Читать книгу Hawaii End of the Rainbow - Kazuo Miyamoto - Страница 9

ARATA'S THREE YEARS OF TENURE CAME to an end. Now he was free to engage in any trade of his own chosing, leave the plantation for the city, or keep on with the mill work at an advanced rate of pay--eighteen dollars per month. He planned to work for two more years, denied himself all luxuries, quit smoking, and stayed away from gambling and friendly games of cards that were being indulged in by many men. His object was to acquire five hundred dollars and venture forth as a storekeeper. He was certain of success. All the Japanese were obliged to do their shopping at the plantation store or at the little store run by Afook, a Cantonese. Invariably, things were cheaper at the Chinese store. Although stock was meager at Afook's, laborers patronized his store with reason. What would happen if he, Seikichi Arata, should open a store and cater to the public with an intimate understanding of their wants and tastes? There could be no mistake. It would be a success, as certain as the sun rises from the east every day of the year. The only deterrent was his lack of capital. It would not do to go into partnership with anyone. He wanted to do it alone.

But it did not take him two years to work for the necessary capital. He had heard of Dan Yone of Lihue, an eccentric, hard man but enormously rich by standards prevailing among the immigrant Japanese. He was one of the few remaining immigrants that had come to Hawaii during the 1860's and was commonly called "The gwan nen mono."

Most of these early immigrants went back to Japan after a government emmissary came and investigated the working conditions of the plantations. The investigators became indignant over the treatment accorded their fellow countrymen: contrary to the agreement under which the immigrants came to the islands. A score, however, remained. Among these, there were a few who later prospered. Each one seemed to have started by marrying a native woman whose dowry was land. Land was an item that came to assume added value with each passing decade as industrialization of the islands increased. Yone's first wife had died and he married again, this time a Portuguese woman. He has descendants who are to this day respected citizens of the islands of Kauai and Oahu By the time Japanese immigrants began arriving in droves, Yone was owner of the largest store at Lihue and his credit among all races of people was excellent.

Yone had risen from the lowly coolie class in Japan and so was unable to acquire the three "R's" in his youth. He must have been of superior mental endowment for his success could not be accredited solely to his rich Hawaiian wife. He could not read or write but he had a prodigious memory and was full of ideas that would have been a credit to an educated man. He wanted to keep up with the current thoughts and events of the world. As he became wealthy and could entrust the routine of the store to his employees, he sought culture in his own way.

One day, while Seikichi was talking to Obasan, the cook, the conversation turned to gossip about island personages. "Arata-san, you have heard about Dan Yone?"

"Yes, like everybody else I have heard a lot about him as a successful businessman on this island, and particularly as he is also from my own province of Yamaguchi Ken."

"Do you know that he is trying to get someone who will read the newspapers to him?"

"Is that so? And how much is he going to pay for that sort of work?"

"Well, that is the funny part about this proposition. He does not want to openly hire anyone in that capacity. That is too much for his pride. He does not want to openly declare that he cannot read, although it is a public secret that he cannot even sign his name. He wants someone to come to him as a friend. Maybe he is not reluctant to pay for the service. He is just peculiar and eccentric."

"I should think there are any number of men at Lihue who can merely read the newspaper to him."

"No, it is not merely reading papers dealing with petty thievery or broken romances. He is interested in the editorials of the Tokyo papers to which he has subscribed regularly. Very few men can read the editorials intelligently, I have heard, for you know I can only sign my name. But I am a woman, and women are not supposed to be educated anyway, Yone-san is looking for some educated man. I thought that if you came to know him he might open the way for your ambition. He may find a job for you at his store for all you know."

"It is an idea all right. Thanks for the tip."

"By the way, if you ever should see him, don't ever say 'boss.' I heard that the only way to please him and become friends with him is to address him as 'oyabun.' He must have a gambler's instinct or an admiration for the old time gangsters, for otherwise he would not want to be so called."

To Arata, this was news and it occurred to him that possibly Dan Yone might be a rung in the ladder to aid him in the ascent and realization of his dreams. There was no sense in getting the required amount of capital if he could get the same business started by getting the backing of some established personage. Perhaps his mythical benefactor might turn out to be eccentric Yone. How to make the contact, how to win his confidence and get started on his business career, required the most carefully planned approach.

