長女：お母様、お誕生日おめでとう。お祝いに旅行券をさしあげます。
次女：京都の秋を心行くまで楽しんできてくださいね。
母親：本当にどうもありがとう。
Kokoro yuku made
Chojo: Okaasan, otanjoobi omedeto. Oiwai ni ryokooken wo sashiagemasu.
Jijo: Koyoto no aki wo kokoro yuku made tanoshinde kite kudasai ne.
Hahaoya: Hontoo ni doomo arigato.
Oldest
Daughter: Mom, happy birthday! Here's your present-tickets for a trip.
Second
Daughter: Enjoy autumn in Kyoto to your heart's content.
Mother: Thank you so much.
* * *
Kokoro yuku made means to do something 'to one's heart's content,' 'as much as one wants to.' Today is my birthday. And, thanks to my two daughters, I'm spending it in my hometown of Kyoto. Since I lived in Kyoto only until I was 7, I don't have that many memories. What memories I do have, however, are precious. Playing hopscotch with friends by the nearby Kamo River. Circles, drawn in the road with a stone, for us to jump into and out of. Kokoro yuku made tanoshimu koto ga dekita (We were able to play to our hearts' content). Unlike today, the roads were not taken over by cars. We played freely all the time it seemed.
When I entered elementary school our family moved to Tokyo. Japan was still recovering from the war's devastation, and food was scarce. School lunches were an important if not vital source of nutrition. But how I hated drinking that awful skim milk! I remember hearing a rumor that the milk was actually what Americans fed to pigs and so in my heart of hearts, dreamt of someday being able to drink orange juice to my heart's content (Itsuka, orenji juusu wo kokoro yuku made nonde mitai). Thanks to that 'awful' milk, though, Japanese became stronger.
Bananas were so expensive then. I'll never forget how my mother carefully put one into my school bag just before I headed off on a school excursion. And how I, having no idea how to eat it, carelessly peeled it and watched it break into two and fall to the ground. I still feel bad about it. My mother died of cancer when I was in the sixth grade. If only she were alive now! Kokoro yuku made, oishii mono wo tabete moraeta noni (I'd give her delicious food to eat to her heart's content).
I went to both a public junior high and a public senior high. The 'exam hell' didn't really exist back then and so people didn't go to cram schools. Since I loved to read, I was able to'read all the books I wanted to every day (mainichi, kokoro yuku made, suki na hon wo yomu koto ga dekita). Even without studying that hard, I was always in the top of my class. But, then, remember, most people started working after graduating from junior or senior high school. Most weren't as concerned and nervous about grades as they are today.
I got married 10 days after graduating from college.
We had two daughters. I was a full-time housewife and so was able to devote myself completely to their upbringing (sengyoo shufu datta node, kokoro yuku ma- de ikuji ni sennen suru koto ga dekita). Both girls are adults now, and I'm able to enjoy being free to my heart's content (kokoro yuku made jiyuu wo tanoshinde iru).
Autumn in Kyoto. Better than a picture postcard. Simply marvelous.