| 1. To the Arafura Sea in the Southern Hemisphere
Kyozo Wozumi travelled down over the equator to the Arafura Sea north of
Australia in 1916. He was sixteen, only a boy. The world at that time was
in a tumultuous state.
The First World War had spread all over Europe after beginning two years
earlier. Japan had also entered the war by declaring war on Germany.
Mass destructions spread through the fighting by industrialized powers
on the land, sea and air, with the use of developed fighters, bombers,
tanks, and submarines, ..., quite different from the old ways.
In the remote area around the Arafura Sea, young fishermen from the Japanese
village of Miwasaki were a main source for supplying pearl oysters, and
Kyozo was the youngest among them.
Twenty fishermen, set sail from Kushimoto Port on a small steamboat of
one hundred tons or less. It headed south rolling in the waves like a leaf.
Honshu is already far away, and the main island of Okinawa has been passed
and left behind.
After passing beyond Okino-torishima Island, the steamboat is refueled
at Mariana Islands, then at Parao Islands east of the Philippines.
As luck would have it, the boat passing over the equator and, just after
crossing past New Guinea Island, arrives at the Arafura Sea, stretching
around the northeast of Australia, after sailing without a hitch for half
a month.
The name "Arafura" means "a free person" in Portuguese.
This area of ocean is known to be a treasure trove of pearls and pearl
oysters.
However, there were few local workers around and in the Arafura Sea. Most
workers were migrants from southeast Asia and nearby countries, especially
from Japan. Those Japanese workers were from areas such as Wakayama, Okinawa,
and Ehime, ..., but overwhelmingly from the Nanki-Kumano district in the
southern part of Wakayama prefecture.
The Arafura Sea is rich in pearl oysters on the seabed, especially silver-lipped
pearl oysters. This sea area between Australia and New Guinea became Kyozo's
place of work, as if given by heaven.
The new boy with a cropped head had joined the boat "Taihei-maru"
as the eighteenth member. The boy worked like crazy as a tender or a janitor
on the boat following the ways of other senior sailors. He was quick to
learn and quick-witted. The boss found him useful because of his obedience.
But, he was quiet and seriuos, with no sense of humor. "It cannot
be helped", the seniors had to admit.
The boy Kyozo did not mind sleeping crowded together from the very beginning.
It was a natural fate, like the nights in his parents' small humble house
with a large family. He usually fell asleep easily, which amazed the company.
He was refreshed and ready to prepare breakfast before the sun appeared
on the horizon.
Kyozo was already something of an expert worker within two years while
being a favorite due to his natural honesty and sincerity.
The seniors had to admit that he was quick to learn. The boss suggested "Why don't you dive?" even before Kyozo asked for permission.
All of his colleagues naturally accepted his promotion to a diver.
For diving to the seabed he wears a space-suit-like working outfit equipped
with an air hose from the hand pump on the boat as a lifeline. He did not
make any blunder that would worry the seniors.
In a shallow part of the sea, he dives only with a loincloth and without an oxygen tank. He is the strongest of all in holding his breath.
Now he has become a robust young man with black skin just like local residents,
no longer with an amiable innocent face. His thin sunken eyes remain, however,
as a trace of his role as a newcomer.
The boat Taihei-maru was destined to be Kyozo's workplace in the Arafura
Sea.
"Pearls" are jewels that happen to form inside pearl oysters.
Such pearl oysters are not of only one kind. Akoya-gai (pinctada fucata), shirocho-gai (silver-lipped pearl oyster or pinctada maxima), kurocho-gai (pinktada margaritifera), mabe-gai (pteria penguin), and ..., ikecho-gai (hyriopsis schiegelii) in fresh water.
Silver-lipped pearl oysters are abundant in the Arafura Sea. This oyster
is a seashell shaped like a round bivalve. Large ones are up to thirty
centimeters in diameter. The outside is a dull color -- a mixture of white,
yellow, and brown --, while the inside is a bright silver-white.
The shell occasionally contains a jewel or a pearl in meat. Different from
a cultured pearl, it is very precious because it is an accidental discovery
by a diver. The value of each pearl is judged by combining various standards
such as length, shape, with or without flaws, and so forth. Take the shape
for instance. Not every pearl is round. There are many transformed pearls
or those in a baroque shape.
The silver-lipped pearls in the Arafura Sea have a tinge of blue, so they
were called "South-Seas pearls", distinguished from those of
other areas.
Apart from precious and expensive showy pearls, silver-lipped pearl oysters
were sold as materials for craftworks and buttons to the West. Japanese
boats stayed around these fishing grounds and earnestly collected silver-lipped
pearl oysters on the seabed.
The meat of these pearl oysters was served as food to fishermen. The dried
meat was brought to Japan, where it was welcomed as good and precious to
eat.
In fact, the author ate some of this meat as a child. It had a peculiar
flavor, but was tasty. As I remember, dried squid has a similar taste a
little.
2. Work as a Diver
As for collecting pearl oysters, it requires a knack for feeling where
they are. Kyozo got used to it right away. He was able to correctly guess
by knowing the following factors: seabed, the movement of waves, coral-reefs,
and migratory fishes.
