B+2011+1st+Kim+Soyoon+Ant+Farm

//**Ishida Sumi **//
 * Name**: Ishida Sumi
 * Age**: 38
 * Gender**: Female
 * Occupation**: Housewife
 * Appearance**: A Japanese woman of average height; short, curly black hair; average weight and measurements; large, round eyes; thin lips
 * Location**: Tokyo, Japan (Shibuya)
 * Personality/Quirks/Unique Personality Traits**: Has a penchant for cooking elaborate meals, enjoys reading the classics, named all of her sons herself, has an interest in international relations, loves keeping the house tidy and neat, likes fashion and being poised, enjoys embroidery and teaching foreigners English, loves meeting new people from all around the world (she is an excellent hostess and is willing to welcome all people to her home)
 * Family**:
 * Husband (Kazuo Oska) (deceased)
 * Three Sons
 * Shinichi Oska (age 17)
 * Junichi Oska (age 12)
 * Kenichi Oska (age 5)
 * Education**: Yamawaki Gakuen Junior College
 * Languages**: Japanese, English, German, Chinese
 * Main Concerns**:
 * The death of her husband, Kazuo Oska--a wealthy deceased business tycoon
 * Sending off her first son, Shinichi, off to serve in the Japanese Imperial Army
 * Losing her family and her home to the depression that Japan is going through

=**Diary Entry #1: December 25th, 1937**= It’s cold again. Colder than ever. The cold winter wind blows. Shinichi will be sent off to the Japanese Imperial Army. No, //I// have not sent him. He has chosen to go willingly to the hands of these war mongers… Oh I worry about this decision. He tells me he is willing to serve his country to uphold his honor and follow his father's wishes of having him serving the Japanese Imperial Army. But what worries me is how he will fare in the war itself...I pray that he will do well in the war. I mean, how can I be sure of his decision? He is young...but he still has the responsibility of serving his country--to serve the country before he serves his family He is the spitting image of his father...if he goes off to war it would feel as if I were losing two of the strongest men in my family, not just one (even though I understand my husband has already left me)....If only Kazuo were here to see his eldest go off to serve our country! He would have been so proud. So proud! Oh only if Kazuo were here...I would feel so much better. He would have informed me of his every day dealings with other traders and tycoons and bring me tidbits about the outside world. If only that accident hadn’t happened...if only...if only… I personally wish for his safe return as soon as possible...I can’t imagine him facing the horrors of this war. I just can't. Please come home safely to me, my son, for you are the only man left in our withering family now.

From what I hear Japan has invaded China! It is good to hear that we are breaking ground on Chinese territory and advancing towards the national goals but I feel that this isn’t taking a great toll on our family. We have had to give up so much for this war--especially families with sons in their household. Houses like mine! Soon, Junichi will have to be enlisted into the Japanese Imperial Army, too and I would lose two sons! I can't bear the thought of that. Not at all. What will little Kenichi think? Who will take care of Kenichi and me? With no men in the house we would feel so insecure...

The economic situation gets worse and worse. Oh this war! Splitting families apart. Starving children on the streets...it's so hard to look at their pitiful faces eating scraps of food. It's not as bad for us because we're pretty well off--we have been hit pretty hard with the war and we have been made to give up so much in order to support the war. But for those who don't have as much as we do, it's a totally different story.

=**Diary Entry #2: January 27th,1938**= I received a letter from my childhood friend, Gao Qingwen, yesterday. I remember him from my childhood days...we met in Nanking when he was a young boy and because he was an old family friend, I taught him English when he was just a little boy. It was nice to hear that he is living in Hong Kong now! I’m glad we got in touch after all this time...but I was a bit taken aback by the letter. In the letter, he confessed that I was his role model when he was growing up! I remember vaguely teaching him about the important values of life and everything that I knew would help him in the future. Though he may not be that successful now, I admire him for writing back to me to thank me for what I have done for him, though I did not do as much as he claims. I'm so proud of Qingwen...yet worried at the same time. He told me in his letter that he felt terrorized that my country and his country were at war. He told me that he felt a bit angered at first, but soon came to realize that I myself (as an individual) did not have anything to do with the war besides being from the attacking country. Worried, he told me about his family back in Nanjing and his worries about them and the alleged attacks that were incurred upon the people of Nanjing--he told me there were millions of deaths! He also asked me about my thoughts on the war. Although I understand his hopes that I would reply in his favor and disapprove of the war, I, unfortunately, cannot be so lucid in my thoughts for I could risk being seen as a traitor to my country if I express signs of sympathy to the [|enemy].

