ブラジルで入植者の農業指導をしている叔父が一次帰国し、京都のわが家に一泊するという。叔父はわが家では大スター扱いだ。わたしは学校を休んで叔父を迎えるための準備を手伝いたかったが、母は許さない。各部屋の掃除にはじまり、叔父の好物を作るための買い物、帰国を歓迎するため叔父の好きな音楽をセレクトする父。わたしはもう一人前だから手伝えるのに。でも、いい。叔父さんはわかってくれる。

叔父がベレン、マナウスで、入植者の支援に決意したこと

叔父は台北帝国大学を主席で卒業した神童だったと周りの大人は言う。父方の家族は台湾で3世代を生きた日本人一家である。叔父は長兄で、父は末っ子で、なんと15歳の年齢差がある。したがって物心ついた時は大学か、大学院で熱帯植物の研究に没頭していた。戦後、叔父はブラジルに入植した日本人の農業指導をするためにブラジルへ渡った。10数年後、博多に住んでいた叔父の奥さんと中学生になる末っ子が叔父に呼び寄せられてブラジルに行った。「ブラジル丸」という大きな船で、神戸港から銅鑼と色とりどりのテープに見送られて旅立ったんだって。

ブラジルのブラジルの北部、アマゾン河口近くの大都市ベレン周辺に叔父の専門知識を待つ入植者が大勢待っていた。戦前から入植した日系人は苦労の連続だった。農場は次々と病害にあい、繰り返し作物が壊滅的な打撃を受けた。熱帯植物が専門の叔父の知識を得て、事業者は栽培できる作物の開発に試行錯誤を繰り返していた。その活動の様子はアマゾナス州の州都、熱帯雨林地帯のほぼ真ん中のマナウス周辺の入植者にも届き、支援の要請が幾度となく届いた。熱帯性気候で、しかも病原菌の多いアマゾン川流域で栽培できる農作物の栽培は、開発に何度挑んでも成功はほど遠かった。それでも入植者は叔父の専門知識を喜んでくれたが、役に立ってるとは思えなかった。同時に日本や海外の専門家にも相談しているが、開発には時間がかかる。

マナウスは高温多湿のアマゾン特有の気候で、雨季は激しい雨が延々と続く。毎日、降り続く雨にうんざりして、入植者や地元の仲間が叔父の部屋に集まる。それぞれ手土産に持参するのは、ブラジルの国民酒、サトウキビが原材料の蒸留酒、ピンガで夜通し盛り上がる。しかし、叔父はこのままでは何も解決しないと、ある決意をしていた。

叔父の大きなスケール感がわたしを海外に向かわせた

わたしは父と叔父を迎えに駅に行った。ホンモノの叔父さんだ！叔父は日焼けして前よ元気そうに笑顔が広がった。わたしも一番いい顔の笑顔を返した。家に着くと父の差し出したビールの前に、叔父は特大のスーツケースから山のようなブラジル土産を出した。父にはワニ革のベルトと免税店の輸入煙草、母にはトパーズの指輪と先住民ファブリックのスカーフ、わたしには先住民の帽子やスカート。ワニ革のベルトはアマゾンのどこどこの部族がどういう風にベルトを製造するか、先住民の技術の特長や詳細を叔父が語るのがわたしは引き込まれていった。叔父もわたしの異様な反応を楽しんでいた。母は黄色の輝きに魅了された。叔父は母にもどこでこの鉱物がどのように採掘されるかを詳しく説明した。叔父は子供と大人を分け隔てなく接してくれるのが、わたしには最高だった。「大きくなったら、ブラジルに連れていってあげるよ」と言って、わたしに自分のつけていたトパーズのネクタイピンをプレゼントしてくれた。

父にとって叔父は家族であると同時に、子供の頃から神童といわれた叔父の功績を地域の人たちから聞かされて育った。叔父は父にとって雲の上の人だった。週末、ほかの姉妹が集まり、台湾式酒宴となった。叔母たちが今生の別れとばかり、しんみりとなるのを静止するように、叔父と父は飲めよ、歌えよのいつもに賑やかな宴たけなわのあと、夜も更けて叔母たちは涙ながらに帰っていった。子供時代を最高に盛り上げたこの家族のイベントは、わたしの意識を海外にむけるきっかけとなった。京都で育ったわたしは年を重ねるごとに京都が窮屈になっていった。そして留学へと進む。その道は叔父が後押ししてくれたと思っている。

いまも家族に伝わる叔父のレジェンド

叔父は京都に滞在中、大学や研究者と対話して、アマゾンの気候でも栽培できる作物の栽培方法を研究しようとしたが、短期間で情報収集できるものではなかった。その後長い年月が経ったある日、ブラジルでは画期的な方法がアマゾン地域の日系人の間で確立され、ブラジルの農業が急速に発展した報道を目にした。わが家では叔父がこっそりとポケットに日本の種もみそのばせて持参したのが、今日の繁栄になったと叔父のレジェンドが伝わっている。

The footprints left by my uncle in the Amazon of Brazil.

