Masatoshi and Rosana were childhood friends. They were always together, doing their homework and playing. However, after graduating from junior high school, Rosana went to São Paulo to work at her aunt's beauty salon. After that, they lost contact.

Seven years later, Masatoshi went on to college, but was unable to pay the tuition fees, so he went to work in Japan. One day, he was eating ^feijoada and ^a huge bowl of farofa at a Brazilian restaurant.

"By any chance, Massa! It's been a while!" a woman approached me.

I couldn't really tell who it was because his blonde hair hung around his face like a curtain, but I knew there was only one person in the world who called himself "Massa."

"Zana? Perhaps, Zana?!"

Masatoshi was the only one who called Rosana "Zana."

As Masatoshi stood up to speak, a man wearing a black hat sitting two seats behind him called out to Rosana, "Hey, let's go."

Rosana asked for Masatoshi's phone number, wrote it down on the palm of her hand with a pen, and hurried out of the restaurant.

"I never thought I'd meet Zana again in Japan, and especially at a restaurant," said Masatoshi in surprise. Just before coming to Japan, Masatoshi had visited São Paulo on some business and had tried to find Rosana's aunt's address. However, someone else was already living there. A nearby store clerk told him that Rosana and her aunt had moved away quite some time ago.

"I wish I could have talked to Zana more slowly," Masatoshi thought, as he remembered many things from the past.

Rosana was raised by her grandmother and spoke Japanese and sang Japanese songs as a child, but when she became a junior high school student, she became obsessed with Brazilian TV dramas and stopped using Japanese. She also insisted on going to see a male idol group show, despite her grandmother's protests, which caused her grandmother a lot of trouble. Worried, her grandmother asked Masatoshi to go with Rosana. Masatoshi, who was asked by his grandmother, remembered that the show he went to with Rosana was very enjoyable, even though it was a show with only female fans.

Masatoshi fondly recalled the days he spent with his childhood friend and waited for Rosana's call. However, a month passed and there was no contact. "I wonder if she's doing well. Zana is a hard worker, so she'll be fine," he thought, not particularly worried.

Masatoshi returned to Brazil after working in Japan for two years.

A year before, his parents had closed their stationery store after many years of operation. Masatoshi gifted his parents a trip to a hot spring. He made fond memories with his sister and her husband, and his nephew and niece. Masatoshi returned to college and found a good job. His new life was going well. He was grateful that he had made it all possible thanks to living in Japan.

One morning, before leaving, he got a phone call. It was Rosana! "Where are you calling from?" He couldn't hear clearly, so Masatoshi called back to Rosana. When he called back, Rosana didn't say much, probably because she was nervous. Then, a man's voice took over.

"Hello, you must be Masatoshi. Nice to meet you, my name is Pastor Makoto. I am also Japanese-Brazilian. Rosana was seven months pregnant and lost her home, so she came to our church for help. Her baby was born safely and is now three months old. She says she has no relatives or acquaintances in Japan and would like to return to Brazil. After doing some research, I found this contact information for Masatoshi. I am happy to be in touch. Could you help Rosana? Thank you."

After that, Rosana called Masatoshi several times. And she told him the story up to that point. Four years after she went to Sao Paulo, Rosana left her aunt's house and started living with her boyfriend. The plan for the two of them was to go to Japan. And she went to Japan without knowing that her grandmother had been hospitalized due to illness and died soon after. She also didn't know that her aunt had closed her beauty salon and moved.

``I did bad things, and this is what I got! I abandoned my grandmother who worked so hard to raise me. I also abandoned my aunt who gave me a house and a job. That's why my husband ran away and I was thrown away like trash!''

After talking with him a few times, Rosana decided to live in Japan, and one day she told Masatoshi, "You have a pure heart, Massa! Let's meet again someday, when my heart is pure!"

Since then, Rosana has not called, but Masatoshi feels relieved. "I'm sure Rosana will recover!"

The Ippei tree seen from the window was in full bloom! Masatoshi remembered a song he learned in Japan and began to sing it, repeating his favorite phrase.

"Farewell my friend, time to depart, now those unchanging feelings" ³

Let's do our best again tomorrow!

Note

1. Feijoada is a Brazilian home-cooked dish made with beans and meat.

2. Farofa is a fried cassava flour "furikake"

3. From "Sakura" written by Naotaro Moriyama

© 2021 Laura Honda-Hasegawa