Part 26

VIDEOS

047 +08:50 Yagura Ichiko - Secondary - VIDDLER / GAMEVEE (Archives: 67)


ARCHIVES

067


A scorched Illustrated Kamoshika Diary.

Yamijima Elementary School
Class 4-1
Kumiko & Yumiko



June 3rd,

Dear Kumiko,

Yesterday, I went to a funeral for the old man who lived next to us. During funerals on this island they drive a wooden stake into the dead person's body. Everyone here has their own stake with their name written on it for when they die. I asked my dad why they do that and he said that if they don't their spirits won't get to heaven. He said that a dead person's body is empty, so something bad will get inside.

June 4th,

Dear Yumiko,

You mean if I don't have a stake I'll turn into a monster or something? What kind of bad thing do you mean? I'm scared because I don't have a stake, but I'm going back home to the mainland soon so I think I'll be okay. My mom and dad said that there isn't much gold left so we're going to leave the island. It looks like all the other kids are going to go home, too. I'm sad that I have to say goodbye to you. I'll send you letters from the mainland.

(NOTE: Exchange diaries were especially popular in the '80s and '90s. Primarily female students would take turns writing their thoughts to each other, similar to passing notes in class. Japanese homerooms still have "official" class diaries in which students write their thoughts about the class and teacher in turn on a daily or weekly basis.)

(NOTE: Another "Kamoshika ["serow"] Diary" was among the archive items in the first SIREN as well.)

(NOTE: Japanese homerooms identify themselves with a pair of numbers (e.g. Class 4-1, above). The first number is the grade number, the second the class number. High school students may be tracked and divided into homerooms based on a course of study or ability, but elementary and junior high school homerooms are assigned arbitrarily.)