A good friend of mine, Dr. Eric Messersmith, who lives in Miami, Florida, has encouraged me with his comments on Facebook to write two novels in English by the end of next year. Thanks to his comments, I will write a little bit of my personal experience that has motivated me to write the first story as follows. It's title will be "Ellie".
When I was a college student learning international economics in Sasebo, my hometown in Japan, I also worked as a bartender at the Ball Room in the EM Club within the US Naby base in town. Many young Japanese girls came to the EM Club with American sailors. I entertained them with cocktails that I made for them. I became madly in love with one of such Japanese girls. She was a Korean-Japanese. Her name was Ellie (fictious name). She was discriminated by society of Japan.
Ellie was supporting her mother and other sisters and brothers with her earnings as a Gaijin (foreigner) bar hostess in Sasebo. Many discriminated minority Japanese took such a job entertaining American sailors in town. She didn't tell me that she was a Korean-Japanese for fear of that I might start to dislike her. I knew that she loved me. One day we planned to have a trip to Kumamoto. I went to Sasebo Station half an hour before the departure time. I waited for two hours standing alone after the train left the station. I decided to go to her apartment, but no one was there, and a little later I found a letter inserted into the side gap of the entrance door. I picked it up and read it. I squatted down and cried.
The letter said, - actually it is still painful to me - " My dearest Shintaro, I love you so much. This is what I truly hope you to understand. I love you from the bottom of my heart. I really wanted to go to Kumamoto with you, but I can't. You will sure be disappointed with me, but a Yakuza boss is crazy about me, and when he knew that I would go to Kumamoto with you, he became very angry and he came to my apartment to whack me. I don't know how he came to know our trip. He asked me to evacuate the apartment demanding me to live with him. Shintaro, he knows you, and your life is at risk if I reject his demand. I am sorry, Shintaro, I have to live with him at a place that he has already got. Writing this letter is also very dangerous. Instead of his coming to pick me up, I said that I would go to his place by myself, so I have time to write this letter for you. Shintaro, please forgive me. I love you but I can't see you anymore. If I get together with you, I know that he will kill you. I am sorry. Please understand that I love you. Ellie."
Later I came to know the fact that Ellie was a Korean-Japanese. Most of Yakuza in Japan are also discriminated by society of Japan. The Yakuza who kidnapped Ellie was another type of discriminated person. It is called Burakumin who are authentic Japanese but have been discriminated for more than 800 years in Japanese history. That has close relations with the Imperial system in Japan and during the Edo period, its discrmination got legislated by the Tokugawa regime. They were situated at the bottom layer of the social structure. In other words, they were called the untouchable. The Meiji Restoration could not wipe out this discrimination, and therefore such discrimination still exists in Japan.
A discriminated person assaulted another type of a discriminated person. This was in fact a tragedy.
I have determined to depict Ellie as the main character in the story. It is not definitely me. I shouldn't be the main character. I will write the novel in English from the Ellie's viewpoint.
Why English? It's because one of the themes in the book is dealing with the reality of discrimination in society of Japan, and moreover there are American sailors, 1970's American pop music, the Vietnam war, etc, and therefore, the target readers should be American people in the first place.
I am so much encouraged to write it in English. Now I am thinking of the total structure of the story, and will start to write it as soon as it becomes clear.