Gerald had spent most of his life in Japan. He
was a white European Japanese and his culture was Japanese. He was totally
Japanese. The early years of his life in this country were very happy years as
he became more and more accepted as a Japanese. By the age of seven, he spoke
the language fluently and behaved naturally as a Japanese. Although his
earliest memories are only of Japan, he wasn't born there. Gerald's parents,
totally disillusioned with the European way of life, had emigrated to Japan
when he was three. Basic standards, general behaviour, but mostly politics, had
ruined everything for them. It was a sad fact of the times that many Japanese
had slowly been seduced by European values. These days there seemed to be
little chance of escape from those very things that Gerald's parents had tried
so desperately hard to leave behind them when they had left their home country
all those years ago and the stories that had been told to him in his childhood
seemed to be true.
In later life, Gerald had
become a successful executive in a large company through his hard work and he
lived with his wife and children in a smart area of Tokyo. Gerald would be
regarded as very comfortably off by European standards, but recently his life
had been turned upside down when he had lost his job through absolutely no
fault of his own. The economic climate had wreaked havoc on the financial
industry and had had a major effect on his business. He may have worked his way
up to the top of the organisation, but no position it seemed could be safe.
Gerald now had no job and no means of providing for his family and he felt
great personal shame that he had no means of support for his family. To Gerald
this was the worst possible stigma imaginable though, Keiko, Gerald's native
Japanese wife had the advantage of understanding both East and West
philosophies and could, therefore, reconcile their situation. Keiko had found
it impossible to reason with or console Gerald as he had become single-mindedly
Japanese and could not see any other way forward. He was totally consumed by
the shame of his situation for, as Gerald saw it, his loss of face in society
was complete. There was no escape and few options.
This is how Gerald found
himself spending his days on a busy street in Tokyo behaving like a vagrant.
His sense of self worth so low that he felt he deserved to behave like a
down-and-out and to accept the scorn and contempt of the passersby. Once every
day, the heartbroken Keiko would bring him some food and drink to nourish him.
Gerald would not look her in the eye or even acknowledge her and she was
totally devastated by this rejection and overcome with sadness, even though she
understood Gerald's reasons for the way he behaved towards her. He loved her
dearly, but his shame would not allow him to reveal his true inner feelings.
Gerald's shame was so absolute.
Meanwhile, a drama was playing
itself out in the middle of the street in front of Gerald. A minor car
collision had occurred between two drivers. The bruised egos were in danger of
inflating a minor incident into something very nasty as the two drivers blamed
each other for the accident. The argument about the apparent high value of the
cars became more heated and if a gun had been handy then surely one or the
other would be lying dead in the street by now. No one will ever know the
reason, but according to witnesses, Gerald stood up and started walking out
towards the affray in the street. Whether he had an intention of intervening
cannot be ascertained with any certainty, but Gerald collapsed with a fatal
heart attack.
Taka was a young girl of about
17 years of age and was walking along the street on her way home from the small
advertising company where she worked as a secretary, when she became aware of
the drama unfolding in the street. Attempting to avoid any trouble, she crossed
the road and found herself standing in front of Gerald at the moment he
collapsed, clutching his chest. Taka didn't know what was happening, but
without any hesitation she dropped the bag she was holding and ran towards
Gerald and tried to stop him from falling. Gerald fell to the pavement, though
his fall was lessened slightly by Taka's helping gesture. She had no medical
training and didn't know what to do. She had fallen heavily onto her knees
though didn't seem to notice the pain as she held the very scruffily dressed
Gerald, a perfect stranger in need. Even though she realised that Gerald was in
a very serious way, she did not run or even try to get away. When the ambulance
arrived, the paramedics found Taka crying and holding tightly onto Gerald. They
thought it was father and daughter, no idea that these two people were unknown
to each other.
At the funeral, Taka stood
alone not being family and had come to the ceremony as a simple mark of
respect. Gerald's wife came over to Taka and spoke gently to her :
"You are the one who
stopped to offer comfort to my husband?"
"Yes," replied Taka.
"I didn't know what to do. I felt so helpless. I was so frightened and I
had nothing."
"You had so much more
than you realised. What you did was the most selfless act anyone can do. You
offered yourself as comfort to a perfect stranger in need. You could have had
no idea who Gerald was and he looked like just a vagrant. But for you that
didn't matter. You saw simply a human soul in need. You are a wonderful example
to us all of how to live and behave. I feel like Gerald lives on through you in
the way you have shown such courage and honour. That was Gerald. I am deeply
indebted to you and I am so pleased to have had the opportunity to meet you. I
know that you went to the hospital with Gerald, but you had gone by the time I
had got there."
Times and attitudes have
changed. For some.
© Louis Brothnias (2005)