Actress Michiko Hada (56) appeared on Tetsuko Kuroyanagi's long-running talk show "Tetsuko's Room" (TV Asahi) broadcast on June 10. She shared her memories of her father, who passed away three years ago at the age of 87.
Before his father passed away, Haneda-san went on a family trip. "My father was feeling a little unwell at the time, but I told him that we had made the trip and should force ourselves to go. I never thought that it would be our last family trip," he recalled.
During the trip, I "interviewed" my father. Just before going to sleep, I asked him, "Dad, what was the hardest time in your life?" and he answered that it was when he heard a certain "sound."
When his father was in the first grade of elementary school, Mr. Haneda's grandfather received a draft notice and was sent to war. The relatives gathered together and held a farewell party, shouting "Hurrah! Hurrah!", but only Mr. Haneda's father, who did not understand the situation, was having fun.
"When I was shown a photo from that time, all the adults had sad expressions on their faces, and only my father looked happy. That photo really made my heart ache..."
Haneda later learned that his grandfather had gone to war, but never returned after the war ended.
"One day, a soldier came (to my father's house at the time) and gave us a wooden box, saying it was his belongings. The box was making a rattling noise, and there was only one toothbrush inside. When my father heard that noise, he said it was the most painful time of his life."
Her father later got married at the age of 24. "It had been difficult up until then, but my mother told me that after he married my father, he had never known anything like pain, sadness or suffering. I thought it was amazing that my mother had been such a person to make my father say such things. It gave me a new sense of respect for both my parents. I wish I had listened to her more."
