After his beloved wife died of illness, Marco's father left his only son with his parents and went to Sao Paulo to work. After three years, he finally found a stable job and a place to live, so he called his son Marco over.
Marco is 11 years old and his dream is to live with his beloved Daddy 1 !
Every morning they would get up early, and Marco would go to school and his father would go to work. Their days were filled with joy. Marco's favorite thing to do was to visit his father at work on the weekends.
The place was a snack bar in the center of the Liberdade district, known as the "Oriental Town of São Paulo." Marco was proud to see his father working there. The Italian papa had put tofu and shimeji mushrooms in Brazilian pastel 2 , made it into a signature dish, and greatly increased the restaurant's sales.
After graduating from junior high school, Marco went to night school while working part-time at a pharmacy. He continued to attend Liberude and became more and more interested in Japan. Looking at the swords shining in the shop windows and the flyers advertising Japanese language classes, he browsed manga in bookstores and rented samurai movies on video. "That's right. It would be so much fun if I could speak Japanese!" he thought, and immediately started attending Japanese language classes.
There he met Sumie. She was two years older than Marco and worked at a beauty salon. Her dream was to open a beauty salon in Japan, "in a town with a lot of Brazilians, I'd make everyone beautiful and make a lot of money."
At first, Marco was surprised, asking, "Why such a big dream?", but he was increasingly drawn to Sumie's determination. In the end, the two got married when Marco was 22 and Sumie was 24. However, they were separated at first.
"I'll be fine, so Marco, you just graduate from college and help Dad start his new business, and then you can come to Japan," Sumie encouraged her husband.
Sumie rented a small house near a supermarket run by her brother and his wife, who had immigrated to Japan, and opened a beauty salon called "Sumie & Marco." There was a reason for including Marco's name, even though he was not a hairdresser. She wanted the salon to handle men's hair as well.
A year and a half later, Marco finally arrived in Japan. During the weekdays, he worked at an electrical equipment factory, and on Saturdays, he helped students at a local Brazilian school with their homework and taught soccer to local children. At first, he showed up at Sumie's salon hoping to help out in some way, but Sumie told him not to come because it would slow down work. In fact, Marco spoke Japanese better than Sumie, so customers would immediately start talking to him, and they would have lively conversations about Brazil and their impressions of Japan.
Their life in Japan was fulfilling and the couple was very happy, but they were worried about not being able to have children. "When will my grandchildren be?" Marco's father would always ask on the phone.
Three years later, Sumie finally became pregnant. She left the salon to her cousin and returned to her hometown. Marco couldn't come right away because of work, but he promised to come and pick her up a month later.
Sumie, who returned to Brazil after a long time, was congratulated by everyone and spent a relaxing time at her parents' home. What was most satisfying for her was seeing her parents in good health.
"Brazilian baby clothes are so cute, why don't you take some home with you?" Three veteran mom friends invited Sumie to go to Vinte e Cinco de Março 3 .
As they left the subway station, the slope was steep, so Sumie started to walk with the help of her friend Maria. Suddenly, someone came running, pushed Sumie and Maria away, and ran away. Several men ran after them, shouting "Pega Ladron 4 ".
Maria quickly got up, but Sumie remained lying on the ground for a while. Her two other friends and people passing by surrounded her, asking her worriedly, "Are you OK?"
Sumie stood up and nodded shyly.
We decided not to go shopping that day and everyone went home by taxi.
At the time, no one imagined that this incident would end in a tragic way.
Continued >>>
Note
1. "Dad" in Italian
2. No.1 snack in Brazil
3. A bustling shopping street in the heart of São Paulo
4. "It's a thief! Catch him!"
© 2021 Laura Honda-Hasegawa
