500-600 words short eassy

TIlE CARAMEL FACTORY

ONE

As always Hiroko l

began eating breakfast in the space made by

.' 2 rolling up the end of the futon on which her younger brother was sleeping.

Her small ashen face was swollen as though she was still asleep.

Her grandmother was in the kitchen, rice pot in fI'ont of her, filling

lIiroko's lunchmx in the dim morning light. The dawn chill sank into

lIiroko's mdy al though she moved her hands. She could occasionally

hear sounds of breakfast being prepared somewhere.

Hiroko took a deep breath and blew vigorously on her rice; presently,

when she had finished the bowl-ful she stood up hurriedly.

"Hey, what amut your breakfast?"

"I've finished. If Hiroko was already taking her tram fare from the

drawer in the hibachi 3

.

"You haven't finished. Eat one more bowl-ful, you're not late

yet, come on."

"But I can't eat quickly," Hiroko said tearfully as she handed the

bowl back to her grandmother.

"You say you can't eat quickly, but if you don't eat hot food on

cold days like this you'll freeze."

"But when you're late you get into trOUble."

Just four or five days before she had first been late and at her

factory lateness was not tolerated. 'fhe factory gates shut at precisely

seven a.m. Hiroko had been made to take that whole day off whether she

wanted to or not. This was because it was troublesome for the factory to

deduct the time lost from the girls' meagre daily wage.

That earlier morning, on the tram, she had a feeling she might be

late. well-dressed women could 1;0 seen and people who looked like

workers had disappeared. ' SlJe looked around anxiously, trying to

discover the time from the a tmosphere on the tram. Eventually

- 14-

she went as far as the entrance. The comuctor, who had taken

his watch from llis breast-pocket with one ham, turned over a board

of discounts that was hanging there. Although the tram had reached

the stop refore llers, lliroko fel t as though the neighbourhood had

changed.

ller red-brick factory stretched our horizontally along the

tramline like a tenement building, just in front of the tram stop.

Among those doorways was liiroko's. She stared at them one by one,

aware that she must not overlook hers. She fel t a pang of fear

as though something was pressing on her stomach.

She raced from the tram to her entrance.

seen from the tram.,

It was as she bad

She had left home while it was still dark. Her tram fare

was copper coins ga thered up from among the family •.•.• The metallic

iron door in front of her was completely shut. She was late.

'1'he factory closed its doors at seven a.m. Hiroko passed by

furti vely. She grasped her lupcllbox with both hams beneath

her cape, pressed it firmly to her breast and walked on.

ready to cry.

She was

Pedestrians had become more numerous. The sun shone. Female

students were slowly walking by. The traffic had changed from the

ear ly morning kind sIle was used to, to tha t of a later time.

Hiroko feared lateness even more than freezing.

niroko, who had finished breakfast while being scolded by her grandmother,

buried her face in her scarf and walked on feeling as though she was going into

battle. outside, the brightness of the dawn was like a newly-sharpened

knife. It was so cold it seemed to crackle. Her wooden clogs slipped

many times on the bridge.

The tram with its lights still on was full of smocks and over-aIls.

All the faces were red against the cold. They had come running, cramming

miso soup4 into their mouths and so it seemed as if the smells of all their

- 15-

kitchens were here beneath the dim tram lights.

Hiroko squeezed in between the adult's legs. She was a worker like

them, a small fragile worker like a blade of grass about to be eaten by a

horse.

"What a good girl! How far are you going?" The man who had

vacated his seat for her had spoken. "What does your father do?"

"He hasn't got a job." Hiroko was embarrassed to say so.

"Oh he's out of 'WOrk? It's really tough isn't it."

a friendly expression.

He assumed

The pitying eyes around Hiroko did not stare at her all at once.

They were all moved because she looked like one of their own children.

16

TWO

Hiroko's father used to be an office worker in a small town. He

wore a striped suit and played billiards at a club. While his wife,

who had been ill for three or four years before she died, was still alive

he· had lo~t what little real estate they had. When he married his

second wife he strangely came to yearn after a middle class lifestyle.

