VOX POPULI: A slice of life from an ecological storyteller

"Enrai" (Distant thunder), the novel that made writer Wahei Tatematsu famous, is unforgettable. But whenever I think of the author, his onionsuraisu (onion slice) anecdote comes to mind.

Having been accepted at Waseda University, Tatematsu had left his native Tochigi Prefecture to come to Tokyo. He went to a restaurant near his boarding house. Of course, he had little money. He stared at the menu and ordered the cheapest item: onionsuraisu.

Soon, the waiter brought him a plate of thin slices of onions. Tatematsu thought it was a side dish and patiently waited for a bowl of rice to go with it.

But it never came. He had mistaken onionsuraisu for onionsu raisu (onions and rice).

"The dried bonito shavings on top of the onions were moving, as if to ridicule me," he recalled.

That young man from the countryside grew into a man who never lost his boyish looks. The Tochigi dialect befitted his down-home personality. In fact, he said he was so embarrassed by his accent that he couldn't even ask the waiter for rice in the restaurant where he ate the onion slices.

But as he grew older, his accent became his trademark, leaving the listener with the impression of a fireside chat. Tatematsu, who died Monday at age 62, will be sorely missed.

Tatematsu was not a typically bookish type. He traveled the world and even left his footprints in the Antarctic.

He built a lodge on Shiretoko Peninsula in Hokkaido where he frequently stayed. He objected to the reclamation of Isahaya Bay in Nagasaki Prefecture and planted trees in Ashio, Tochigi Prefecture, an area ruined by mine development. He had unwavering trust in nature's inherent fertility.

Tatematsu once wrote in the vernacular Asahi Shimbun that he looked forward to planting trees in his old age. He wanted to create a forest that would not be cut down for centuries and have the lumber used to repair temples, such as Horyuji in Nara Prefecture, for posterity. Heaven appears to have cut short his time on Earth, despite his dream.

Getting back to the anecdote about onion slices, I have read that Tatematsu ate the onions without rice in silence, while thinking, "Life in Tokyo sure is tough."

That story is sad, funny and heart-warming all at the same time. This man was a writer who wore a similar atmosphere around him like cloak of virtue.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Feb. 11

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.