Takiji Kobayashi

“ 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. ”

“ 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 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. ”

“ 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 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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! ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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!” ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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!” ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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.” ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 ”