If someone asked me when is my best time in my life , I would answer
“ Now “ or “ times since I started living with my husband Ray “.
And I look forward to our future life as well.
pictureTYO via photo pin cc
On the other hand, I love to see historical scenery, buildings, old towns , and when it comes to Showa Era in Japan, whenever I see photos or information about Showa Era, it makes me feel nostalgic.
The Showa period started from 1926 ( Dec 25 ) and ended in 1989 ( January 7 ).
I remember that when the Showa Emperor passed away, the new time period called Heisei period started, I was talking with my friends and co-workers, that someday or soon, Heisei kids will grow and we will be called as “ Showa Era people, “ with laugh and excitement .
And now, its already 2012, time flew 24 years since then.
I still can’t believe its past such a long time since then .
Really.
Since we moved here to Tucson, I’m feeling like time is stopping I don’t know why.
Recently I happened to come across Japanese site for question & answers with many kind of topics.
I discovered many new Japanese slang or trend words while reading their questions and opinions there.
People’s age sounds like teens to 60S.
And as we guessed , Showa already became an old generation.
Showa style, Showa face, Showa fashion, Showa houses, Showa idol stars.
When Heisei people use these words, their meaning is it’s not cool and it’s dowdy.
I love Showa era.
( My grandmother's sister owned this kind of store above )
Liqueur Felix via photo pin cc tripflyin via photo pin cc
Especially love to see buildings and scenery which are like early Showa era.
Something warm.
I was born in the era that is called late 30S in Showa.
In that time period, concrete buildings were getting more and more increasing including schools , but there were also houses and building which were made of wood .
Showa 30S ( 1955 - 1964 ) was high growing time period after the world war 2, and kids who were born during this time were called as “ new human generation “ later .
My parents moved to a brand new modern building which was made of concrete in the 10th floor in a convenient place where there are many stores, close to downtown before the year I was born.
The place I grew up was western style in some parts.
But bath tub was made of woods, and scared to put fire to heat it up when I was a little girl.
There was a laundry hanging places in the top of the building. But it also looked like a playground with uneven bars, so the place were also used as kids playground.
My grandmother ’s house where my uncles and aunts were living in Kanagawa were still old Japanese style house which were made of wood.
They re-built it to modern style when I was around 6 or 7 years old.
Later, my step-mother who my dad got married with after divorced with my mom, sometimes took me to her hometown “ Karuizawa, in Nagano “ and that was also old Japanese style house made of wood.
In Showa 20s ( 1945 - 1954) 3 electric products, “ TV, Washing machine , Refrigerator “ were house wife’s dream items to have at that time.
And later, during the high growing era , 30S( 1955 - 1964), it became color TV, air conditioner ( cooler ), car.
I remember a Color TV, a refrigerator , a rice cooker, a washing machine, a telephone , a car were all in our home when I was around 4 or 5.
But cooler ?
Whenever I see the photos of the scenery of Showa era , I always think how could I live without air conditioner in summer time at that time ?
Summer time in Tokyo in Japan is very humid and boiling hot.
I loved to go to a public swimming pool where there is a big slide during summer, and almost everyday I went there during summer school holidays.
We got our private cooler when I was around 9 after moved to a house. It was put in our dining room.
.jpg)
( In the sports day school excursion when I was in the first grade of elementary school. me = in the middle )
Sento,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentou This image was created by Chris 73.
Even though we had our own private bath in our home, I loved to go to Sento ( Public Bath house ) with my friends.
There were two entrances which are separated by women’s bath area and men ‘s bath area.
( Entrance of Sento )
There is a tall wall between the women’s bath side and men’s bath side.
There was no shower at that time, and were two big bath tubs, one for deep and a little hotter, and one for shallower and bigger.
And there were several set of faucets which are one for hot, one for cold water along with the wall and in the middle of the room.
Bath bowls were piling up in the corner of the room.
Without shower, washing our hair took a time to rinse all the bubble from our hair.
After took the bath, I always enjoyed drinking cold milk coffee which was in the small bottle by paying small amount of change.
I haven’t been to Sento since I was 18 years old.
There was jet bath area in the bath but no sauna.
Later after Heisei period started I often loved to go to Spa house where there are many kind of bathes , variety of saunas, reintroduce steam baths, include Jacuzzis.