His second wife went around teaching the koto 5

and ikebana 6

to the Company

executives' families.

shakuhac11i 7

•

At times she accompanied him when he played the

Once, Hiroko's father abandoned his mother and two children and went

to live with his wife's parents, but eventually came to feel that, for

appearances' sake, he could not allow this to continue. He had to

send the children to middle school, his income was probably unable to

withstand the expense. He thought that as an office worker he would

never be able to rise in society. He had no idea that people like

himself could not improve their prospects. He took his family and

went to 'l'okyo. The divorce from his second wife strengthened his

decision to go and the illness of his younger brother, studying under

financial hardship in Tokyo, hastened the move.

His moving was simply an escape from such things as the neighbourhood

and the Heed to keep up appearances. He had not a single plan or aim.

He drank, shouted and took his frustations out on the family.

His younger brother had been adopted as the heir of another family

and had had just enough money for schooling expenses but Hiroko' s father,

who was in charge of the money, squandered it and so the younger brother

was studying under financial hardship. Manual labour, to which he was

unaccustomed, ruined his health and he became bed-ridden.

After coming to Tokyo H.:troko's family supported the invalid and their

paltry funds soon ran out. At that time her father worked as a labourer

in a brewery and then a caterer's odd-job man because those jobs were near

by but the work made his shoulders ache and his feet swell so he quit.

- 17 -

Grandmother did piece-work at home but could, not support them.

Hiroko was then in her fifth year at school.

"What about Hiroko going and giving one of these a try?" her father

said one evening and threw the newspaper down to no one in particular.

H±roko peered at it as she held her rice bowl.

her father's apparently casual words.

She was confused by

The caramel factory was recruiting female workers. Hiroko

lowered her head and forced rice mechanically into her mouth in silence.

Everyone was quiet.

"How about it Hiroko?" her father said after a short while and

and smiled faintly.

"But school ...... as she began speaking her eyes filled with tears.

"Oh you poor girl ......

"Be quiet 1 " Father interrupted Grandmother. Now and then Hiroko's

younger brother peered at her secretively with a comforting look. The

invalid lay face up in bed with his eyes closed.

'l'he next day Hiroko was left alone while her father and a clerk

negotiated in the factory's office.

"She's thirteen, I see." 'l'he clerk noted down her name and particulars.

"She's still really a child so it will be rather a nuisance for you."

"Yes, well, here are our regulations." The clerk continued talking,

bluntly brushing aside her father's words which threatened to become intimate.

On the way home Father took Hiroko into a noodle shop. He was in a

good humour as, with legs crossed, he leaned across the low table and poured

8 sake.

"It's a bit far but, well, you can try commuting.

about school someday soon."

We'll do something

Actually it was suppos~d to take about forty minutes to the factory,

even by tram but, more impOrtantly, it was not economical to take the tram

fare out of her daily wage. Female workers all looked for jobs within

walking distance or lived in at a large factory. Hiroko's father, however,

- 18-

did not consider such things. 'l'his factory was rather well-known and

so it, was the only one he considered.

a heavy heart.

The next day Hiroko set out with

- 19 -

THREE

':Mittchan 9

, have you finished three cans yet?"

"No I've only just done two. How about you?"

"Same with me, my hands are nUmb."

Some. twenty girls stood facing each other at tables lined up in

two rows. They wore white coats and talked with heads down while intently

moving their fingers. Their bodies trembled mechanically, violently as

they strove to maintain the rhytlw of their work.

Iliroko; a girl whose eyes streamed; and their overseer's younger

sister had a separate table because they were the new intake of workers

for the year. In a corner of the room apart from the other girls.they

wrapped snaIl caramels in pieces of paper in an, as yet, rather unskilled

manner.

"They're all fast aren't they," Hiroko said to the girl with stream-

ing eyes next to her.

"But they're old hands at it."

"Yes, so it's only natural," the overseer's younger sister whispered.

She was thin and slight. Her mouth was sharp and her face like that of

an adult.

'l'he girl next to Hiroko had trachoma and her eyes were always running

pathetically. Her body was small and shrivelled.

