during the war. Massan says yes, war is all about suffering. The soldiers tell Massan that HQ gave orders not to bomb the factory because of its interested in purchasing his whiskey later. It is not so easy for Massan to suddenly switch his clientele from the Japanese Navy to the US Army. That would be betraying Kazuma and the cause for which he died. He cannot sell his soul, but the only ones making a profit are those who deal with the US military. The popular postwar "Apple Song" is heard on the radio.
#138 Hana is going to take Kazuma's things to the countryside to trade them for food. It's no use keeping them anymore. Ema asks for Kazuma's hat, but Hana tells her that she can't have it because she needs to move on. (Aw let her have it. Maybe she needs it to move on.) Katherine shows up and lets herself in as usual. Ellie is ecstatic to see each other. She will be moving to Otaru (about 20 miles, 30 km away) with Charlie. Morino comes in to see Massan worrying at his desk, and says Massan should go ahead and sell whiskey to the US occupation forces. It is of no use the company going under. Use the former enemy by taking their money. Don't worry about Kazuma. Take Ellie out of the factory compound and end the war for her. Ellie asks Katherine to about the Apple Song. The singer herself has lost her family but is able to go on. Ellie has been through a lot, and Katherine tells her it's ok to cry and let it all out, which she does. Hanky time again. Ellie is finally able to to to Otaru for a visit. Massan decides to sell to the US occupation forces.
