<Begin Segment 14>

[Translated from Japanese]

TY: You have mentioned that you respected your teacher at the girls' school.

AT: Yeah. Well, she was a very good teacher, her name was Ms. Kobayashi. She lost her father early like I did. She liked me very much. She stayed at my house one night, she spent night. My mother had told Ms. Kobayashi that the scenery from the back of our house was beautiful, and she came. My mother had said that I should show her the scenery from the back of the house, so I told her so, then she said, "Oh, is that so? I may come visit you, then." I came home with the teacher on a Saturday noon, then she stayed over night, then she went back to the dorm on Sunday, she went back there since they lived in the dorm. Ms. Kobayashi, she was a good teacher. She remained single... she graduated from a girls' occupational school in Tokyo and she had been a teacher since. She said that she was from Ibaraki Prefecture. At first, she was talking with the northern accent, so we said, "Teacher, we don't understand you. Teacher, we don't understand you!" [Laughs] So she spoke, but she liked me very much. After all, when you behave yourself, trust, trust and rely on teachers, teachers would come to take care of you. That's what I think. When the teacher stayed with us, my mom suggested that she should sleep upstairs, so mother had her stay on the second floor. On the second floor, there was a cluster of trees in the backyard. They might be still there. We could see a vast stretch of scenery without obstacles. Once in a while, the Keiben Railroad passed by. It was a very nice place. Then, the teacher said, "This is such a nice place, Miss Nagao," and said that she was very impressed. She went home, and my mom said that she should stay with us again if she liked it so much. She thanked us for the invitation and came over one more time sometime later. I slept in the same room with the teacher... we slept on the second floor, and we didn't close the door, the door, for a long time, and we looked out of the open glass-fitted sliding door. I said, "Teacher, this is nice. Please look outside. This, please look at the direction of the mountains, like Shiji, the Mount Shiji. Tonight, they lit the fire there." She said, "Oh, is that right? That is very nice." I am sure those who live in the town like the scenery from the countryside. She was happy as she went home. Ms. Kobayashi was from Ibaraki.

<End Segment 14> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.