ボーアタルジ 久子 Boa Tarde, Hisako！（Hello, Hisako！）

Part II Hisako's Note (1) About husband and children; Holdup men

1 About the husband and children

Kazuo was the cleverest of the three children. He was a very gentle child and was liked by everyone. He was physically delicate when he was a little boy. But as he grew up, he became healthier and gradually became taller to reach 190 cm like his German-Brazilian father. When my husband died of an illness, I had got the job as a bank clerk to bring up my three children, Kazuo (10), Jiro(9) and Mayumi (7).

When my husband was alive, I had been happy. He was the head of women's clothes section of a department store. He was a gentle and thoughtful person. He used to say, "All the amount you have earned should go to your parents." We had bought a house, and a grave on suburbs of Mogi das Cruse, Sao Paulo. Everything was in order. But one day my husband had a heart attack and died after the desperate nursing for three months. Afterall, I had to sell out the house, the car, telephone, and so on. I sank in the depth of sorrow from which I could hardly recover. But I encouraged myself to live on for my little children.

In Kazuo's early middle school days, perhaps due to his gentle nature, he was in danger of being involved in a gang. I asked the senior of the bank to hire him as an office boy. In Brazil, when one becomes a middle school student, it was natural to help the family income while going to school.

The office boy's job was to run errands for the clerk such as delivering documents, cleaning the office, or serving tea, etc. The job was not always safe. Once criminals almost stole an important document from him. Thereafter he changed jobs several times. Most of the time his new workplace was in the same building as my bank. He was able to rush to the bank at least twice when it was attacked.

From these time on security in Sao Paulo had began to deteriorate. *

(* Refer to the article in the end of this section)

I had encountered bank robberies three times in seven years. They were dreadful experiences. At one time when I was at the teller's seat several masked men rushed in. And forced the other clerks to stand against the wall with their hands held up. Then they demanded me, "Bring all the cash!" Kazuo having heard the shooting rushed over to me but by then the robbers had left with the money. I thanked God with all my heart that we were safe.

*Note: I (Tomi) was a reader of a monthly magazine of the Buddhist sect Hongwanji-

Ha. I found the following article which explained the security of Sao Paulo.

【Quotation】

"Holdup men" Takada Jishou (Magazine "Ichimi", circa 1980s)

[Brazil is a beautiful country and in Sao Paolo the whether is good and there is no danger from earthquakes, the typhoons or rainy season. The air temperature is staple and comfortable all the year round.

But things are different in the world of men. Although there is no racial discrimination in this country, there are a lot of poor people due to bad politics.

Refugees from the north-eastern part of the country had flocked to the larger cities where security had deteriorated because of unemployment, poverty, and ignorance.

Burglaries and murders often happened. Once a famous Catholic church had been burgled and the priest who resisted had been killed.

During my stay at the Hongwanji Sao Paolo Branch, we were held up by tree people in the daytime. They locked us up in a room. They forced me by pistols to give them a key to the safe, saying that they would otherwise kill our leader. One cannot replace human life with anything. We were obliged to hand over the key, and they had taken the banknotes in the safe, and the car too, and fled away.

This caused serious material and psychological damage. Thereafter we had a board meeting and planned all the possible security measures. This event had given me a great stress, and I was even considering a resignation.

On one of mentally agonizing days, a part of the lines in the Buddhist hymn which we sang together in the evening divine service had moved my disrupted heart to wake me up.

"I have committed sins in my recurring

lives unknowingly. But am I allowed to

commit sins depending on Buddha's

benevolence to save us everyone?"

(Meaning: I had repeated my life (sometimes as a human being and other times as an animals or other creature and committed wrong deeds in ignorance. Before Buddha's tender eyes to save us all we presumptuously rely on him. But once we became aware of our sinful deeds, we must try not to do wrong.)**

Can I simply flee to Japan and escape from my duty because I feel it hard or painful to be here? Is it allowed for me to let myself under the mercy (or forgiveness) of Buddha? Can I act irresponsibly because things do not go well. I have been sent to the continent of South America by Buddha, haven't I? How shameful of me! Something hot filled my heart.

【End of quotation】

（**Note: the interpretation of the relics owes much to Tetsuryo Takamasa, Jodo-shinshu priest. )