From the Ashes: Part Two

 Hello all,

Last week you'll remember that I told you the story of my friend Tatsuo, and his interesting family. You’ll remember that the fire bombings in Tokyo had wiped out just about his entire family along with the Hagiwara family business, which was huge. Today we'll see more of the Hand of God, and less of death and destruction. But first, I need to let you in on another story as well, and that concerns Tatsuo's mother.  

At the time of the fire bombing, she was a little girl of 6.  She had 11 brothers and sisters; again a prosperous family with a big house. Her first name was pretty, but the Japanese characters in the name carried the meaning, "enough". As I understand, that was apparently how the family felt about her.

When the bombs came, her family lived in a different section of the city and so was evacuated to another elementary school than the one guarded by Tatsuo's grandfather in last weeks story.  When she got there, the school was already completely full, but the gates were still open, so they all ran towards what they perceived to be safety. 

However, just as they got to the gates, they closed right in her face.  But, by the Hand of her Creator, whom she had no idea about yet, she survived!  As it turned out, because there were so many in the school building, everyone inside died, either by suffocation or crushing.  

So although the 6-year-old survived, the rest of her family was either killed or separated from her. As I talked with her the other day, she only said, "I could not go with them," and then changed the subject.

Days after the bombing, some neighbors noticed her wandering around her destroyed home and as she'd always been a precocious favorite of theirs, they did not hesitate to take her in, and eventually adopted her (and in the process, changed her name to something more promising).

Ok, but let's get back to the Hagiwara family for now. The grandfather was the only surviving member of the clan, having lost his wife and children, except for his one remaining son Junichi, who'd been away at camp, remember?. Soon Tatsuo’s grandfather was pressured by distant relatives to take another wife and have some more kids to carry the family name.  Unfortunately, in a story so familiar to Biblical times, the 'second wife' who was just a teen herself, felt jealous of the first offspring (Junichi), especially after she started having her own babies.

So Tatsuo's father, Junichi, now also a teen, found life less stressful out of the house, away from the teen stepmother.  Fortunately, there was a new church nearby, complete with a loving American missionary, who could give him the attention and comfort he needed.  When he grew up, he left the family, the business, and all claims to inheritance, instead becoming a Christian Pastor.

Oh, and the little orphan girl raised by the neighbor couple ....... he met her at church and soon they were married.  That's where Tatsuo and his sisters come into the picture.

The government had a horse farming area just west of Fukushima, but after they war, they didn't need horses, so they were selling land (and even granting some plots for meritorious service in the war). Somehow Tatsuo's father acquired a plot, and there, with a young single American Missionary, Miss Irene Anderson, they founded a church.........and the rest is history.

Oh, but wait.  While Tatsuo's father was finishing growing up, he became interested in biology and again, thru the influence of a Christian American Professor, he became quite renowned.  So when he moved to this little village outside of Fukushima in the northeastern part of Japan, (yes, the one that was in so much danger during the 2011 earthquake and tsunami because of the nuclear power plant), he started a model farm reviving and showcasing some nearly extinct plants. It has become the famous Hagiwara Botanical Institute, even visited by the Emperor’s brother, Mikasanomiya, in recent years.

But the influence doesn't stop there.  His wife (the little girl I mentioned above) felt sorry that the men of the town had to leave and find work in the cities when the crops were brought in, because there were no jobs, so she started a little cottage industry utilizing some of the flowers, etc, incorporating them into jewelry. This, as well as the Botanical institute has built the town (with a strong church) into a sustainable living option for all. Population of the town has grown to 10,000, which is tiny in Japan!

One last tie, a Mr. Masao Yamada, a retired soldier from the 442nd Regiment of WWII (mostly American Christian Japanese who enlisted in the military from Hawaii, and were sent to Europe), led a group from Hawaii to visit the gardens and have now founded a sister institute in Kailua, Oahu.  Masao said he has found peace in botany.

God has His Hand on each and every one of us! We must never forget that we are really an intricate part of His plan.  

Thanks for listening.  I love stories of Faith.  

Marsha