Takiji Kobayashi

“ Women in warm coats and men in thick camel-hair jackets went by. Workers and young lads with big empty bowls, children arm-in-arm, strolled past. Okee’s sorrow grew and grew. Hundreds of people were sacrificing their lives—and for what? For the workers. Was it right, was it just—that nobody thought anything about it, that people went by laughing and chattering as if nothing had happened? Okee could not understand it. Here in the street there did not seem to be any signs of trouble. Maybe the passers-by did not know anything about the arrests, and that was why they had such happy faces. ”

“ The prison in the police headquarters was full. Every time the keys grated in the lock the prisoners inside would stop their talk and look up eagerly. Watari, Senzomoto, Sessito and Sakanishi would recognize the newcomers and welcome them. The policeman standing guard would get as red as a turkey-cock. He would puff out his chest and make a fuss and splutter. Nobody paid any attention to him. All the fifteen men locked in this cell had been comrades, had fought side by side in the front rank. ”

“ In the saloon the captain was entertaining the head of the Marine Police and the big bugs of the Seamen’s Unions.
“Blast them, they’re just guzzling it down,” said the steward sulkily.
The fishermen’s “den” was lit by a tiny electric light about as big as a berry. The air was foul and stinking with tobacco smoke and crowded humanity. Sprawling in their bunks the men looked like wriggling maggots.
The boss, followed by the captain, the company’s factory representative and the foreman came down the hatch into the men’s quarters. ”

“ The chief of the City Electric Bureau even wept tears before those crawling worms of the Young Men’s Association. His unexpected behaviour amazed, excited and stirred Arisuke and his mates to the depths of their souls. They pledged themselves to work for the 4,000,000 citizens regardless of consequences. With a little exaggeration you might say that for such inexperienced men it meant risking their lives. Arisuke himself, at Miyakezaka, made a mistake in putting on the brakes, and damaged the back of the car ahead. ”

“ The young fishermen were very amused at him. “That’s it, that’s it,” they said and laughed.
“Workers like this. Men that don’t work like this” (repeating the same gestures) . “Like that no good. Workers like this!” (this time just the opposite, swelling out his chest and walking haughtily) . “Men that don’t work like this!” (looking like a decrepit beggar) . “That very good. Understand? That country, Russia. Only workers like this!” (haughty) . “Russia. We have no men who don’t work. No cunning men. No men who seize your throat. Understand? Russia not at all terrible country. ”

“ Next the boss started to give “prizes” to the winning side. The smouldering fire was once more fanned into flame.
“They soon fall for it,” he said as he sat drinking beer with the captain in the latter’s cabin. The captain had dimpled hands like a plump woman. Tapping a gold-tipped cigarette on the table, he answered with an amiable uncomprehending smile. He was in a continuous state of frustrated annoyance because the boss was always intruding on his rights. He wondered whether the men might not suddenly seize an opportunity to beat-up the fellow and dump him into the Sea of Kamchatka! ”

“ When a car drew up in front of Shinjuku Station, a crowd like an army of ants would surround it in no time. Office workers, who had to be at their offices by ten minutes to nine, kept pulling out their watches and scowling in exasperation as they mingled with the crowds: “This is outrageous. They’re free to strike, but I wish they’d do it so as not to inconvenience others.” ”

“ The police allow themselves all sorts of licence.”
The workers listened attentively to Rinkichi Ogawa. Sometimes they shouted excitedly and stamped their feet.
Rinkichi added:
“It says in our constitution, comrades—‘No Japanese subject can be arrested, imprisoned or punished without lawful reason.’ And how do things really stand? We have never done anything that could be regarded as lawful reason for arrest. We have been thrown into prison without trial and sentence. Our laws and constitution are a network of lies and fraud.” ”

“ After each wave washed over the ship the deck became a skating rink. A rope was fastened across the deck to which the crew hung. They looked like clothes on a line. The boss kept shouting at everybody.
A second crabcanning ship which had left Hakodate at the same time was now out of sight. From the summit of the waves, in the distance could be seen its two masts as they rocked up and down like a drowning man waving his arms. A trail of smoke, thin as if from a cigarette, was blown in puffs along the waves. At intervals, above the waves, shouting was heatd and a whistle from the second ship. ”

“ Watari roared in his deep voice. His sonorous tones never failed to make a profound impression.
Ishida stood apart and watched his comrades. Childish would have been too mild a term to apply to their conduct, in his opinion. He always got angry when people like Sessito—and there were many such in the union—made rows on the slightest provocation. According to Ishida, it was advisable only to use defensive methods on exceptionally important occasions, and then do it thoroughly. In general, it was better to save one’s strength than to get worked up over every trifle. ”