Needless to say, his originality and ingenuity were inherited from his
father. Kyozo figured out the trick to removing oysters and keeping a net
bag for them. His strong body, stronger than anybody else, and his single-minded
enthusiasm were his forte.
As he got the knack of this work, he became the top grosser.
His co-workers praised him, saying, "Kyozo is the guardian angel of
our Taihei-maru."
Kyozo virtually became the young leader of the boat.
Thursday Island was the base for fishermen working around the Arafura Sea.
It is one of the islands of Australian territory at the eastern end of
the Arafura Sea, between York Peninsula to the south and New Guinea Island
to the north. The surrounding areas were occupied by the shallows with
coral reefs, where divers concentrated on collecting silver-lipped pearl
oysters.
The fishermen lodged in simple houses as well as on their boats, and also gathered food, fuel and other various supplies there.
New Guinea Island (Papua New Guinea) to the north was the place of their
commercial transactions, the same with Cairns, the city of Australia. They
anchored their boats there for rest, and gradually developed friendly interactions
with local residents.
Most of the residents could not speak English, the language of Australia.
So instead, the fishermen learned their local words and communicated with
gestures. Some of the residents anxiously waited for the boats and served
drinks and meals to the fishermen.
Sometimes they anchored the boat in time for the date of the local festival
and joined the event, singing and dancing a local folk song "Yasukera
Dance" together with them.
Yasukera no- Maruwamantara no-we-
Kaigarabisuke Toppaika-
- - - - -
(sorry, the author can sing,
but does not know the meaning.)
As for Kyozo, after becoming a qualified diver he went to church on Thursday
Island on Sundays and associated with Christians there in an attempt to
learn English necessary for work.
In addition to his progress in English, he became an earnest Christian.
In spite of avoiding idle talk and jokes among his company, he felt relaxed
and accepted faster than any others, and so was liked by the residents
both on Thursday Island and New Guinea Island.
New Guineans especially became very friendly, calling him "Kyozo,
Kyozo" again and again. He romped around during the "Yasukera
Dance", totally different from an ordinary young man.
"Diver's Disease" or "Caisson Disease".
The "diver's disease" describes a condition arising from dissolved
gases coming out of solution into bubbles inside the body upon depressurization.
It most commonly refers to problems arising from underwater diving decompression
(during ascent from the depth).
Since bubbles can form in or migrate to any part of the body, it can produce
many unwelcome symptoms, and its effects may vary from joint pain and rashes
to paralysis and death.
It may be said that there used to be many fishermen in Miwasaki with difficulty
in walking as a result of this disease in the Arafura Sea.
Kyozo often suffered a sharp pain during his work under the sea, but fortunately
no worse than that. Later, though, he had a chronic disease of snoring
and stopped breath while sleeping. This was an aftereffect of diving without
an oxygen tank.
In a couple of years, his copper-colored skin held bulging muscles and
his fingers were like firm pine cones seemingly with no blood cut by knives.
His height of 165 centimeters was rather tall for those among his company.
Kyozo Wozumi spent all his time as a diver in the Arafura Sea of the South
Seas for seventeen years until leaving there at the age of thirty-two.
He did not rest at night either. He was willing to devote himself to his
studies at the simple lodge on Thursday Island as well as in the sleeping
room of the boat floating on the sea. Some of the previous workers left
various materials for study like textbooks, folk tales, samurai stories,
and so forth. So, he had good materials to use to improve his cultural
abilities.
He began to study textbooks for lower grades of elementary school at the
corner of the crowded room under a lantern, not only at the lodge but also
on the boat.
While he was still at this level, his colleagues taught him half-jokingly.
"No, not. This way."
"Yes, yes. So nice, good boy."
"Congratulations! You just finished the 3rd grade, Kyozo."
"............"
After attaining this level he had to study on his own. But this learning
job was more pleasant than the work during the daytime.
"You better go to bed right away."
"It's bad for your health."
The caution of his colleagues was normal. But it was always at dawn when
the realization hit him.
The accumulation of his daily effort was great. Though progressing gradually
like an inchworm, he gained momentum and it opened his way to the future.
He became able to read a sword-fight novel in several years, and improved
his ability of calculation to such a degree that he would not have any
trouble in business.
Also, he developed enough in to have daily English conversations in business, thanks to his relationship with the Christians in church and contact with the local commission merchants. But it was Kyozo's nature not to be satisfied with such a level.
"How can the exchange of ideas from each side be done more easily
and smoothly?"
This wish was not based on his own irritation, but from his conviction
that the hard life of his colleagues relied upon this business. They should
not forever rely on other people for purchase and sell negotiations.
Kyozo considered this business also to be his duty, so he voluntarily joined
in such business talks and learned by practice. Since he was not self-centered,
both business partners and his colleagues accepted what he did.
By the time he left the Arafura Sea, he could manage to read the English papers, thanks to Father Baike and the Bible.
He had met Father Baike through his church at Caerns, who was also spreading
Christianity at Thursday Island. Kyozo asked him about his teachings, and
was baptized by him.
Father Baike especially loved the obedient young man from a different country.
The Bible given by Father became Kyozo's best learning material. He made
good progress with its English.
Kyozo was uneducated but was not uncultured.
|