While thinking about Showa era, and I started reading about Japanese history of Showa period , and I realized that my parents and my grandparents generation may be the toughest time period in Showa era who experienced World war 2 and etc..
.jpg)
( House where we lived when I was 10 to 12 years old )
My parents often told me about their childhood story.
And also told me the importance of foods, and never waste foods.
“ During the war, there was no foods and we all couldn’t eat. Eat everything in the dishes. “
My dad often told me like that.
My mom always told me how blessed you are, you have to appreciate things and your situation.
.jpg)
( Old Japanese style house where we lived when I was 13 to 15 years old. )
I was interested in their hard life experience, but I felt like it’s like another world, or things it happened a long long time ago because it was far from my generation.
He graduated from National University in Kyushu, all by himself because our grandparents had 9 kids and my dad was fourth child, they were not rich, ( actually most of people was poor at that time ) , so my dad worked hard , and also studied hard to pass the examination of the University.
My Mom often told me, their generation's people who graduated university were all amazing.
In that time period, unless you are rich kids who can go to private University , they had to go through super tough competition to pass the examination to be able to go to National University.
My dad told me he was scolded when he was studying, because they didn’t consider studying to be working .
“ If you have time to study, then work ! “
That’s what he was told by his parents.
In my generation, I was scolded when I was being lazy, or playing without doing homework, or not studying.
While thinking about the history of Showa through my life and experience, I found tons of things I appreciate in my life including my present circumstance.
.jpg)
It may be obvious but I noticed that what we value, the view of life are changing with every generation.
And later, during the high growing era , 30S( 1955 - 1964), it became color TV, air conditioner ( cooler ), car.
I remember a Color TV, a refrigerator , a rice cooker, a washing machine, a telephone , a car were all in our home when I was around 4 or 5.
But cooler ?
Whenever I see the photos of the scenery of Showa era , I always think how could I live without air conditioner in summer time at that time ?
Summer time in Tokyo in Japan is very humid and boiling hot.
I loved to go to a public swimming pool where there is a big slide during summer, and almost everyday I went there during summer school holidays.
We got our private cooler when I was around 9 after moved to a house. It was put in our dining room.
Sento,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentou This image was created by Chris 73.
Even though we had our own private bath in our home, I loved to go to Sento ( Public Bath house ) with my friends.
There were two entrances which are separated by women’s bath area and men ‘s bath area.
There is a tall wall between the women’s bath side and men’s bath side.
There was no shower at that time, and were two big bath tubs, one for deep and a little hotter, and one for shallower and bigger.
And there were several set of faucets which are one for hot, one for cold water along with the wall and in the middle of the room.
Bath bowls were piling up in the corner of the room.
Without shower, washing our hair took a time to rinse all the bubble from our hair.
After took the bath, I always enjoyed drinking cold milk coffee which was in the small bottle by paying small amount of change.
I haven’t been to Sento since I was 18 years old.
There was jet bath area in the bath but no sauna.
Later after Heisei period started I often loved to go to Spa house where there are many kind of bathes , variety of saunas, reintroduce steam baths, include Jacuzzis.
While thinking about Showa era, and I started reading about Japanese history of Showa period , and I realized that my parents and my grandparents generation may be the toughest time period in Showa era who experienced World war 2 and etc..
My parents often told me about their childhood story.
And also told me the importance of foods, and never waste foods.
“ During the war, there was no foods and we all couldn’t eat. Eat everything in the dishes. “
My dad often told me like that.
My mom always told me how blessed you are, you have to appreciate things and your situation.
I was interested in their hard life experience, but I felt like it’s like another world, or things it happened a long long time ago because it was far from my generation.
He graduated from National University in Kyushu, all by himself because our grandparents had 9 kids and my dad was fourth child, they were not rich, ( actually most of people was poor at that time ) , so my dad worked hard , and also studied hard to pass the examination of the University.
My Mom often told me, their generation's people who graduated university were all amazing.
In that time period, unless you are rich kids who can go to private University , they had to go through super tough competition to pass the examination to be able to go to National University.
My dad told me he was scolded when he was studying, because they didn’t consider studying to be working .
“ If you have time to study, then work ! “
That’s what he was told by his parents.
In my generation, I was scolded when I was being lazy, or playing without doing homework, or not studying.
While thinking about the history of Showa through my life and experience, I found tons of things I appreciate in my life including my present circumstance.
It may be obvious but I noticed that what we value, the view of life are changing with every generation.