“ His iron will resisted all their torture until unconsciousness and then death relieved him. The police took the dead body to a hospital and got a false death certificate saying the doctor had seen him before death and that he was suffering from heart trouble.
The relatives were then called and the body was handed over to them. His fine old mother of sixty, Oseisan, was in sympathy with his ideas and asked that he be given, not a religious funeral, but a workers’ one. When she saw the body she turned on the police and said that never would she believe he had died a natural death. ”

“ Every sleeper on every track in Hokkaido represents the corpse of some worker. And the piles sunk in the harbour reclamation are all the bodies of workers who died of beri-beri.
Profits were just scooped up. Then very skilfully such catch phrases as “the development of national wealth” were tacked on to these enterprises, which were thus completely justified. The capitalists were very shrewd. “For the sake of their country” the workers were starved and beaten to death. ”

“ The sailors and firemen hurried about the deck, watching their step at the same time. Like an old cock with his comb standing up, the boss watched them.
During a lull in the work the students sat down behind some cargo to avoid the wind. The fisherman who came from the coal-mine suddenly turned the corner.
“It’s risking our lives!” This sentence, fraught with real feeling, that had slipped out was like a direct stab into the students’ breasts. “And in the mine it was just the same. You don’t seem able to live without being haunted by death. ”

“ As I have said, Arisuke was a steady, high-principled young fellow. When such people begin to doubt the value of the work they have put their whole heart and soul into, the result is often serious. Arisuke had become ashen pale all of a sudden.
To come upon such a girl in Tamanoi or in Kameido is nothing very out of the ordinary. ”

“ Rinkichi shook his head.
“Why isn’t it any use?” Seato started on him, as he had always done in the trade union during a hot debate.
“Now there’s no sense in that. We’re locked in. If we make a row it’ll only make things worse for us, and give them a reason to wipe us out. Our movement must develop in the streets, we must have the support of the whole working population. And actions like these, carried out by a score or so of people—are no good for anyone. ”

“ When in Japan itself a deadlock had been reached because the workers had refused to be imposed upon, and because all the markets had been flooded, the capitalists made a grab at Hokkaido and Saghalien. There they were able to exploit as ruthlessly as in the colonies of Korea and Formosa. But these same capitalists knew many things which no one dared to mention. In their quarters at these road construction and railroad construction works navvies were killed with less ceremony than lice. Exploited beyond endurance, some ran away. ”

“ Have y’got no shame, workers like us to go riding on a scab street-car. Get out and walk, you bastards.”
For two days this went on. Then the third day came, and the situation ceased to be a joke for anyone. It was then the Young Men’s Association, with red badges on the arm of their uniforms, started to man the cars. Not only Arisuke, but one and all wore a proud but strained look, like men who have been picked to make an attack into the enemy’s territory. ”

“ The boss made a practice of branding the man who did least work each day. He did this with a red-hot rod applied to the man’s body. The men worked on—all the time in dread of that brand, which would cling to them for ever like their own shadow. An upward curve was again noticeable in the work.
What are the limits of physical endurance? At any rate the boss knew them better than the men. When the day’s work was over they rolled like logs into their bunks, unable to repress their groans. ”

“ Every day the newspapers came out with flaring headlines about the strike.
“Strikers bringing ruin on the whole town! Houses of rich men to be burnt to the ground!” or “Clash between strikers and police! Hundreds arrested! “Strike still hanging over the town like a curse!” Kudo and Watari had already been arrested.
Okee knew that her husband spent nearly every night at the trade union. That he was taking part in organizing the strike she also knew. ”

“ When, for instance, these people have achieved some “supremely glorious” exploit, they feel, more than lesser mortals ever do, a naive desire to kick over the traces. So it happened, rightly or wrongly, that Arisuke went with two or three mates to have just one glass.
“Damn it all, a man wants on an occasion lke this ...” Truly strange sentiments to flow, from his lips. As a member of the Young Men’s Association he had been working for the 4,000,000 citizens of Tokyo, which for the past four days had been a “legless” city. ”

“ But later on when active workers from the union came and told her of the workers’ bitter lot, she sympathized with the workers’ struggle. She herself grew to hate the exploiters who were robbing the oppressed classes. She came to understand that the work of her husband and his comrades was indeed a great work. ”

