I have been learning Japanese lately. After watching so much anime, it was inevitable :-). Now that I understand certain basic language constructs and given my knowledge of anime conversation over all these years, I decided to write a short story in Japanese. This blog post is the result of that effort. However, I am worried that there might be several mistakes and possible misinterpretations of what I am writing. If anybody finds any issues in this post, please feel free to let me know through the comments section. I will be extremely grateful to any corrections that you send along my way.
Shijun
to Makoto
Kono basho de kazoku ga inai, kanojo
ga inai, tomodachi ga inai ... dare mo ... Watashi wa naze koko ni
irun desu ka. Wakaranai. Watashi no inochi no mokuteki wa nan desu ka.
Wakaranai. ... Nani mo ... Demo heiwa ga iru.
Doko mo kara koe ga kiita, "Oye,
ooye, makoto, makoutou"
"Shijun!"
"Chotto matte." Shijun ga
watashi ni mukatte hashitta. "Yatto mitsuketa. Nani shimasu ka
omae wa. Haha ga shinpaisurun desu yo."
"Warui, warui. Chotto sanpo ni
dete kita."
"Ore wa iin desu. Demo atou de haha ni
chanto ayamarinasai."
"Wagatta, wagatta."
"Makoto, kaero ka."
Watashi wa shijun to ikimashita.
"Ikinari naze sanpo."
"Chotto kangaeta."
"Nani wo kangaetetan desu."
"Sore wa desu ne. Atarashii
shousetsu no koto ii kangai ga aru."
"Sou. Sore ja sono kami wa ...".
Kare wa watashi no te de iru kami wo kigatsuita.
"Hai."
"Hee, mitemo iin desu ka."
"Douzo."
"um um um um dare mo um um um um
nani mo". Sore kara, shijun ga itteta, "Sore dake."
"Watashi wa mada hajimatta
bakari."
"Yare yare, itsu owari kana."
"Sonna iwanaide yo."
"Demo, watashi mo manga wo
hajimaranaika. Omae no shousetsu wo sugu owarikudasai."
"Daijoubu, daijoubu."
Ore no namaiwa makoto, kokosei desu.
Shijun wa kodomo koro no tomodachi desu. Watashi tachi wa yume wo
motte iru. Watashi wa shousetsuka ga naritai desu. Kare wa ore no
shousetsu wo manga ni henkaku shitai. Hai, sore wa ore tachi no yume.
Kyou wa 1945nen 8gatsu 27nichi desu.
"Ne, kiita ka makoto, kai-chan no
koto."
"Um, kiita."
"Hidoi yo. Kare wa mada 9-sai
datta. Demo naze shin-"
"Na, shijun. Senso wa hidoi desu
ne. Doko mo kanashimi wo mimasu. Ore no shousetsu wo kono sekai ga
kikimasu ka."
Shijun
wa kami wo mita sore kara sono kotoba ga itta - Dare mo
inai, nani mo wakaran, demo heiwa ga iru. “Sonna heiwa ga heiwa
desu ka. Sekai wa kotaeru hitsuyo ga arimasu."
"Ganbarimashou." Watashi wa
boseki ni fureta (Nichimura Shijun – 1931 kara 1945 made).
English Translation:
In this place, I have no family, no
girlfriend, no friends, no one. What am I doing here? I don't know.
What is life's objective? I don't know. I know nothing. But there is
peace.
From somewhere I
hear a voice, “Oye, ooye, makoto, makoutou”.
“Shijun!”
“Wait a second.”
Shijun ran towards me. “Finally found you. What are you doing? My
mother was worried.”
“Sorry, sorry. I
just came for a walk.”
“I am fine with
it. But properly apologize to my mother later.”
“Understood,
understood.”
“Makoto, shall we
return?”
I left with Shijun.
“Why did you go
for a walk suddenly?”
“Just thinking.”
“What were you
thinking?”
“Ah that you see,
I have a good idea for the story.”
“Is that so? So
that paper is ...” He noticed the paper I held in my hand.
“Yes.”
“Oh, can I see
it?”
“Please do.”
“um um um um no
one um um um um nothing.” Then shijun said, “Is that all?”
“I just started
on it.”
“Well well, when
will it get over I wonder.”
“Don't say that.”
“But, I have to
start on my manga as well. Can you finish the story quickly?”
“Its ok, its ok.”
My name is makoto.
I am a high school student. Shijun is my childhood friend. We have
dreams. I want to become a writer. He wants to transform my story
into manga. Yes, that is our dream. Today, it is 27th August, 1945.
“Makoto, did you
hear about kai?”
“Yes, I did.”
“It is cruel. He
was just 9 years old. Why did he have to die-”
“Shijun. War is
cruel isn't it. You can only see sadness everywhere. Do you think the
world will listen to my story?”
Shijun took a look
at the paper and said this, There is nobody, there is nothing, but
there is peace. Is such a peace, peace at all? The world must
answer this.
“Let's work hard
for it.” I touched the tombstone (Nichimura Shijun – From 1931 to
1945).