When one of the older g irIs began to sing a popular song the others

all joined in. Hiroko piled up the few cartons she had finally finished

and counted them.

A clerk came in holding two sheets of paper. It was the cler~ ~iroko

remembered from before.

"Who will it be today I wonder?"

:10 "It I S bound to be O-Ume, surely. "

" I did more yesterday too."

As they talked the clerk gave one sheet of paper to the overseer to hold

and stretched up to paste the other onto the wall. It was a list of the

- 20 -

previous day's ratings. The names of the', three best workers and the

three :-;or st were posted up each day.

"Just as usual."

"No one can match up to O-Ume."

"You ~<ll have to work harder." The clerk smirked teasingly.

Although Hiroko heard someone read out her name she did not look up_

She could hear the apparently relentless overseer, whose hair was done

up in the Shimada style, curtly say to her younger sister, "You've got

to work harder too."

Hiroko remembered what it had been like at school. Even there

her name had always been posted up as one of the best pupils.

the names of the worst pupils were not put up separately.

Hiroko wanted somehow to quickly become good at the work.

At school

l'lhile other girls filled five cans she could only manage two-and-a-half.

Even OIl days when she thought she had done more than usual, when the final

hour came it was still two-and-a-half. Hiroko was impatient. She just

wanted her name removed somehow or other from the list of worst workers.

They continued working furiously. It was a competition. With the

list of ratings in mind they all pushed their small bodies as hard as

possible.

- 21 -

FOUR

'l'he back of their workroom faced the river. All day long no sun

shone into the room. The entrance was along a dark passage inside the

factory and light only entered from a window by the river.

From the window the ramshackle backs of houses could be seen on the

other side of the foul-smelling river along which ships carrying empty

barrels: rubbish barges and the like moved sluggishly all day long.

Billboards advertising such things as soap and sake had been set up

on the soot-stained roofs and the sun shone on them for the whole day.

The sunlight was like happiness. The girls could only see the

warm-looking colour coming in through the closed glass door. Before

sunset a faint redness was reflected diagonally in the dirt of the glass

window and soon disappeared. Then the room became completely dark.

At that time the wind blew every day and so the glass door rattled

all day long. The wind blew in freely through a hole in a pane of

glass. Although they had already asked that it be repaired it was

still un touc hed •

The girls stood working in that room all day.

Until they became used to it their legs were as stiff as sticks;

their hearts were heavy with fatigue and at times they felt dizzy.

When evening came they were chilled to the bone and on occasions ~hat

caused their stomaches to ache. They all wore haramaki}} around their

waists and their fathers' old long johns which they had altered.

- 22 -

FIVE

Just before noon one of the girls said impatiently, "Isn't it

already time for us to warm our lunchboxes up?"

"If we don't put our lunchboxes by the hibachi soon they won't

get very warm. 11

"Pass mine over next thanks."

"And mine, it's in the purple furoshiki.,,12

Presently the edge of the hibachi was covered with aluminium

lunchboxes. The lunches, which had been packed at six a.m., had

frozen and crumbled. Various complaints typical of the girls were

aired around the hibachi.

"My mother's going to have another baby. I've had enough of

babies because when I go home I'm only made to look after it. Going

into service is much better."

"It's New Year but I'm not going to buy anything •••• how dUll."

"I think I'll be daring and go into service too, only my mother and

I are working so I must find a job with more money."

"Become a apprentice geisha?" another girl asked peering in.

"No, I wouldn't be a geisha or anything like that."

"Well, my older sister always wears such lovely kimono when she comes

home."

"oh no, I don't want to wear nice kimono."

Hiroko and the girl with trachoma stood in the group and listened

to the conversation. Hiroko asked her softly, "Don't you want to go to

school 1"

"My eyes are bad so it's a waste of time."

At three o'clock they had a mid-afternoon snack, the cost of which

was deducted from their meagre daily wage. It was always limited to a

. h 13 baked sweet potato WhlC cost one sen. After feeling embarrassed on

her first day when she did not have the money Hiroko always brought just

the right amount.

