Aomori Apple

Aomori Apple

Whenever I eat an apple in Seoul, the Aomori apple that I used to eat in Kyoto comes to my mind.

I brought up my courage to start studying in Kyoto in 2015 at the age of over 65.

I had to find a room in a short time. The time was short, and the several rooms seemed all the same which made it hard for me to decide. The acquaintance that was accompanying me said, “this place should be good enough, as it is near the campus and next to an old market street.” I was sorry to waste more of his time, so I agreed.

The room was a little bit small as expected, yet I accepted it as “Japanese Culture”, and consoled myself that the room was just for sleeping in, after spending all day in the beautiful campus and Kamomawa riverside. The good part, I found out, was that an old market street was right next to my room. The market reminded me of Tongin Market I used to frequent in Seoul, and they had all the food and stuff I needed.

There were 2 clean and nice grocery stores, and several fruit stores that I liked in the market street.

As I wasn’t staying at Kyoto for a few days, I needed to prepare 3 meals a day. Fortunately, there were a few restaurants inside the campus. They sold nice, affordable sashimi, tofu, dairy products in the market street, too. It’s a common notion that prices are very high in Japan, yet if you live in Japan yourself, you will think differently.

One day, after buying fresh fruits, I crossed the street at the end of the market street. I spotted another fruit store. They had small collections of apples, mandarins and persimmons. I saw a sign written “Aomori Apples”. Glad, I went there. I commented to the storekeeper, “you have Aomori apples, huh?” and they said yes. There was a private home that you could have a pick from the window in the store, and there was an old woman doing the dish there. She was their mother, 98 years old, the storekeeper said.

Aomori is located at the north end of Mainland Japan. It is such a rare clean area in Japan. The air is so fresh and their apples are special. Go anywhere in Japan and you can find Aomori apples.

My mother started writing poems with the 5 7 5 7  7 syllables from the age of 17. Not many recognized her work until the Japanese Emperor invited her to the palace as “the Master of Tanka”. From that time, she got invitations to give lectures. I found the following episode in one of her scripts for lectures.

“There are large scale endeavors to improve Korea Japan relations like my poem monument’s being erected in Japan, yet very trivial things can contribute to Korea Japan relations. The day after the new year party in the Japanese imperial palace, I went in a small store to get a present for my grandson. The owner couple asked us questions: “Are you traveling?  Where are you staying at?  Where are you from?” I replied that I was from Korea and asked where they were from. They said 'from Aomori'

“I’ve been to Aomori. My poetry monument has been built there” I said. The owner couple didn’t seem to understand, so I carefully articulated the sentence again. The couple understood and bowed, saying “I didn’t know you were such a great person” in respectful language. When we were leaving, the owner couple gave me a bag of potato chips, saying “Please give this to your grandchildren,” and refused to take money. I found it embarrassing to leave the place without giving anything in return, so I wrote a piece of poem on the back of the wrapping paper.

 “Far from my home country stands my poetry monument so we will stand shoulder to shoulder and be friends”

“One desperate wish that I hold that Korea and Japan will be neighboring countries without strife”

The wife sobbingly said, “we neighbors do have to be friends with each other” bowing for a long time, saying “I was so moved that tears came to my eyes” The man who stood next to me silently teared up. On our way out, they gave us a stained business card. After coming back to Korea, I wrote them a letter before the emotional charge of that day could begin to subside. “The potato chips that you gave me, with my poem, became a bridge for friendship between Korea and Japan. What happened that day will remain in my heart for a long time. I hope we will be friends going forward”

Thinking of this episode, I told the fruit storekeeper “I’ll buy these apples. My mother’s poetry monument stands at Aomori ”  The storekeeper didn’t seem to get what I was saying, so I wrote them my mother’s poem too. They were moved.

“Stand tall, my poetry monument in the foreign land and be a bridge between the hearts of the two countries”

Whenever things like this happen, there is something I do not understand. Why are the two governments tiring us by fighting and retaliating due to the history that is almost 80 years and a small island that doesn’t seem to be relevant to our daily life?  On a private level, an apple and one line poem can open our hearts. 

When I was living near Doshisha University campus, I made it a point to go to the end of the market street to buy Aomori apples and even after graduating from Doshisha University, if I go to  Kyoto, I visit the store, greet the storekeeper with joy and bring their apples to the hotel room.

This is what I learned from my parents’s lives who tried hard to work as a bridge between 2 countries.