After several weeks of deliberation, Seikichi took sick leave from the plantation and repaired to Lihue. He found the Yone store. It was imposing in size for a country mercantile establishment: painted green and bordered with white in contrast to the usual white washed walls of the neighboring houses. He rented a room at a cheap hotel and the next day entered the store and pretended to look over the goods on the display shelves. There were a number of workers of different nationalities. The manager was a Portuguese called "Shige" who spoke Japanese fluently. In addition, one Chinese, one Chinese-Hawaiian, and three Japanese salesmen and clerks completed the staff. They were all busy wrapping merchandise to be delivered to different camps in out-of-the-way locations. The salesmen had gone out taking orders when the plantation laborers were at home in the evenings and now were ready to deliver these purchases.

Just then a graying man of about sixty came in from the inner office. Painfully leaning on a cane, he brushed by Arata who said casually, "Oyabun, you seem to be having trouble. What is the matter?"

Yone seemed to be in good humor and civilly answered, "Oh, it is this confounded neuritis. Doctors don't seem to be able to help me much. What I need is a good old-fashioned masseur, but there is none around."

"In that case I can help, for I know something about massaging."

"Really! Come in then. Seems that I have never seen you before. You are a stranger in this town, are you not?"

On a couch in the inner office, Arata utilized his knowledge of yawara, the ancient term for jujitsu. Aspiring to become an army officer, Seikichi had been trained in the art of yawara for defense and attack, and as a part of that training, he was instructed in the rudiments of bone-setting, correction of joint dislocations, and massage. He used it to good advantage and Yone began to feel much easier as the circulation in the muscles increased and stagnation and soreness became alleviated.

"By your dialect, you must be from Yamaguchi," said Yone.

"Why yes, I am from Mitajiri."

"Well, well, I am from that part of the country myself and a very good one it is. Tell me how much training you have in massaging? You massage like a man; very effective."

"Not much, but I did some yawara training in my younger days as I wanted to join the army, but I was a little too short to become an officer."

"Too bad! And how much schooling did you get?"

"Enough of general education and an additional course or two in the Chinese classics."

"Is that so. Well, if you have time while you are in Lihue, come around every day. You have been very good in easing my pain today and you will be doing me a great favor if you will continue doctoring me. There is a pile of papers that came in the last boat which have been lying around untouched. If you can read the editorials to me while I rest here easily, I shall be much obliged."

The Tokyo Asahi Shimbun was a leading Japanese newspaper. It had been some time since Seikichi had perused a Japanese paper and it was a pleasure to read aloud to Yone the interesting news items and the current editorials of the leading metropolitan papers of Japan. Illiterate as Yone was, his comprehension of world events was good, and he grasped without difficulty the core of the discussions in the press. Evidently he had kept up with the changing opinions and moods of his home country better than Arata had been able to do. After the Sino-Japanese War, there was a big post-war boom. Yet the latent, subconscious tenseness of the nation which had knuckled down to a serious preparation for an out-and-out struggle against the "Russian Bear" was perceived between the lines of the editorials. Yone commented now and then and Seikichi was able to discern his listener's line of thought.

"We must fight the Russians. The blood of the thousands of heroes that was spilled on the bleak hills of the Liaotung Peninsula will not be assuaged until the insult of the Tripartite Alliance, that forced the return of the hard-won spoil to China, can be returned in kind. The more we delay and vacillate, the stronger will the Russians become entrenched in Manchuria. It is win or die. We must fight."

"But you must not forget that the Russians have the largest army in the world and their Kossack cavalry is ferocious and famous. What chance would Japan have if she does not thoroughly prepare for the struggle?"

"Don't talk to me like the fools who are overcautious: the clique headed by Ito Hakubun who attempt in this day and era a reconciliation with Russia. Their intent is so clear. To think that Ito Hakubun is also from Yamaguchi Ken! You who once aspired to become an army officer ought to have more guts. The worst feature of bookworms is that they are too cautious. I am not educated but I have the most necessary fighting spirit. In other words, what shortage there might be in arms and equipment, we shall make up in the yamato-damashii, the fighting spirit of old Japan. My motto is 'strike and go to pieces if necessary,' just as the Americans say, 'do or die.' Anyway this is the topic of talk in Tokyo at the present moment. There is a lot of pro and con in the papers. Come tomorrow and continue the discussion and argument."