My uncle, who is providing agricultural guidance to settlers in Brazil, is planning a brief return to Japan and staying overnight at our home in Kyoto. In our household, my uncle is treated like a big star. I wanted to skip school to help prepare for his arrival, but my mother wouldn't allow it. From cleaning every room to shopping for my uncle's favorite foods and my father selecting his favorite music to welcome him home, I could have helped because I'm old enough, but that's okay. Uncle understands.

My uncle's determination to support settlers in Belém and Manaus

Adults around me say that my uncle was a prodigy who graduated at the top of his class from Taipei Imperial University. My paternal family is a Japanese family that lived for three generations in Taiwan. My uncle is the eldest brother, and my father is the youngest, with a staggering 15-year age difference between them. Therefore, by the time I became aware of things, he was already deeply immersed in tropical plant research at university or graduate school. After the war, my uncle went to Brazil to provide agricultural guidance to Japanese settlers. Over a decade later, my uncle's wife and their youngest child, who was about to enter junior high school, were summoned to Brazil to join him. They departed from Kobe Port aboard a large ship called "Brazil Maru," bid farewell by drums and colorful streamers.

In Brazil, near the mouth of the Amazon River, in the northern region of Brazil, there were many settlers eagerly awaiting my uncle's specialized knowledge. Japanese immigrants who settled before the war faced continuous hardships. Farms were plagued by diseases, and crops suffered repeated devastating blows. With my uncle's expertise in tropical plants, entrepreneurs struggled to develop cultivable crops through trial and error. The activities caught the attention of settlers around Manaus, the capital of Amazonas state, located in the heart of the Amazon rainforest. Requests for support reached them repeatedly. Cultivating crops in the tropical climate of the Amazon basin, abundant with pathogens, proved to be a daunting task, with success remaining elusive despite numerous attempts at development. Despite the settlers' appreciation for my uncle's specialized knowledge, it didn't seem to be of much help. Simultaneously consulting with experts from Japan and abroad, development was time-consuming. Manaus, with its hot and humid Amazonian climate, experienced relentless rainfall during the rainy season. Exhausted by the daily downpour, settlers and local friends gathered in my uncle's room. Each brought gifts of Brazil's national liquor, distilled from sugarcane, known as Cachaça, and they spent the night revelling in it. However, my uncle had made a decision that things couldn't continue like this.

My uncle's grand scale spurred me to venture abroad

I went to the station with my father to pick up my uncle. He was the real deal! My uncle, sunburnt but looking healthier than before, smiled broadly. I returned the favor with the biggest smile I could muster. Upon arriving home, my uncle pulled out a mountain of Brazilian souvenirs from his oversized suitcase, much to my father's delight. He gave my father a crocodile leather belt and duty-free imported cigarettes, my mother received a topaz ring and a scarf made from indigenous fabric, and I got an indigenous hat and skirt. I was fascinated as my uncle talked about the unique features and details of indigenous techniques in manufacturing crocodile leather belts from different tribes in the Amazon. My uncle enjoyed my unusual reactions. My mother was captivated by the yellow brilliance. My uncle explained in detail to my mother where this mineral was mined. My uncle's ability to connect with both children and adults was the best thing for me. He said, "When you grow up, I'll take you to Brazil," and presented me with his own topaz tie pin.

For my father, my uncle was not only family but also someone whose achievements as a prodigy had been heard from people in the community since childhood. My uncle was like a figure from the clouds to my father. On weekends, when my other sisters gathered, it became a Taiwanese-style banquet. After the lively feast, where everyone drank and sang, my aunts left tearfully as if it were a farewell for life. This family event, which made my childhood exciting, was the catalyst that turned my attention overseas. Growing up in Kyoto, I felt increasingly confined with each passing year. And so, I moved on to study abroad. I believe my uncle supported me along that path.

The legend of my uncle still resonates within my family

While staying in Kyoto, my uncle attempted to research cultivation methods for crops that could thrive in the Amazon's climate by engaging in dialogues with universities and researchers. However, it proved difficult to gather information in such a short period. Many years later, news emerged of groundbreaking methods established among the Japanese community in the Amazon region, leading to rapid agricultural development in Brazil. It is said in our family that my uncle's legend lives on, as it was his clandestine introduction of Japanese seed varieties into his pocket that contributed to today's prosperity.