Rizal and the Woman of Enigma

Title

Creator

Sasagawa, Masahiro

Language

English

Source

The Cabletow Volume III (New Series No. 4) April 1961

Year

1961

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

Rizal and the Woman of Enigma MASAHIRO SASAGAWA Staff Member, Asahi Evening News On December 30 last year, officials of the Philippine Embassy tn Tokyo placed a bouquet of floiuers on a grave at Zoshigaya Cemetery in Tok yo. The inscription on the tomb stone reads: “Alfred Charlton and His Wife Sei-ko.“ The man who knew the signific ance of this visit is Ki Kimura, a nov elist-historian who took the Eilipino officials to the tomb. To ilie Philippine officials. De cember 30 was the date when Jose Rizal, the Father of the Philippines, was shot 65 years ago by a Spanish filing squad. Sei-ko was a Japanese lady who left an indelible memory in the mind of young Rizal when he came to Japan as an exile. The Em bassy officials were recalling their hero’s romance when Rizal’s centen nial was scheduled for June this year. A centennial celebrating the birth of the Philippine patriot will be held in Manila on June 19 this year, which falls on Rizal’s birthday. Various activities, including an in ternational academic conference in memory of the Philippine nationalist, are scheduled. I he Philippine Embassv. which is busy collecting data on Rizal’s footmarks in Japan as part of their Government's world-wide in vestigation, has only recently identi fied “Osei-san." as she was referred to in Rizal’s diary — a girl called "Woman of Enigma" by Philippine historians and a name hitherto un known even to Ambassador Adeva in Tokyo. According to Ki Kimura, who helped the embassy identify the girl, Rizal arrived in Tokyo in the spring of 1888 for a brief stay from March to early .April. During his month and a half stay, Rizal visited various places. He went to Hakonc, Nikko, Kyoto, Nara and Osaka. He took de light in the cherry blossoms, visited shrines and temples, attended Kabu ki performances — which he appre ciated more highlv than the Chinese plays he saw in Hong Kong on the way, and was touchecl by “Sendaihagi" and "Chushingura,” it is record ed. Rizal’s heart must have been heavy, however. For, he was on his way to exile in Europe after his novel "Noli Me Tangere" (Don’t Touch Are) had angered the then Spanish authorities in Manila, who branded tire book as "revolutionary." Actuallv, he was under constant watch by the Spanish legation in Tokyo. Nevertheless, being a genius gifted with an artistic talent, he practised Japanese painting and it is said that he painted a picture shown in the photo. He was also a linguist and learned to speak Japanese fairly well during the short stay and even took lessons in judo, which art he demon strated in Europe later. 115 Il was during this tour ol Japan that he met "Osei-san” as a guide interpreter. And this encounter prov ed to be the beginning of a Platonic love which he confessed in his diary preserved by the National Library ol Manila anti partly copied by Ki Ki mura during the last war when he went to Manila. Mr. Kimura said that most ol his reminiscences of his stay in Japan recorded in his diary consisted of confessions of his inti mate feelings toward "Osei-san.” Mr. Kimura lost the cops but a Japanese translation of that part of Rizal’s diarv written in English is available, which, translated back into English, runs as follows: "... Osei-san, sayonara, sayonara! Seiko L'KHi I spent a valuable month shining like gold. Will such a wonderful hie be repeated in my life? . . . To think that I should be giving it up and going on a trip filled with the un known and uncertainties when I am offered a chance to live a peaceful life filled with admiration and love. . . (Note: the Japanese Gov ernment offered him a job.) "Osei-san, I devote to you the last chapter of the memories of my youth. No other girl ever loved me more than you did. And, no other girl have been more devoted than you were. You arc pure, fresh and chaste. Sayonara, sayonara ...” According to Mr. Kimura, his search for the identification of Oseisan started during the war when he was dispatched to the Philippines by the Army Air Force to write for a Japanese newspaper. He frequently visited the National Library and in spected Rizal’s diary and other docu ments connected with the Philippine patriot. It was there that lie found the photo of Osei-san! It proved to have been preserved by Trinidad, a younger sister of Rizal. After Mr. Kimura returned home from Manila, where he stayed for three months, lie made inquiries to identify Osei-san and found likely persons, who proved to be wrong per sons. Meanwhile, the war ended. Last May. Josefa M. Saniel, a wom an professor of history. University of the Philippines, came here as a Ful bright Prolessor to conduct research on Japan-Philippine relations to pro side data for the centennial this year. Mr. Kimura helped her with research and it was then that the “Woman of 116 THE CABLE TOW April, 1961 Sclioiarx at the grave of Seiko { xni. At the right are Ki Kimura <m<l Prof. Saricl of V.P. Enigma” was identified as a line Japanese lady. Molomu Hashimoto, a former man aging editor of the Kodansha Pub lishing Company who happened to know of Mr. Kimura's interest in Osei-san. informed him that he (Mr. Hashimoto) used to be a boarder at Osei-san's home lor three years in his university student days and that he knew where Osei-san's grave was located. Another man. Takignchi by name, who was married to one of Osei-san's daughters, was also tracked down. According to Mr. Kimura's re search and these persons' recollec tions, Osei-san's teal name was Seiko Usui and she was born in 1 S(>5, three years before the Meiji Restoration, in Edo (now Tokyo) to a samurai, who became