In this manner, Seikichi became acquainted with a historical character and a Japanese pioneer in Hawaii. Every day he went and while massaging Yone, prodded him with questions so that he would relate his early experiences both in Japan and Kauai. To be a good listener is the acme of ingratiation and the height of diplomacy.

"We first felt we were more or less stranded in Hawaii after the government officials told us to leave. We elected to remain. I married a native girl and naturally I could not take her along. I had come to like the easy-going native way of life, so different from the fierce struggle for existence that I had to face if I returned to the old country. I would be penniless in Japan and there was no money or property from my ancestors. Not to have your own kind around was a lonely feeling, but what I missed most was the miso and shoyu condiments of Japanese cooking. But the poi and fish and the Chinese rice formerly imported from Canton and now raised in our own Hanalei Valley by the Chinese, one can get used to after several years. However, the craving for shoyu cooking returns very strongly after you reach forty. It is curious, but just about that time taste for food returns to the simple fare of old Japan. Longing for Ocha-zuke becomes very marked. The oily dishes of the Europeans and Americans, and the more oily chop suey lose their former glamor. It was hard to live among strangers; among newly made friends who had no common background with you. You felt so lost. Only in dreams could you relive happy childhood days and events, such as the festivals and games that were indulged in the villages. We were exiles, for there was no regular steamship service between Honolulu and Japan until the immigrant ships began going back and forth. A fact to be learned only after getting old is that one misses most in old age the things that he had been accustomed to in his boyhood."

"Is it true about the women too?" Seikichi ventured to ask, for Yone seemed to like frank talk and despised a fawning attitude.

"Yes, that is so too. I came from Japan when I was twenty and have been here forty years. I left the old country after knowing Japanese women. I was precocious. In any nationality there are strong and weak points, and many times these opposite traits counterbalance each other. But I feel that Japanese women are the best wives that can be obtained on earth. They are trained to serve their husbands and parents. I am old and can talk without mixing sex and passion in my talk. Anyone, be it man or woman, if service is the motive of his or her action, that service will be returned in kind. Therefore, the trained, cultured woman of old Japan is perhaps the most contented woman in the world. I ought to know.

"My first wife was a native of the upper class in Kauai. She was beautiful in face and physique. We were happy in our own way, living childishly from day to day. She sang when we were happy, quarrelled when anything got in her way, and cried like a spoiled child. She had no inhibition. She certainly was a child of nature and there is a lot of fun in this type of companion when one is young and with no responsibility. I have heard many accusations that I married her for her land. That is a dirty lie. It is true she had money and land, but that was just coincidental.

"There is a basis for that kind of talk, however, for that is the way many stranded white sailors from whaling schooners settled down to become huge land owners. On the island of Kauai you can count a dozen men on your fingers who are in this category. I pity the Kanaka wives of these unscrupulous men. For these men are the ones that are keeping mistresses more attractive than their legitimate mates, and these are the ones that are despoiling natives of their lands under one pretext or another. For a bottle of wine, a few acres of land, the only property of the native, has been known to have been signed away. On technicalities of Anglo-Saxon law, quite different than the ancient tribal and konohiki laws, lands were expropriated by those in power. My wife brought me parcels of land, but I can honestly say that whatever I have today, I made myself in business.

"My present wife, as you may know, is Portuguese and she is an excellent wife; a good mother for my children. The Portuguese seem to have no racial discrimination as you will soon find out if you live in Hawaii. They are a very hardworking, decent lot except for the good-for-nothings that have come from the Azores and Madeira Islands. They were penal colonies for the Protuguese kingdom. The only flaw in my marriage is the fact that I cannot get used to the religion. You know they are very good church-goers, although I cannot see anything good that comes from their attending churches except that they clear their conscience of sins committed during the preceding week. There is not the inside urge that makes them religious and seek the priest for consolation. They go just because they are used to going. I am dragged along sometimes but I cannot see anything in their teachings. I will stick to my own Namu Amida Butsu."

