The Family in Kyoto

One Japanese Girl Got Freedom

By: Hidemi Woods

Narrated by: Hidemi Woods

A long time ago, when Japan had the feudal system, my family was a landlord of the area. It has come to a complete downfall over the years, but my family still clings to its past glory. For them, to succeed the family is critical. I’m firstborn and have no brother which meant that I was a successor and destined to spend the whole life in my hometown.

But, music changed everything. To pursue a career in music, my hometown was too rural, and I had to move out. Back then, I was a college student, and moving to a city meant dropping out of school. My parents fiercely opposed, but as usual, they left the matter to my grandfather who controlled the family. Considering his way to keep a tight rein, everybody including myself thought he might kill me.

I could have run away, but I wanted to tell him for once what I want to do for my life.

As long as I could remember, my family members had told me that I was a successor of the family, and I was to live with my family all my life as my father, my grandfather, my great-grandfather and on and on and on did, by taking a husband into our family to bear our family name. They kept saying that as a usual chant so repeatedly that I was sort of under the spell that I would be stuck in the house as a successor until the day I die.

So, I was an outsider when other girls chatted giggly about what last name they would bear after their marriage or where they would live in the future. I knew what my last name and what my future address would be because they wouldn’t be changed. My whole life was so predictable for that matter. Since I knew my future, I had no interest in my life, and days were so boring.

I changed my future completely by abandoning my family, my friends, my hometown, and the old tradition. Now, I’m free from my once-arranged future. Instead, I dread my uncertain future everyday…

©2021 Hidemi Woods (P)2021 Hidemi Woods