Opinion Miso-barrel princess By John Gathright	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
ミソだるの中のお姫さま ミソだるで作ったツリーハウスに住む筆者はある朝、ミソだるの一つに 家出した女の子が隠れているのを見つけ、 びっくり仰天した。だが、その後、 その子は自分の手で人生を変えた…。

Many of our readers probably know that my family and I live in a miso-barrel tree house in the mountains of Seto, Japan. The house was a dream come true, but we couldn't have done it without the help of a number of volunteers. There is one particular team of volunteers I will never forget. They were the futoko kids (children who don't go to school) - and one little girl in particular.

Early one morning, tools in hand, I climbed the ladder into one of the miso barrels to start work and got the shock of my life. There in the miso barrel was a little girl and her puppy, staring up at me with big, sad eyes. She was very young, very scared and very pregnant. It is not often that you find a young, pregnant girl in a barrel in the forest.

Her life had started off very much like Cinderella in the fairytales but with a modern-day twist. Her father had remarried a horrid lady who abused the young girl and was jealous of his love for her. The father, a busy doctor, had neglected his daughter and left her in the hands of her monstrous step-mother. Cinderella had run away looking for love in the wrong places and ended up pregnant and homeless, seeking refuge in our barrel.

I later learned that one of the futoko kids who had been helping at the tree house had led her there in the middle of the night. My heart went out to this little girl in dirty blue jeans with scruffy hair and dirty, tear-stained cheeks.

The climax of this story is not finding her in a barrel but what she has since done with her life. She shed the guilt and anger toward her parents, and over the past few years, she has taken hold of her own life and the princess inside her has blossomed into a wonderful mother and woman. She is charitable, kind, confident and stunningly attractive.

It has not been easy. She had to learn to love herself despite being hated by her step-mother. Her father has also had to develop emotionally and learn to understand and appreciate his daughter. It is with his support and help that she is now about to leave for England with her little son to start studying in London.

She has the dream of being a counselor for troubled youth. She is close to bilingual and jokes that she is bi-cultured in desolate and blissful youth culture.

I share this story with you all because I really believe that youth have the great power to change their own lives and that there is great joy in helping them.

I have the opportunity to work with many great young people who don't realize their potential. They often vent their anger and frustration on others and themselves. Taking drugs or resorting to violence is self-destructive and meaningless but unfortunately so many of our youth chose this path.

Japan has an ever-increasing population of angry and disillusioned youth who could become bi-cultured like the girl in the miso barrel. By re-channeling their anger and using the depths of their experience and their "hard-knocks wisdom" they have much to give society.

Shukan ST: July 18, 2003

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