“ Then, not only our crab canneries but also our salmon and trout fisheries in Kamchatka give us a great advantage over the other nations. And they are of special importance in such a densely populated country as ours, besides helping to supply the community with food supplies. I want you all to realize we are serving our Empire when we risk our lives braving the stormy seas of Hokkaido. So if any one of you start imitating the Russian tactics that are popular nowadays and stir up trouble, I tell you, that man would be doing nothing short of selling his country. ”

“ It’s getting quicker all the time!”
The operator translated for the captain and the boss. They all stood dead still with their chins set involuntarily and their shoulders braced. Their eyes were glued on the operator’s fingers and followed them as they glided deftly over the different switches and buttons.
Every time the ship pitched the electric light, set like a pimple in the wall, brightened and dimmed. The sound of the waves breaking side on mingled with the ceaseless sinister whistling of the distress signal. ”

“ Kudo’s comrades from the union had asserted, more than once, that Oyoshi was developing class-consciousness in her children. As a matter of fact, their upbringing was not carried on along any definite principles. Life itself educated them. ”

“ All the miners, like men who have been in prison a long time, had sallow complexions and listless faces. What with lack of sunlight, and coal dust and air full of obnoxious gases, and abnormal temperatures and pressures, they could notice their own bodies deteriorate. “If you were a miner for seven or eight years, then for roughly four or five years out of it you were in a pit of darkness, without one chance of ever worshipping the sun—for four or five years!” ”

“ Two or three excited fishermen rushed along the deck. When they reached the end they reeled and grasped hold of the railing. The carpenter, who was doing some repairing on the saloon deck, looked over in the direction the men had gone. The cutting wind brought tears to his eyes, so that at first he could not see clearly. He turned his head aside and blew his nose vigorously.
The port-quarter winch was rattling. As all were out fishing now there was no reason to be working it. ”

“ Should we just listen to your theories?”
At that moment four policemen entered the cell. One of them, a thick-set man with a square beard, looked at them quietly for a moment and then said:
“You know, I hope, that you’re in a police cell now. What’s all this noise about?”
He started to knock the workers about. When he went for Seato, the latter jumped quickly aside and the policeman struck out too far and lost his balance. Enraged, he shouted, “Eh, you rascal!” and threw himself upon Seato. In a second Seato’s body struck the wall with a dull, heavy thud. ”

“ Asakawa drummed on the side of the boat with his fingers.
“She’s in fine condition,” he grinned. “We’ll take her along with us.”
The boat No. 36 was hoisted on to the bridge of the Hakko Maru. As she hung in mid-air drops of water fell from her on to the deck. With an air of pride which seemed to say, “That’s a nice bit of work,” the boss surveyed the boat as she was being raised up and murmured to himself, “She’s a beauty, a real beauty.”
The fishermen watched him as they untangled the nets. “He’s nothing but a blasted robber! ”

“ In a separate place like a little island in the centre of the compartment they set out their goods. The men from the bunks on all four sides leaned out and rallied and joked at them.
Among the fishermen were some who had been sold as “octopuses” to the navvies’ shacks, on tracts of land just being opened up, or to railway construction camps in the interior of Hokkaido; others were wanderers who had sought and failed to get a living anywhere, and some only thought of getting enough sake to drink. ”

“ A committee is formed and the men are organized. One morning they are ordered to set out fishing in the boats, although a storm is clearly approaching. One boat refuses and the revolt spreads all over the ship. A student goes down below to tell the firemen and a mass meeting is held. A deputation goes to the boss with demands, which he refuses. The deputation attacks the boss. He is afraid to use his revolver. Everyone is jubilant but later the cruiser is seen approaching and the men realize they have been fooled and that the boss has sent a wireless. ”

“ Returning to their quarters they all shouted, “Blast!” In the darkness their voices, full of hatred, sounded like the bellowing of bulls. Although they did not know against whom they were aimed, the thoughts, the words and actions of these 200 men, talking freely together day after day, came imperceptibly to move in one direction. ····· It was morning. Climbing slowly up the companionway the miner said, “I can’t keep it up.” ”

“ The capitalists—the bankers and millionaires—merely lent out what was really false money, and in course of time the peasants’ barren land, now transformed into sleek, fat acres, passed automatically into these gentlemen’s hands. Imitating them, many sharp-eyed speculators flooded Hokkaido, and the farmers had their property snatched from them, so that in the end they became tenant-farmers just like at home. ”

“ The boss began hunting through the workers’ cabins, the fishermen’s, the sailors’, even the firemen’s. He dragged everyone out regardless of whether they had colds or were ill. There was no wind, but as they worked on the deck their fingers and toes lost all power of feeling. The foreman, cursing in a loud voice, drove fourteen or fifteen of them into the factory. ”