- :lJ -

A different pair of girls went out to ~uy the potatoes each day_

That was the only time they were permitted to go out.

lverness coats and working jackets fluttered in the wind, on the

street where second-hand clothes shops were lined up facing the factory.

T!:!e gir Is walking huddled against the cold, wi th their jacket sleeves

rolled up and bare arms thrust beneath their aprons looked somehow

deformed.

- 24 -

SIX

'l'he caramels that the female workers wrapped up were made in

another room. 'I'hey were placed in a box and brought over by male

workers.

"Lemon today. It

"Oh, I thought so, I've been smelling it for a while."

The flour-covered caramels flowed out noisily onto the table. A sweet

lemon smell rose up. Lemon caramels were not made very often because

they were not profitable for the factory owner. The fact that the

sweets the girls handled were their favourite ones made them happy;

just as the lemon caramels would presently appear in shops and delight

children.

'rhey were allowed to eat any fragments of caramel. Hiroko and the

girl with trachoma gathered them up and ate them.

"Hey, although we can eat some pieces you'll get into trouble if you

eat that many." 'l'he ill-tempered overseer's younger sister suddenly

lowered her head.

Hiroko looked up for the first time and glanced around. The

factory owner's wife had come to inspect them.

"Good afternoon."

"Good afternoon," they replied in unison and bowed. Every day

the factory owner, or his wife, came round on inspection.: At times

they caile together.

The mistress came silently into the centre of the room and stopped

suddenly. I - h' 'lkl4 d h ld h h d b h' d She wore ayers of Os 1ma S1 an e er an s e 1n

her back. A cute maid followed behind her. She attended closely to

the mistress's personal needs and so was made to keep herself neat.

The overseer then gave a polite report. The mistress smacked her lips

as she listened. She chuckled, apparently satisfied because the girls

were working obediently as usual. However, as if that was not enough

a man was employed to search the sleeves, purse and lunchbox of each girl

- 25 -

at the gate as they left for horne. They had all stood in the wind

waiting for the watchman to corne.

"She's so proud isn't she," Hiroko whispered softly·to the girl

next to her as they watched the mistress disappear through the door.

"Watch out, you'll get into trouble." As her eyes streamed the

girl realised that Hiroko still did not understand the situation fully

am warned her. Hiroko had thought a lady would at least smile at

little girls.

, . 15 1 b' bl h 1 l' It "Isn t O-Suml. ucky, el.ng a e to wear suc a ove y k~mono.

The overseer's younger sister spoke of the maid jealously. Hiroko;

the girl with trachoma and the overseer's younger sister each had

their attention attracted towards her when the mistress appeared.

- 26 -

SEVEN

'1'he sound of feet treading on stepping-boards resounded along the

dim basement passage and the small light on the ceiling rocked. The

girls went down to the basement, talking noisily. It was time for

the roid:-afternoon snack. The overseer came to say that they had

finished with caramels for the day.

"Are we washing bottles again?"

" I hate doing that, it's so cold."

"Miss, can we please have some hot water today?"

When the work with caramels finished they were always made to wash

lotion bottles. Lotion was the factory's original product. The bottles

were washed in an area of the basement which had a muddy floor; it was

slushy and damp. Their bare feet were cold on the stepping-boards.

'l'he sound of a ship moving along the river could be heard through the

top window.

"Oh, the water's stone cold, isn't there any hot water?" a girl

cried out in despair. '1wo or three other girls called out in loud

high-pitched voices after her, "I can't bear it."

"Let I s get some hot water."

The overseer looked concerned. "Just wait and I'l~ see about getting

some hot water." She went to discuss the matter elsewhere.

They all restrained their distress and went on rinsing out the small

oottles one at a time. When they took their hands a little out of the

water the skin smarted and cracked instantly. Then, they hastily

plunged their hands back in again. Hiroko washed bottles in stoney

silence, tears trickled from the tip of her nose.

- 27 -

EIGH'r

Hiroko took the tram to the factory for only a month. After

that her return tram fare was all used up and she walked horne. Before

then there had been times when she had to walk in the morning too.

