Tokyo Tower ~ Me & My Radio, & sometimes My Mom ~
(A semi-autobiography by Fukuyama Masaharu)
1969.02.06
In the small Obstetrics and Gynaecology ward of Port Nagasaki, a beautiful woman who was known as the Sophia Loren of Nagasaki, gave birth to a baby boy.
Weight: A whooping 4 kg
And it was this huge baby made by that beautiful woman, who became the famed radio personality in Allnight Nippon years later, broadcasting from his studio in Tokyo. It was something that no-one could have thought of at that time. That was the Fukuyama Masaharu at 0 years old.
As for the man who left his hometown Nagasaki at the age of 18 and became crowned “Radio’s National Treasure” in Tokyo, this is a small tribute to his Mother.
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“Masaharu, I tell you, people are calling Mother the Sophia Loren of Nagasaki. As for Father, he is known as Nagasaki’s very own Masao Komatsu (小松政夫) .” Ever since I was little, Mother would often say that to me.
“Oh, so Mother looks like a foreigner!” I had childishly thought.
I inherited my Mother’s looks. As a kid, I would often be mistaken for a girl. Laundry was my speciality and I loved to clean-up, so they became my responsibilities. Now that I think about it, ever since I was a young boy, I would love to do things that would “please others”. I’d secretly take money out from my Father’s raccoon savings box and use it to buy presents for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. Mother would get a bouquet of carnations and Father, his favourite Cherry brand cigarettes. In reality, I was simply returning the money to where it belonged, in a different form.
Thinking back, my careless habit of “recommending things” to people without discretion, perhaps arose from those days. In contrast, I would feel terribly embarrassed if someone were to praise me or to give me encouragement, whether it was from Mother or the adults around. Not used to “praise” since young, I still find it hard to manage both sides of it - “being praised” and “praising others”.
Thanks to my Mother’s non-interference approach to our growing up, I was very independent from an early age. But it also meant that I developed into a child who was at a total loss with “getting or giving encouragement” too.
Watching my Mother work at the same time as she was bringing us up, I would sometimes think, “What a great person she is.” When Father died, we had more than 100 guests at the funeral. It was raining that day in Nagasaki. With just a dust cloth, Mother wiped each of the 100 pairs of shoes clean and sorted out the doorway beautifully. In addition, she served tea and food to the guests. Mother didn’t use her words, but rather her actions to teach us a lot of things. But looking at her from behind, I couldn’t even bring myself to say, “Mother, you’ve done a great job, keep going!” (がんばってたね), I was just no good at that. But what happened that day I’ve kept in my heart, up till now.
That’s why even now, not only on Mother’s day, but also on my birthday every Feb 06, I would send flowers to my Mother together with a card saying “Thank you for giving birth to me.” This is for my Mother, who brought all 4kg of me into the world.
~The End ~
Midori’s comments
Masha said in his radio show that he had never told anyone before about the episode above. But he laughed and said his Mother would probably be asleep at the time of his programme.
Everyone’s day of birth is actually a “day of suffering” for their mothers. I don’t think many people can remember to show gratitude to their mother on his or her own birthday, including myself. Because I too, came from the era of “little praise and encouragement” ^^ So I especially admire those people who can do it.
BTW, my mom told me that I was also an 8-pound baby, so I’ve finally found something that Masha and I are alike^^
Izumi’s comments
Apparently I weighed…….9½ pounds at birth, which sort of explains why I’m the size I am now….
My mom was skin and bone when she carried me, I must have taken it all.
Sorry for giving you such hard time, Mom,……and thanks!!
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Tokyo Tower Series
Chapter 1 (I / II) ………. Chapter 4 (I / II) ………. Childhood Chapter
Chapter 2 (I / II) ………. Chapter 5 / 6 / 7 ………..Mother’s Day Chapter
Chapter 3 (I / II) ………. Final Chapter (I / II)
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Translated from Fukuyama Honne (Articles 424 & 425)
Original posted on ANN TamaRadi blog 2007.05.14 written by Fukuyama Masaharu
This English translation was first posted on MashaPlus [dot] Info Forums. (Registration required to enter.)
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