Bit by bit, Yone told his life history to Seikichi Arata as he massaged and rubbed every day. After living nearly four years among the illiterate common laborers, the talk of this old man was not only novel but also enlightening, for in him the cosmopolitanism of Hawaii found voice. Not only was this a voice, but the plain expression of one who was practicing and living its doctrine of equality and miscegenation. His outlook on life was bigger; he grasped its essentials and tolerated its existence, but was individualistic enough not to be overwhelmed by it. His longing was still to spend his dying days on the pine tree lined shores of Japan's Inland Sea. To the core, he was still proud of his heritage and refused to trade with the Hackfelds, one of the largest of the wholesale houses of Honolulu, because the concern was German in capital. Yone could not forgive the German participation in the Tripartite Alliance that high-jacked the Liaotung Peninsula from Japan. The peninsula had legally been ceded to Japan by the Manchu government of China as spoils of war. He would not talk to the Hackfeld salesmen, even when they happened to be Japanese. On the other hand, he patronized Theo. H. Davies and Company. It was English and England was allied to Japan.

To the recently arrived Japanese immigrants, this old timer seemed very native and at the same time very feudalistically Japanese. He was hard to approach because their ideas were so far apart. Practically all the laborers came with the idea of making a couple of hundred dollars and then returning to the home country. Yone had been there forty years and considered this land his home and the home of his children. Being materially successful, he was the victim of any number of promotional schemes, and his store was also the place where all sorts of sob stories were taken, in order to get donations for one cause or another. His gruffness to the rank and file was in a sense a defensive mechanism. He did not relish the idea of being considered "soft" for after all he was a hard-boiled businessman.

"Arata, what are your plans for the future? Are you returning to Makaweli to grow sugar cane?"

"I have no desire to remain a farmer or a millhand. I want to go into retail store work. I can see the greatest future in merchandise retailing if done right in the plantations. Can you offer any suggestions as to how to start?"

"My way is the harder way, and I must recommend to you that the hard way is the shortest way. You must learn the taste of the people you deal with. You must learn to utilize the capital you possess in the most effective manner. The best way is to go about peddling among the camps. Carry articles that will incite the urge to spend among the luxury hungry workers. Except for downright misers, all human beings love beauty and would like to use or wear something attractive. Carry different scented soaps, tooth brushes, powder, mirrors, pocket-knives etc., that you can carry in the back of a horse cart. Spread your wares at night at some friend's house and the people will come to you merely to inspect the goods out of curiosity because they have nothing else to do. You will be surprised at what your sales will amount to. Transactions will necessarily be in cash. Your expense will be the original cost of the horse and buggy, and the maintenance cost will consist of the capital to invest in the merchandise and some little present for the housekeeper where you spread your wares. You can have seven or eight camps to which you can go twice a month. If you have a mind to do it, I can stock you with the appropriate goods to start this business, and I shall give you the most favored rates, for I want to see you succeed."

For two years Arata followed Yone's advice and worked hard at retailing among the camps at night. Varieties of stock increased and soon he was carrying goods equivalent to those that lined the shelves of a small country store. It was a very good apprenticeship for him, for he had never had any business experience. He learned to mix with strangers, to make friends, to become above all a good listener to trivial talk and gossip. He learned quickly how important the last accomplishment was in winning boosters and friends. For many illiterates he wrote letters to their homes in Japan. He became a confidant to many in this way. In return, he bore them news of the world: news that he had gleaned through reading papers at Yone's. He still continued to read to the old man and to keep up with the world's movements himself. In time, country people bored with ennui at eventide came to look forward to the biweekly rounds of Arata. Business naturally improved with such a frame of mind among the customers.

One day Yone called him in the office and said, "Arata, it is about time you opened a store yourself. There is a limit to the amount of peddling you can do. The first part of your training is now over. Enter the next one as a storekeeper. Do you have in mind some locality where you would want to locate permanently? You must always bear in mind the competition, the type of customers, and the extent of patronage you are capable of getting."