At such times her grandmother walked along with heri they walked for

nearly tWo hours and when at last they neared the factory and their

destination was in sight the street lights would go out all at once.

She got used to walking in those days.

It was past eight p.m. Everyone was at horne doing piece-work in

the six-mat room l6

which had been closed off. Beneath the light, nice

fine wool was being pulled out from the knitted hat on Grandmother's knee

as she moved her hands. Fragments of the brown wool fluttered in the

light.

In a corner the invalid was lying on his stomach in bed, painting

roses, birds and the like on green paper. It was to be an exercise-

book cover. Father sat cross-legged at his bed-side, and also copied

from the sample to help him. For some time younger brother had been

reading a magazine behind Grandmother and his eyes were now red.

Kiroko put out a small table beside the sliding kitchen door.

- 17 Zosui had been boiling on the charcoal stove. Fro~ the next house

which made clog thongs and was separated from them by a wall, the tapping

sound of night-work could be heard as usual, as though they were all in the

one house.

Hiroko lifted her face, red from the steam of the zosui, and said,

"There's nothing better than eating hot food like this when you come from

outside. II When Hiroko came home from work she felt she had become a

real worker.

"Ha, ha, ha .•.. how cheeky ••• and how are you getting along nowadays,

still two and a half cans?" Hiroko flushed and hung her head at her

father's teasing words.

The system of daily wages had recently been stopped at the factory

- 28 -

and wages were now calculated by the number: of completed cans.

Seven sen for each can. The incomes of girls who were used to the work

increased, however, most girls had to push themselves even harder to make

as much money as their previous daily wage. They had already been

WOrking with all their might previously. It was impossible for them

to produce just that much more as soon as they were told they would be

paid by the number of cans. 'l'heir incomes all decreased at once.

The wages of girls like Hiroko were reduced by one-third. Also the list

of ratings was posted up each day. It became unnecessary for the

overseer to say "Well, time to begin." after the .lunchbreak. In order

to reach the amount they had received as a daily wage, they all struggled

like a mouse in an exercise-wheel.

"'r'he employers are so shrewd ..... Grandmother sniffed primly and

turned the hat she was working on inside out as she spoke, "If this hat

goes into holes we'll have to pay them compensation won't we? Take

today's yarn for instance, it's no good and soon goes into holes so 1'm

worried about it and can't get anything done. n

"You're talking about your work aren't you Mother, but how are you

getting on Hiroko? DO you think you'll improve if you carryon like

this?" Father said while lighting a cigarette.

"Yes, I'm working my hardest."

"What if you were to stop working there?"

Father spoke again as though it was a trifling matter.

with a flash of understanding, "What would I do then?"

"It doesn't matter, sanething will turn up later. II

"'rhis factory is a bit much isn't it, it's so far."

Hiroko looked up

The invalid

set his paintbrush down and turned over. Father was encouraged by his

words and spoke again. "Give it up, give it up •. there's no other way.

When you take the tram fare out each day there's no change left over is

there?"

Her father's words made Hiroko feel weak and inadequate. However

- 29 -

she went to bed that night feeling that, at', last after many days, she

was free. She recalled such things as the girl with trachoma that she

had been friendly with, and being bullied by the overseer's younger sister

who said she was uppity to wear a cape, as they waited at the gate to be

searched.

presently niroko was taken by a woman from the employment agency

for an interview at a small Chinese noodle shop in a downtown area because

her father had said, "She's not very strong so please find her an easy

position ... Hiroko could not even peel potatoes there.

One day a letter carre from the teacher in her old home town. It

said tha t if Hiroko could somehow get someone to provide money for school

expenses, because not a very large sum would be needed, it would be

better if she could at least graduate from primary school.

'l'here was a label to indicate a change of address attached am when

the letter was forwarded to her at the noodle shop ( she was already living

in by then) she ripped it open and began to read it but then took it and

went into the toilet. She reread it. It was dark and she could not read

it clearly.

wept.

She crouched over the dim toilet, without urinating, and