HITOSHI YASUMA
Special for THE NEW TIMES HOLLER!
An Exploration of a Human Library
© Amir Bey, August 20 2011
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In the last 15 years of his life, Hitoshi Yasuma became completely blind due to macula degeneration. However, he was able to maintain his intellectual vision and curiosity, and completed his 2nd, 3rd, and the final 4th novel, Yukue, meaning "Destination," which was also the name of the main character. That vision also encompassed many aspects of culture: music, literature, linguistics, the dramatic arts, as well as wrestling with the complexities of human relationships.
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HITOSHI YASUMA
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HITOSHI YASUMA'S YUKUE
The cover for Hitoshi Yasuma's 4th and last novel.
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HITOSHI YASUMA'S YUKUE
This is an excerpt from Hitoshi Yasuma's Yukue.
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Hitoshi Yasuma was a connoisseur of wide-ranging intellectual and esthetic passions. Over the years he amassed a large record and book collection; his record collection consisted mainly of Jazz, classical, and modern music, while his book collection was largely written in Japanese. He translated French and English into Japanese, taught English, and during the post war period in Japan he played woodwind instruments in Jazz and classical ensembles until tuberculosis ended his playing.
His parents were Yoshiro and Cho Yasuma. Before he was born they lived in Chin Tao, China, during the Japanese occupation when his father worked for an electrical company.
He went to Akamatsu Elementary School and Jo Huk High School. During the war, his small size kept him from the fighting, but his intellectual gifts brought him recommendation to the Kaigun Shikan Gakkou, the naval academy.
For most Japanese during the war, English couldn’t be spoken, no listening to Jazz, and other restrictions were imposed by the Kempei – the military police. However, at the Gakko, English was spoken, and other restrictions were not upheld in order to give academy members broad exposure to culture and the sciences.
In the 30s children’s books were rare in Japan, so between the ages of 6-10 he read adult books. He innocently read leftist literature until a teacher noticed and confiscated them. This made him aware there was something controversial about those books and he wondered why they were being suppressed.
He lost friends who were Kamikaze pilots who flew Zero fighter planes during World War II. He resented how the military convinced the pilots that they would be invincible wearing the Japanese flag as they flew those missions.
He was angered over the government’s depiction of reality, which was dramatically different after the US victory; “White became Black”.
He was continuously helping students in trouble – gangsters, radicals, those who couldn’t follow the schools’ programs. He’d help students late into the night to study for exams. To the end, he maintained relations with his former students. He impressed younger people by his grasp of current events.
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HITOSHI YASUMA AND HIS DAUGHTER, HISAKO YUKUE
After Hitoshi's sight failed him, his daughter, Hisako "Saco" Yasuma helped him complete its final draft. Here she is during one of those sessions.
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He survived by a daughter, Hisako Saco Yasuma of New York City, composer, and performer; a grandson, a Yu Kobayashi, a guitarist; a sister, the youngest, Kiyoko, a clothing designer, a carver of Kura Boiri, and a host of nieces, nephews, and cousins. The eldest sister who preceded him, Husako, was a calligraphist.
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