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10. “At the Right Time Some Poor Old Jew …”
10. “At the Right Time Some Poor Old Jew …”
Her life with the Tojo's settles into routine. Morning she helps Mrs. T. clean house then sits in kitchen talking over cups of coffee; after lunch she plays traditional music for the General then spends hour or so jotting down notes of what he says and ends the afternoon gardening till supper. Evening she prepares the General’s bath and gives him knuckle rubdown and massage; and at 9 PM listens with him to late news and then goes off to sleep in her room, waking at 5 for morning chore.
Weekend at Little Blue House.
Weekend at Little Blue House.
"What’s the Old Shit like? Made any passes yet?” asks Olga.
Kimi thought General Tojo quiet and fatherly. To the unbelieving Olga she explains he was and is monogamous and – from Mrs. T. – impotent since the time he had become Prime Minister. Harumi is interested in the political aspect. All Kimi has is Tojo’s childhood reminiscence of Jacob Meckel, German officer sent by the famous German Prime Minister Bismarck to Meiji Japan to organize the Japanese Army along Prussian lines and who had lived in the Tojo household as young Hideki’s godfather and mentor. “That explains his German sympathy,” Harumi remarks, making notes as if preparing a case.
Kimi who in her brief time with the Tojo's had developed a fondness for the ex Prime Minister disputes his being pro Nazi. Here she echoes Mrs. T. on how the General when he commanded the troops inManchukuo Japan Manchukuo
Kimi gives Mrs. T.'s version of her husband’s approval of his colleague’s, then Foreign Minister Matsuoka, statement to a delegation of Jewish businessmen on 31 December 1941: “I am the man responsible for the alliance with Hitler but nowhere have I said we will carry out his anti-Jewish policy in Japan, and I can promise you we shall not.”
Kimi thought General Tojo quiet and fatherly. To the unbelieving Olga she explains he was and is monogamous and – from Mrs. T. – impotent since the time he had become Prime Minister. Harumi is interested in the political aspect. All Kimi has is Tojo’s childhood reminiscence of Jacob Meckel, German officer sent by the famous German Prime Minister Bismarck to Meiji Japan to organize the Japanese Army along Prussian lines and who had lived in the Tojo household as young Hideki’s godfather and mentor. “That explains his German sympathy,” Harumi remarks, making notes as if preparing a case.
Kimi who in her brief time with the Tojo's had developed a fondness for the ex Prime Minister disputes his being pro Nazi. Here she echoes Mrs. T. on how the General when he commanded the troops in
Kimi gives Mrs. T.'s version of her husband’s approval of his colleague’s, then Foreign Minister Matsuoka, statement to a delegation of Jewish businessmen on 31 December 1941: “I am the man responsible for the alliance with Hitler but nowhere have I said we will carry out his anti-Jewish policy in Japan, and I can promise you we shall not.”
“Hogwash!” exclaims Harumi. “Only there a week and already brainwashed! Don’t you see: Tojo is preparing for his judgment day? And then some poor old Jew will be paid to tell the War Crimes Court
Kimi has no reply. Perhaps Harumi with her political smarts is correct but for Kimi there is something about Old Razorblade (Tojo's nickname) – now a used and discarded one – that is real and right. As yet many questions remain about who is responsible for the war, questions that still need answering before she can cast her first stone accurately. For now she reserves opinion, gathers fact and keeps mind open, following Tommy’s teaching of the Scientific Method of finding truth.
To read on, click 10.(11-13) Tojo and Friend
Kimi has no reply. Perhaps Harumi with her political smarts is correct but for Kimi there is something about Old Razorblade (Tojo's nickname) – now a used and discarded one – that is real and right. As yet many questions remain about who is responsible for the war, questions that still need answering before she can cast her first stone accurately. For now she reserves opinion, gathers fact and keeps mind open, following Tommy’s teaching of the Scientific Method of finding truth.
To read on, click 10.(11-13) Tojo and Friend
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