"Thank you for your unfailing interest in me. By following your advice, I have not only earned quite a bit of money in the last two years, but I have learned a great deal of the world and the secrets of business success. For the latter knowledge I have had to go through a heart-aching failure or two before acquiring the knack of how to get along with the rank and file who are my prospective customers. About the place of business, I used to live at Makaweli and in that district I have a host of friends. Stores are not as numerous there as on this eastern end. I shall perhaps start there."

In this manner the Arata store had its beginning. It's birth was timed to occur on the sixth anniversary of Seikichi's arrival in Kauai. The store was very humble. The exterior was painted white. The lumber used was rough 1—12 and the corrugated iron roof was red. The ten by ten room had shelves on the walls, a counter, large lockers in the business room, and a small partitioned space in the rear served as a bedroom.

The shelves were lined only with goods that would meet a ready sale. In the beginning, non-essentials and articles of luxury were avoided. To ensure a quick turnover with limited capital, he must be discriminating in the selection of merchandise and be satisfied with a small margin of profit. Reasonableness in price was his best and most effective means of advertising. It used to be the custom for Japanese wholesale houses of Honolulu to credit little country stores liberally. For payment of one hundred dollars, three hundred dollar's worth of goods were sold with a grace period of three months. The wholesale merchants themselves had a one year grace period from the export merchants of Japan. The Japanese retail merchants were yet in the kindergarten stage and the big American wholesalers of Honolulu extended no credit to them. Seikichi obtained a better bargain for himself by demanding that he get special prices for his goods as he was getting only two hundred dollar's worth of articles for his hundred in cash. Besides, he was able to rely on Yone for special articles that could be bought cheaper than from the wholesalers. He only had to work harder and make many more friends.

Soon, not only Makaweli but neighboring plantations were included in his sphere of activity. It would not long remain a one man affair; he would in a short while send for his bride, one chosen by his parents. With a wife to help him at the store, he could resume peddling to the outlying camps. A wife was a necessity now. As to her feminine charms and adaptability and capabilities as a wife, the wiser and experienced eyes of his parents and elders would be more discerning than the judgment of a love-hungry youngster. There would be children and many of them. Employed help would be obtained and he would have branch stores in strategic places over Kauai. He would eventually expand to Honolulu where he would start a wholesale department. If everything should proceed as scheduled (he had drawn up a plan in his solitary moments of day-dreaming) he would have offices in San Francisco and Kobe. All the profits enjoyed by middlemen would be eliminated and he would emerge as Seikichi Arata, the international trader. Opportunity in Hawaii was abundant. It was there for the picking. Only hard work and a little imagination were necessary requisites. Courage was the deciding factor to embark on any untried experience.

In 1898, he wrote to his father:

My Dear Father,

I hope everybody, beginning with my august parents, is well, even during this present season of oppressive heat. I am well and pray do not trouble your mind on my account. I am fortunate in having prospered in my new venture. My humble store has quadrupled in business and I believe this fact is the result of your unceasing prayers at the altar of the gods for the success of your son in Hawaii. Under the circumstances I feel keenly the want of an extra pair of hands to assist me in my work and also to add completeness to my life. I am old enough to have a wife and would beseech my beloved parents to send me a helpmate who would meet with your approval. To your wise judgment I leave the entire matter. For only with such experienced eyes can a mother to bear sturdy sons to the Aratas be selected.

Sincerely, your son

Seikichi

Four months later, an answer and a parcel post arrived:

My Dear Son,

Your mother and I were extremely glad to receive your letter. The summer months were bad but now cool autumn is here. The present is the season of "high clear sky when horses wax fat " After the harvest we are now taking life easy. The 210th day monsoon storms did not strike this region and we are all rejoicing over a bumper crop of rice.

