I heard and learned many things from my grandmother. For a time, I spent my after-school hours with her alone until my parents returned. My grandmother came from an old family in Nakatsugawa, Gifu Prefecture. She had older sisters, but because her mother was a second wife, she was apparently doted upon and raised as the youngest in the family. My grandmother, for various reasons (the circumstances are interesting as a story, but let's set that aside), married in Tokyo and had 8 children with my grandfather. I hear their upbringing was so strict that neighbors called it the "XX style," and it was well-known. My mother said that sometimes she thought, "Is this person really my mother?"

 

With so many siblings of my mother, I have 20 cousins, both in Japan and abroad. This makes me very happy, but setting that aside, I want to share a story from my grandmother that left a lasting impression on my heart.

 

My grandmother was deeply religious. She taught me to be grateful to all gods and Buddhas, to honor my ancestors, and that all things in the human world are connected by cause and effect, and that one must correct and break free from negative influences inherited from ancestors. She was also enthusiastic about various life principles, often talking about divination, Sanmeigaku (a type of Chinese astrology), and the movements of the Nine Stars in daily life. Yet, when it came to herself, she would dismiss it by saying, "If you train your spirit and keep it firm, nothing will cling to you." I believe this was a statement forged from her challenging experience of raising 8 children during the war.

 

A story from my grandmother's childhood. She found a dying cat by the roadside and murmured, "Poor thing." Her great-grandmother then told her, "You mustn't say such things, or you'll attract trouble." When she returned near home, the cat she had just seen dying by the roadside was now suffering near their house. According to her great-grandmother, showing mercy would lead the cat to follow her, so half-hearted mercy was not good. At that time, the animal world was considered the realm of beasts, clearly distinct from the human world. It was said that humans who committed extremely wicked deeds would fall into the realm of beasts.

 

Despite such experiences, my grandmother told me mysterious stories from her childhood, of growing up in the mountains. Looking back, perhaps they were bedtime stories to lull children to sleep.

 

My grandmother often saw lantern processions in the mountains of Nakatsugawa where she grew up. In the evenings, flickering yellow, orange, and red lanterns would appear and disappear from behind the trees on the dark, not-so-high mountain opposite. If one listened closely, one could hear what sounded like voices. They seemed to be climbing the mountain slowly, murmuring amongst themselves. Then, at a certain point, the procession of lights would suddenly vanish. When she told her great-grandmother about it, she said, "Fumi (that's what she called my grandmother), that's foxfire!" To me, this story sounded like a "secret" tale. Amazing, a real fox story.

 

I feel as though I've heard that sound before. Whether living in a place with many trees on the outskirts or living next to a shrine in the city, on nights when the trees rustled in the wind, I could hear those murmuring voices as my consciousness drifted into the deep layers of sleep, just before falling asleep.

 

Looking back, it was precisely that which rested my mind and lulled me into a comfortable sleep. It was my grandmother's teaching.

 

 

 
  Akiko Shibunai
Director of Akasaka Animal Hospital. After graduating from Nihon University's College of Bioresource Sciences (formerly College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine), she worked in research at the Clinical Pathology Laboratory at Nihon Veterinary and Zootechnical College, among other positions, before becoming director of Akasaka Animal Hospital in 2016. As the third-generation director, following her father and mother, she promotes companion animal medicine and clinical practice centered on the "Human-Animal Bond." She specializes in general internal medicine, general surgery, and regenerative medicine, and has served as a former member of the Veterinary Affairs Council of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and as a part-time lecturer in the Department of Veterinary Medicine at Nihon University's College of Bioresource Sciences. She is also actively involved in social contributions through veterinary medicine, such as supporting the coexistence of the elderly and animals, and animal therapy activities, with the lifelong theme of "creating a society where people and animals can live happily together."