(Asahi Shimbun)
I was reminded of “Yomu Kusuri” (Medicine one reads), a column by Junichiro Uemae that ran in the weekly Shukan Bunshun magazine, while I was turning the pages of a pocket edition of a book of candid comments by young children. The kids’ comments originally appeared in the “Anone” (You know what) column of the vernacular Asahi Shimbun. Here are a few from the book, meant as mild tonics to help readers feeling the strain of adulthood.
Most adults would smile at twins dressed in matching outfits. But that is not how the children react. “Which one of them is real?” asked 4-year-old Ayane.
The world is full of mysteries. Watching her grandmother put eggplants into rice-bran paste to make nuka pickles, 4-year-old Eri asked: “Why are you hiding them?”
Children are honest to the extent of cruelty. In many cases, mothers are victims of their innocent zingers. Tomohiro, 4, who watched as his mother drove their car for a long while with a nervous look on her face, observed: “You’re driving with the eyes of a monster.”
Watching his mother apply makeup, 3-year-old Yuki asked: “Are you repairing your eyebrows?”
Two-year-old Sho, who exclaimed, “Yabai!” (oh no!) when he stepped on a scale, was apparently imitating his mom.
Some children make strange remarks that are beyond comprehension. While washing her hair by herself, 6-year-old Kyoko uttered: “My little sister will always be my little sister!”
“This marks the end of my day,” said a satisfied 5-year-old Akio while biting into a mini-ice bar after his evening bath. To the boy, perhaps that frozen treat was like the nightcap that some people sip to unwind at the end of the day.
When a friend’s balloon flew up into the sky, a mother said it was only natural to feel sorry for the balloon, but her 4-year-old daughter Kyoka said: “But the clouds will be happy.”
That girl’s upside-down view of things shares something in common with the poems of Misuzu Kaneko (1903-1930). After her daughter was not allowed to enter an authorized day care center, the mother broke down and cried. When 4-year-old Yae saw her mother’s tears, she said: “When you want others to accept you, all you have to do is say so aloud and they will let you in.” That comment brings tears to the eyes.
Four-year-old Eri clutched the billowing curtains at a window and exclaimed: “I’ve caught the wind!”
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