Regarding your request, we have been more than pleased. It is high time that you thought of such serious matters. We lost no time and approached Moemon-san who is almost a professional match-maker, to see if he had on his roster of eligible girls one that would meet with your approval. It was with chagrin that they were as the ancient saying goes, "too short for obi and too long for tasuki." So I took off and made rounds of relatives in different villages. When I came to Mitajiri and visited with Gengoro Yamaki, he was pleased and said his second daughter, now nineteen, might be available for this match. You know the Yamakis are related to us by marriage, but there is no blood relationship. Their line is not tainted with insanity, epilepsy, leprosy, or other obnoxious diseases. She had a few years of schooling—can write and do arithmetic—is healthy. As to her feminine charms, I am sending you a recent photograph so that you may judge for yourself Let me know your reaction. Your mother and I are enthusiastic about this match. The girl is not adverse to going to Hawaii.

Your loving Father.

Hurriedly, Seikichi opened the parcel. Under several wrappings of newspaper, a photograph of a buxom lass appeared. Under a coiffure that abruptly rose from her forehead—hair brushed up to leave both ears clear and a lump protruding at the nape of the neck—there was a rather round, plump face. She could not be called a beauty, but was by no means ugly. The full length picture showed her to be taller than the usual Japanese girl. Even the thick, many layered kimono could not hide the fact that she was well formed and strong limbed. Anyway, he wanted a helpmate, and a mother of his children. She must not be too tall, for he was not himself tall and it did not look dignified to have a wife taller than he. If her temperament, outlook on life, and womanly virtues passed the scrutiny of a jealous mother, then she must be allright. There was an irrepressible smile of satisfaction on his mouth. Life was sweet; there were many things to work for; the vista of human endeavor was unlimited.

A letter of acceptance, with a money order for two hundred dollars enclosed, was sent to his father on the following day. However, he did not breathe a word of his secret to anyone. He was too bashful to be tormented with well-intentioned but at times vulgar teasing by his friends. The arrival of his bride must be a complete surprise. Seikichi by this time was quite a businessman. As an after-thought he went around among his friends, organized a tanomoshi, and raised three hundred dollars under the pretext that further capital was needed for his active little shop.

When money was needed, it was obtained in a singular manner. A financial institution of mutual assistance among the common people of Japan evolved slowly during the centuries in a country without banks. It was meant to escape the predatory menace of usurious moneylenders. In Hawaii, happily, there was as yet no man of this vampire class, but the people did not forget the blessings of the tanomoshi system, which worked as follows. A fellow in need of a lump sum of cash would get together with his friends and ask for help. If twelve men, a convenient number, comprised this group, they would each contribute a fixed monthly sum of about ten dollars. The first month's proceeds of one hundred and twenty dollars was to go to the fellow in need of the money. Beginning with the second month, the remaining eleven had a chance to bid for the pot. The highest bidder got the money but he had to pay the other ten dividends, equal to the figure of the bid. This "return" was at least "ten percent. Sometimes it went as high as thirty percent. The longer one refrained from "taking" the tanomoshi, the more profitable it would be because the competition would be less keen and the dividend payment smaller towards the end. If he was the last, he would receive the one hundred twenty intact in addition to the monthly dividends he had been acquiring.

It was a convenient way of raising cash and a most profitable way of increasing funds for those that had money lying idle. The system operated so successfully that in later years other nationalities joined their Japanese friends in order to get better returns than banks were paying. Since there was no security or collateral and the system was based on credit and character only, it was not surprising to find absconders and deadbeats who betrayed their trust to the grief of trusting friends. That it continued to function in spite of these setbacks and in the face of commercial banks later on, is based on the soundness of its basic concept and simplicity of conduct to the satisfaction of all. Besides, it was a splendid way for friends to get together each month for a social affair and invariably a little refreshment was served at each meeting. There was no kow-towing to bank managers; there was no burden on the borrower in this arrangement.

Arata had two such tanomoshi of fifteen months each. He then sent three hundred dollars to his father with instructions to shop in the wholesale houses of Osaka and gather inexpensive articles of luxury and material suitable for male and female kimono. The material could be brought by his bride. In spite of the dusty toil that women had to endure, he knew human nature and its foibles enough to discern that attractive kimono and a desire for finery were not forgotten. To decorate and strut was not a monopoly of peacocks. To present a line of novel and attractive merchandise was the secret of commercial success. Combining marriage with business was not altogether bad. He prided himself tremendously for this masterful stroke of business acumen.