A+Japanese+mother+of+three+sons+living+in+Tokyo+Block+A

= **P R O F I L E** =

**Name:** Uchiha Miyuki

**Age:** 42 (in 1937)

**Gender:** Female

**Occupation:** factory worker, house wife

**Appearance:** eyes: small and black with a sharp look nose: small lips: thin face shape: small, skinny height: 155cm

**Location:** Tokyo

**Personality/Quirks/Unique Personality Traits:** I'm very modernized. I support Western ideas, and my children are my top priorities. I'm also a very stubborn, strong-willed person.

**Family:** husband:Uchiha Itachi first son: Uchiha Naoki second son: Uchiha Sasuke third son: Uchiha Asagorou

**Education:** Japan went through a lot of changes after the Meiji Restoration, so I was one of the lucky girls to get Western education.

**Languages you speak:** Japanese

**Your main concerns at this time and in life:** The Japanese government is full of ambition to take over many countries, and they want to start a war. My husband and one of my sons are victims, as they are in the Japanese army and they are constantly sent to various countries to fight. My husband is an imperial officer, so he has a higher chance of getting killed. I'm extremely worried about him, and it's hard to raise 2 growing sons without the head of the household.

**Portrait (an image that you and we can live with):**




 * DIARY #1 - June, 1937**

Hello, my name is Uchiha Miyuki and I’m 42 years old.

I live with my three sons and my husband. My husband is an imperial officer, and my second son Naoki has recently joined the army. When I heard him discussing it with his father, I was devastated. I was not willing to let him join, for the Japanese government had been growing their ambition to be a major military power. They wanted to stay in the same status as the Westerners and get equal treatment from them. My husband, on the other hand, was extremely happy that at least one his sons was following his footstep. And I think I forgot to mention this: my husband Itachi is very nationalistic. He called Naoki “a brave man,” and encouraged his actions. So I couldn’t say anything. I’m not the one to make decisions.

Our country has been meddling with China since 1930’s. We invaded Manchuria in 1933, and even withdrew from the League of Nations to achieve our goal as a major imperial power. Of course, Itachi had to be in Manchuria for a while, since he’s an officer. While I was happy that the invasion had succeeded, I found it hard to take care of 3 young sons, and they found it hard to live without a father. They asked me everyday where he was and I kept telling them, “He’s at work. He’ll be back soon, and we’ll be a happy family again.” Nevertheless, I was uncertain that my husband would come alive. I had no idea what our army was doing over there, so I was worried about him everyday.

After Itachi came back home, we were a happy family once again, but that didn’t last long. Itachi is gone to China again, this time with my son Naoki. Apparently we’re going to start a full-scale war with China now, so our soldiers have left Japan today. I had been dreading for this day to come. Now I’m left all alone, here in Tokyo, with two sons to take care for.

It’ll be hard to raise two growing sons, but I’ll have to start working to provide them with education, however hard that might be.

Even though the government assures us everything will be alright, that Japan is a country of glory and victory, I’m afraid that all we’ve built in these recent years would all crumple because of this war. I’m afraid that our house will be gone, I’m afraid that our family would fall apart, I’m afraid that Japan will have to go through another financial crisis.

But all I can do right now is hope for the best outcomes, while working hard to take care of my children.






 * DIARY #2 - August, 1941**

A lot of things have happened since Japan has gone into war. I'm the head of the household, with my husband gone and my son gone. My life has been about balancing my work life and my domestic life, which is pretty hard. I don’t even know if Itachi and Naoki are alive. It’s kind of depressing sometimes, and at night when I’m in bed, I always think about what the point of life is. It seems like I was born to provide my children rice and education, but I don’t even know if the education they’re providing is right. I invited my old friend Sam Konochi for a cup of tea a few years ago because he was in Tokyo, and when I showed him Asagoru’s textbook, he was surprised at how much it changed. He said it was just like the newspaper, and he criticized the government by saying that teaching third graders about patriotism wasn’t right. I pretended to agree with him, but I honestly do not know what is right and what is wrong anymore. My only hope is my second son, Sasuke. He works extremely hard in school, and he’s highly motivated. He is able to push himself beyond his limits. He wants to get into Tokyo University and become an elite of the country. I have high expectations for him, since I know he can thrive under pressure.

As for the war, our country is becoming a strong, imperial nation with colonies throughout Asia. We've taken China, parts of French Indochina, and we're constantly expanding in the Pacific area. I guess I should be proud, but I can’t really relax at this state. Maybe I’m not patriotic enough. Other people seem to be proud of our nation for all the achievements in the past few years, but how can you relax when your own life is filled with nonstop working, cooking, cleaning? How can you walk around singing glorifying songs, as if your life is perfectly fine? I can’t. Though I pretend to be fine on the outside, to encourage my children and assure them that everything it alright, but really, everything isn’t alright. Like I’ve mentioned, I don’t even know if two of my most important people are alive. Maybe Itachi is dead. Maybe Naoki is dead. Maybe both of them are dead, and I’m a widow who lost one of her sons.

