These days a person who is very close to me sometimes
impresses me. The most impressive part I see in him is his
character itself. He and I have a lot of fun together, even
though he is age of 78. He is my grandfather, Shioya Kennichi.
Shioya Kennichi was born in the tiny island Ojika, located to the
west of Nagasaki prefecture. I have a kind of "long-for
feeling" to his birthplace, the island of tropical climate.
I can easily imagine the clear water of the sea making waves, and
the nice warm weather. He told me much about the island, the
people, and the life there. He was born as the eldest of 6
children. So he had to look after all the brothers and sisters.
Though he is eldest, he is the only one of his family who can
observe what is going on in this world right now. All of his
brothers and sisters have passed away.
If this information is all about what we know about him, he
seems to be a perfectly healthy person. But it is not true.
Actually, he underwent 2 big incidents that were almost fatal to
his life. The first one was tuberculosis. It deprived him of 9
ribs because a doctor at a hospital needed to crush one of his
lungs, and the ribs got in the way. The other is cerebral
hemorrhage. The right hand side of his brain was stricken, and
for a while he lost free movement of the left half of his body.
After these 2 incidents, his life changed completely.
At that time he was lucky and unlucky. The illness is the
unlucky part. But he was very lucky that many people supported
him. For example, the chief nurse whose husband had been stricken
with a cerebral hemorrhage gave him good advice from her
experience; of course his wife and three children helped him a
lot. Though he got crippled, after hard rehabilitation he
recovered his health to the point of doing almost anything by
himself. When he tells me about these 2 things, he often says
"We can not decide how much we live and when to die.
That's all depends on destiny ". That is true and
natural, even everyone already knows it. Nevertheless, we usually
don't pay much attention on this point. Maybe for many
people, including me, life is something surely goes on to
tomorrow. But this is not always the case. For my grandfather,
life is very unstable. He knows it. Hence I like the way he says
it, since he really understands from the bottom of his feeling
and sense. When I hear him speak, I know that he is not merely
pretending to know what life is.
Another thing that impresses me is his energy, activeness, and
power. I see all these in what he has done. In 1975, he became
the first person in Japan to produce a guide dog. After World War
Two, he began to train dogs. At that time not many Japanese had
dogs as pets. The people were just managing to meet both ends and
did not have enough margin for dogs. My grandfather got on well
with many Americans and had a good reputation for his training.
More and more people came him to ask to train their dogs, and his
and his family's life got easier. But one day, he realized it
is not what he really wants to do. "I train dogs and their
masters get them back home. That is it. It does not become much
help to someone." That was his idea. He puts anything in
action as soon as he decides to do so. He of course did in this
way at that time. Then he came up with the idea of guide
dogs.
"In those days few books concerning guide dogs were in
Japan, and there was no way to know how we should train guide
dogs", he says. He is a man of unyielding spirit. He
developed his way by living for a month with a blind hold around
his head. He never took it off except sleeping time. During this
one month, he walked outside with one dog, Aster, to experience
what makes it hard for the blind. Some people thought his project
impossible and made fun of him and scorned him. But he didn't
care. Then after two years struggle, he finally succeeded in
producing the first guide dog in Japan. I cannot remember this
"history" without admiring his energy, and tolerance,
and his braveness that overcame other people's slander.
After he produced the first guide dog, Chanpie, his struggle
went on to persuade the administration into let the blind and
their guide dogs uses on public transportations, stay at hotels,
and so on. At this stage, many people showed interest and gave
their support to Kenichi and what he does. "Had it not been
for people's understanding and help, it was impossible to
grow the association for the blind up to this point", he
often told me.
All above is a kind of serious stuff. I was explaining my
grandfather's view for life and death, and what he's done
for the public. What I like more about him is something I cannot
explain. That is his personality: his challenging spirit and
cheerful character. He uses a computer, he has a mobile phone,
and he is a party animal. As I see his life, I often think and
say in my heart, "that's the way I like". When I
have a chat with him, he always gives me something makes me feel
impressed.
How wonderful if I ever could be a person who can give people
good impression every time. Today, I will go downstairs and have
a talk with my grandparents as usual.
by Miki Shioya