“ The boss and the foreman tormented the sick men very slyly. When they were working at canning the meat they would be driven out and set to breaking claws on deck. When they had been at that for a little while they would be sent off to paste labels. They were made to stand in the bitter cold until their legs had less feeling than artificial limbs. If they just relaxed their knee-joints would crack like a hinge coming apart and they would almost double up in a heap.
One student started to tap his brow lightly with the back of a hand all dirtied with breaking the crabs. ”

“ It was the first time that the fishermen and sailors saw the boss like this. On the deck hundreds of crabs let out of the nets made a grating sound as they crawled about. The work accumulated like a blocked drain. ····· “The transport! The transport!” This cry from the upper deck was heard below. Everyone jumped out of his bunk just as he was, in his sleeping rags. The transport aroused the men more than a woman would. It alone did not smell of the salt sea, but had a breath of Hakkodate clinging to it. ”

“ The Japanese one was a film showing a poor young man who started by peddling beans, then sold newspapers and step by step came to shoe shining; next he entered a factory, became a Model Worker, was made much of and finally became a millionaire.
The lecturer added, though it was not in the titles, “Verily if industry is not the mother of success, what is?” The young hands applauded earnestly. From among the fishermen and sailors came a loud voice, “Bloody lies! If that was true I’d have been director before now!” ”

“ He fell forward several times and banged his forehead on the props. His whole body was soaked with mud and blood. Then he tripped over one of the sleepers and, turning a somersault, struck the rail and again lost consciousness. ”

“ Three days after the Hakko Maru returned to her original position and the missing boat came back. Everyone on board was safe and sound.
Because of the storm they had lost control of their boat. They were more helpless than babes strung up by the neck. They were all prepared for death. Fishermen must always be ready for death.
Their boat had been washed up on the coast of Kamchatka, and they were rescued by some Russians living near. The Russians were a family of four. Thirsty as they were for a “home” with women and children in it, this place held an indescribable attraction for the sailors. ”

“ Hoping to make even a little money and then go back to their native villages, they had crossed Tsukaru Strait and come to snowy Hokkaido. In the crab ships were many such ones who had been driven off their own lands by other people.
In the mainland the workers united into one huge mass and resisted the capitalists. But workers in the colonies were cut off completely from any such things.
Before bed the fishermen stripped off their shirts, which had become hard like dried fish with grime, and spread them before the stove. ”

“ The Western picture was an American one, built round the opening up of the West. It told of men attacked by savages, overwhelmed by the ravages of Nature, but rising up again and laying the railroad foot by foot. The towns which sprang up overnight seemed just like joints of the railway. As the railroad was pushed forward new towns appeared further and futher westward.
All these various trials and hardships were interwoven with the love story of a navvy and the director’s daughter ”

“ As soon as they got up into their bunks dozens of fleas would start crawling stealthily up their legs.
At first they had been allowed a bath every other day, and even then their bodies were always smelly and dirty. After a week it became every third day, and after about a month once a week. Finally they were reduced to twice a month. This was to save water. But the captain and the boss had a bath every day. The men became filthy with the juice from the crabs and stayed like that for days on end, so that it was no wonder lice and bugs began to swarm. ”

“ But, no matter what happened, the capitalists didn’t mind very much, as they could always buy up plenty of new workers as substitutes. When winter came the workers continued to pour into those mines.
There were also “pioneer farmers”—that is to say, farmers who had immigrated to Hokkaido. Through cinema propaganda these poor peasants had been induced to leave their own holding and settle on land which four or five inches below the surface was nothing but clay. All the fertile land was already claimed. ”

“ The sick men had all their coverings pulled off them and were then pushed up on to the deck. Those with beri-beri banged their toes against the stairs. They climbed up, clutching the rail with one hand, grasping their feet with the other to help them up. At every step each heart would give a horrible kick. ”

“ Early that morning the boss had received warning of the storm from the Maru, which was anchored about ten miles away. The message also said that if the boats were out they should be recalled immediately, Asakawa had said: “If we’re going to take notice of every little thing that comes along, do you think we’ll ever get finished with the job we came all the way to Kamchatka to do?” This information had leaked out through the wireless operator.
The first sailor to hear this had started to roar at the operator as if he had been Asakawa. “What does he think human lives are, anyway?” ”

“ In learning what kind of gases might come out, or what untoward changes take place, and thus finding the best plan of procedure, the capitalists calmly sacrificed worker after worker—anyhow, they were cheaper to buy for the purpose than guinea-pigs. ”