a trader in Yokohama after the Restoration. She was 23 when she met 27-year-old Rizal. She married an Englishman, Allred Charlton, who taught chemistry at the Peers' School, received honors from the Japanese Government and died in 1925. She lived until 1947 and died in Hagi City in Yamaguchi Prefecture in western Japan where she had moved during the war from Tokyo to avoid bombing. She could speak English and French and was especially good at English. According to Mr. Hashi moto, who knew Osei-san as the wife of Professor Charlton, she spoke a clear-cut English but the couple seldom talked in English, because Mr. Charlton, who was a real friend of Japan, preferred to speak Jap anese. Mr. Takignchi said that he had to admit in spite of her being his mother-in-law that she was a beautiful woman. Both old Japanese gentlemen agreed that she was modest and kind, and that she especiallv took care of young university stu dents. In particular, Mr. Takignchi. emphasizing the fact that she revealed her memories of Rizal only after her encounter with the patriot was report ed in a vernaculuar paper by Mr. Ki mura during the war and Mr. Takiguchi, who suspected, asked her (un identified then) if the story referred to herself, said that she hated her private affairs being publicized and that she would not welcome being publicized again — as this story is actually doing it — if she were alive. (He showed his understanding later). 117 K f W r Ji 4 ♦J H A * zl Japanese painting by Rizal Osei-san, however, was not the on ly girl that Rizal loved in his lile. She was the second girl out of three the ‘ Great Lover,’’ as he is called by the Filipinos, loved during his brief life on earth. Mr. Kimura in dicated that one of the reasons why he gave up Osei-san and left for Sail Francisco was I.Conor, the girl of his first love whom he still loved. The third and last girl was Josephine, with whom he made a dramatic mar riage in prison on the very morning of December 30, 1896. when he was executed. Josephine joined General Aguinaldo’s Revolutionary Army which was inspired by Rizal’s execu tion and rose up against the Spanish in the next year. As the June centennial to be held in Manila approaches, various things, usually dwarfed by the more impor tant history of Japan-Philippine rela tions, are being recalled. One is Rizal’s episode during his Pacific voyage after he left Osei-san. Aboard the Belgic, an English steam er, lie happened to meet Tetcho Suehiro, a first-rate journalist in those days, who first took the great Filipino as a Japanese because he looked one. They became friends and Rizal ini tialed Tetcho, who was ignorant of Western customs and manners, in the art of how to eat, live and dress in Westerm ways. The encounter gave Tetcho a motive to write a political novel “Great Waves in the South Seas" with Rizal as its hero. It is also recalled that Rizal’s “No li Me Tangere” was translated, al though in summary, into Japanese by a novelist Bimyo Yamada and published in 1902, 17 years after the publication of the original in Berlin. The book, which describes oppression of the Filipinos by the Spanish offi cials and Catholics, is not widely read here but Mr. Kimura, who is a novelist, praised the book as one that can compare with Dostoevski, Balzac or Melville. Another episode, which is not di rectly connected with Rizal but is worth recalling on this occasion, is a little-known lact that some Japanese volunteers joined Aguinaldo’s Army and even tried to send ammunition to the general by a Japanese boat, 118 THE CABLE TOW April, 1961 Nunobiki Maru, which was ship wrecked on the way and could not reach the destination. Meanwhile, the Philippine Embas sy is planning to erect a statute of Rizal or a marker on the site of the ‘Tokyo Hotel," where Rizal stayed. Ambassador Adeva met Governor Azuma of Tokyo on December 21 last year and asked for permission, with official decision being awaited. I'he Embassy wants the plan to be rarried out as a project supported by private citizens of the two coun tries to make it a chance to cement Japan-Philippine friendly relations. Records, however, suggest that the hotel existed across the tracks of the Metropolitan Streetcar System be tween Ilibiva Park and the Imperial Hotel. A' A zlf left, the author <>f the foregoing article, Me. Sasagai’.o. (Ph<>t>: Asahi Evening .Vries) New Building of Mindoro Lodge No. 157 Preparations are being made for the laying of the cornerstone of Mindoro Lodge No. 157 at San Jose, Occiden tal Mindoro which will be held on June 10, 1961. The lot as well as the building are donated by Col. Bro. Flaviano I.. Ramirez, well-known local philanthropist, who in the past has given both cash and real estate for public use and charity. The new Lodge will be constructed in the bean of the town, on a lot of about 500 square meters. The lot is ideally sit uated, a stone's throw from the new municipal building, and in the im mediate vicinity of Mina de Oro Ru ral Bank and the new building of ’lie Development Bank of the Philippines now under construction. The famous Balalaika Hotel and Club owned F.v and where Bro Ramirez lives is jus! across the road from the proposed site. Bro Ramirez was made a Mason in I960, but at the rate lie is helping the Fraternity, he will eventually be one of the most outstanding members of the Craft in a short period. The proposed building will be an all-concrete two-storey affair. lite first floor will be used for recreational purposes while the upper floor will be used exclusively by the Lodge. At the laying of the cornet stone, prominent brethren from the MW (hand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the Philippines will be in vited to attend and officiate.—I.NT. 119

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