There are other economic problems, too. The radio and the newspapers are telling us that everything is alright, and we will dominate, but I’ve heard some rumors here and there from other women like me. Apparently, the Americans are growing fearful of us and they're demanding us to stop. They're demanding us to withdraw from some of the areas, and yesterday, they even froze their supply of oil to our country, which can apparently have a dramatic impact on our economy.

If we start running out of rice because of this, I think I might go mad. I just want the war to stop, so that my husband and my son can come back home, safe and sound, and lead a life.




 * DIARY #3 - May, 1942**

It’s been two years since my last diary entry. My life has been full of ups and downs.

A month ago, I was happy. My life hadn’t gotten any better, but at least Japan was winning the war at the moment. I was proud. Our empire stretched from Southeast Asia to the western Pacific Ocean, making us the greatest empire in the world. I thought that the government had been right all long. Even though my life was a little bit busy at the time, it didn’t matter because Japan was a powerful empire.

Remember how I talked about how the US was planning to place an embargo on their sale of oil to us? Well they did, and our economy was affected as a result. We couldn’t just stand there and do nothing, so we bombed the Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The attack was totally unexpected to the Americans; it really blew them off. We also attacked the Philippines, the Malay Peninsula, and the East Indies, expanding our empire in Asia even more.

I can’t describe the feelings I got after we bombed the Pearl Harbor. I was happy. I was proud. I felt like all these years of hard work had paid off. I wanted to sing our national anthem at the top of my voice. As I read my previous entries, I thought that I had been shallow and selfish. I couldn’t believe I had condemned my country.

That happiness and victory lasted for about 100 days.

On April 18, 1942, thirteen bombs were dropped in Tokyo, creating great panic and destruction of some houses. Luckily, my house wasn’t destroyed, but the three of us were shocked. Sasuke and Asagorou were deeply impacted by the attack, and its impact on other people. We kept saying, “what if that was us?” It was distressing. Although it didn’t have a tremendous impact on the city, some houses were still destroyed, and all of us were in panic. I think the government halted their expansion after the attack.

Then came the Battle of Midway Island on June 5. The guys who have connections with the government officials tell me that event had a tremendous impact on our nation, for it turned the tide of the war against us. The feeling of happiness, and pride I had in the 100 days of victory completely disappeared when I heard that. In those 100 days, I thought the war would be over soon, that the victory would soon be ours, but now, I don’t know when it’s going to end, and I still haven’t contacted with my husband OR my dearest son. I don’t know what’s happening to myself, my sons, my husband, or my nation. I don’t know what to do. What if the Americans attack us again?






 * DIARY #4 - September, 1945.**

It is the end. We have surrendered to the United States of America. Even my husband has lost hope. I can’t believe everything that’s happened this year. It’s like one big nightmare that I can’t get out of, no matter how hard I try to wake up. And the 100 days of victory seem like a good dream that’s slowly fading away from my memory. This chaos is my reality, and I want to get away from it and never come back.

I will calmly try to write what has basically happened since my last entry.

Tokyo was bombed again this year by the Americans, destroying my house, my youngest son Asagorou, and losing Sasuke. Asagorou is killed for sure, but Sasuke just disappeared. I became alone and homeless. I wanted to die. Not only had I lost my children, but there was also a possibility that my husband and my first son were dead as well. I was beyond depressed. I didn’t want to live, but I held on just in case Itachi or Naoki came back home. I hid myself from American pilots and soldiers, so I wouldn’t get killed.

As if that wasn’t enough, the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed by some new type of Western weapon. I do not know what it was, but it sure is deadly. It has killed thousands of people, and our nation is in great chaos. Our land, our cities, our people, and our nationalism are destroyed.

Those Americans never know when to stop. I wonder why are they so cruel to us? What have we ever done to deserve this kind of treatment? They’re taking advantage of their supreme weapons to destroy others, so they can rise to power. I want to kill every one of them by my own hands.

My husband came back to Japan, and I explained the situation to him. He told me that he had almost killed himself because of the dishonor of surrendering our Holy Empire to the whites. He also told me that Naoki had gotten killed in the war. He told me he had come back, just to see if any of us were alive. He’d never been a very sociable man, but I could understand him perfectly because I had the exact same feeling. Words are not enough to describe our feelings at the moment. The feeling of losing everything in your life. The feeling of hopelessness and darkness.