Matsusaki Family

On December 14th, I moved in with a new family in the town of Zushi (of which I plan to explore and write of in the future). Their name is Matsusaki and the members of the house include a grandfather, grandmother, their eldest daughter, her husband and their four year old son. I live with the grandparents, Oto-osan (father) and Oka-asan (mother) on the first floor and Kaori, Iwahito and Asahi live on the second floor. The inhabitants of each floor have their own entrance, kitchen and laundry and most often live and eat separately.

Oto-osan and Oka-asan also have two more daughters. The elder is married, has two young boys and lives within an hour away. The younger is a world traveler. She married an American and currently lives in England.

Oto-osan and Oka-asan are both retired and enjoy their own hobbies and spending time together. Oto-osan enjoys shodo, exercising and a bamboo club, where he helps preserve local bamboo forests once or twice a week. Oka-asan enjoys learning English, ping pong, and spending time with friends.

Oto-osan has been teaching me shodo nearly every night. He is knowledgeable of the art and “way” of shodo and uses his soft deep voice to teach profound lessons. For instance, last week I had a breakthrough. I made my personal best work with a set of characters that mean: “autumn storage, winter stock.” My initial idea was that I had reached an acceptable level on that set of characters and would move on to something new. To my surprise, Oto-osan insisted that I continue with “autumn storage, winter stock.” I made a few works but none were near the level of my “breakthrough.” Oto-osan stopped me and said, “First inspiration is best. Usually you are against your ability. Go beyond. No limit. This is shodo (writing way).” Such was striking, and broke my haughty complacency. I continued with increased concentration and made better and better pieces throughout the night.

Oka-asan is a great cook and sets a beautiful table with multiple plates. She has many multi-colored eye-catching dish sets and decorates the house with worldly art.

Iwahito, their son-in-law, was a heavy weight Judo champion in his youth. Currently, he works a library. Kaori takes care of Asahi and the house.

The eldest four are very gentle, but Asahi is a little spark plug. He runs around the house, jumping around and laughing loud, and crawls up into his father’s arms and buries his head like a little monkey. Sometimes, Asahi will run down the stairs to greet my return home from work or to say “goodnight.” He is a very smart boy and I hope to teach him a bit of English during my stay in the house.

The room I sleep in is of "traditional style." It has tatami (thatched floors) and shoji (paper windows) that glow in the morning. I continue to fold and put away a futon every morning and take it out every night. In one corner, there is a wall designated for scroll paintings. Each month Oka-asan changes the painting, giving the room a new feel. This month's painting is the above portrait of a small bird sitting on the branch of a plum blossom tree.

Living with the Matsusaki family has been a great blessing and I hope hope for many more happy days together.