I wrote him back reassuring him that his family would be okay and encouraged him to not give up and have faith in himself and his family. I wrote him about the Japanese newspapers' portrayals of the invasion of Nanjing. According to our newspapers, the invasion was not that bad and the number of deaths was exaggerated. I tried to imply to him that I myself do not hold any support for this war between China and Japan, despite the constant [|propaganda] that is blasted in the streets. I told him that I believe that there was no real reason for the war to happen.

I hope he got my message securely...and I hope he interpreted my message the way I intended it to be interpreted. And hopefully the letter doesn't get intercepted. I have lost so much already...I can't afford to be under fire of our government for being accused of a traitor to our country.

=**Diary Entry #3: March 8th, 1940**= I wake up to the sound of victory as our country celebrates 100 days of victory over the colonial powers in East Asia, the French in Indochina, the British in Hong Kong, Malaya and Singapore (soon Burma), the Dutch in the Dutch East Indies, and the Americans in the Philippine Islands. These victories mean so much to my life. Thank goodness we have been doing so well in the war...hopefully this war will be over soon and I will be able to meet my beloved son Shinichi for good. I will be relieved once this war is over and my son is back in my arms and able to support his family once again. Also, I won't have to send Junichi off to the war if all goes well with the war.

Speaking of the boy, Junichi has been starting a pen-pal-ship with this boy named Gregory Miller who lives in the United States. It all started in 1937 when we received a letter in the mail that was not meant for us (it was addressed for someone else....someone by the name of John Miller if I remember correctly). I ordered him to hand me the letter so that we could dispose of it but Junichi insisted that he wanted to respond to the letter.

I was a bit enraged at first, for I did not understand why he would want to engage in conversation with an American boy! Seeing that it was a time of enraged interaction between us and the American Congress who passed the Immigration Act of 1924 which restricted immigration from many European nations and denied even a token quota to most Asians into the United States. This law barred all immigrants who were ineligible for citizenship in the United States, all south and east Asians. Oh were we furious over hearing this decision and subsequently started a boycott on many American goods and practices. I remember reading an article about this event in the newspapers back then. This article was written on April 19, 1924 in Japan.

=**Diary Entry #4: December 24th, 1941 and Afterwards**= Upon receipt of a letter from my son Shinichi, I went to visit him today. I left Junichi and Kenichi with our neighbors, the Mashidas, so they were safe when I was out.

On the way, I met a young man who looked just like my son. Walking down the battlefield to visit my son, I saw the same dark hair and slightly built figure under the army garb. I reached out to grab his arm and bring him into my arms for an embrace and I even called out his name, "Shinichi!" but to my dismay, when he turned around, he was just another soldier. I was disheartened and embarrassed by my actions...I guess I was just too excited to be seeing my son for the first time in seven years. I pictured how much he must have grown as a man in the war, and I prayed for his safety and health. I cried out to him over and over and called his name but he just gave me a strange look and turned away. But I could see it in his eyes that he too, at first, believed that I was //his// mother too. It broke my heart to see that it was not true.

I was repulsed by the images of war that I saw on the battlefield that day. Oh the horror! The bloodshed...the lost lives of innocent ones everywhere…! It was just too much for me… But I had to stay strong. I had to go see my son. I had to go and make sure that he was safe!

Walking further down the battlefield, I entered one of the tents. Upon entering, I walked in and saw my son, Shinichi with this woman whom I had never seen before. I saw that the tent was filled with women of all ages, mostly young teenage girls…and then I began to worry. Shinichi introduced me to her as Kim Yoon Shim. Together, they explained the concept of “comfort women” or something and about how they had been having sexual relations during the period of this war. At first I did not understand this concept at all….I was rather appalled by the very idea of it. But then I began to realize what horrors these women, including Yoon Shim, must face every day. I told her that I felt sorry for her and that the concept of ‘comfort women’ was not justifiable at all. She told me about Japan’s imperialist decline and how Japan had been doing intolerable deeds to other people without any justifiable reason.

The US has bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The USSR has entered the war against our very country. The Pacific War has finally ended and the war trials are soon to begin. I don't know what to think anymore. This war has indeed shaken and disturbed the peace of my family down to the very core of our existence. I have lost everything. I have lost my husband. My sons. My country. Myself. And for what? A foolish war started off and ending on the same note: mutual misunderstanding and aggression. I have been through so much these past years I don't know how to express everything that I feel. There is not much left to feel when you have gone through the entire stream of consciousness in years of war. War is desensitizing. War is disruptive. War is real. War...is life. Perhaps all we can hope for Japan is to prosper and find love through these tough times. I know we'll get through it....somehow...