Umi no Shirouma is a story for younger children by Yamashita Haruo (1937- ). It is about a grandfather and his grandson living by the sea. Yamashita himself grew up in an island in the Seto Inland Sea.
The narrator is “I” (Haru-bô), whose father died in the sea
on a stormy day. His mother is bed-ridden by a serious illness and is taken
care of at a relative’s house. Haru-bô always waits in a tree for
the return of his grandfather from fishing. His grandfather has made a
watch tower with wheels for Haru-bô, which looked like a double-decked
bed. One morning after a storm, Haru-bô meets a big white dog on
the beach, and thinks that it is the transformation of the white horse
of the sea, a messenger of the storm god, about which he has heard from
his grandfather. He named it Shiro and he spends every morning with it
on the beach. However, his grandfather thinks it is dangerous for Haru-bô
to be out on the beach alone, and hits him because he does not stop going
out. Haru-bô hates his grandfather for the first time. Later, his
grandfather goes fishing and does not return. Haru-bô watches the
sea from the watch tower in the storm, worrying about his grandfather.
A white horse appears and pulls the watch tower into the sea. There is
a herd of white horses. While Haru-bô is crying out “Come back,
Grandfather, I love you!” he hears his grandfather’s voice. When Haru-bô
comes around, he was in bed. He had been babbling deliriously in high fever.
His grandfather gently let him taste the early sweet fig.
White horses are white waves in the stormy sea. Grandfather’s story
of the white horse produces a conflict and also becomes the opportunity
for reunion. Haru-bô’s growth can be traced along the story, and
Yamashita’s description of the sea is vivid and fresh. The powerful touch
of Chô Shinta’s illustrations based on blue is appropriate. This
is an important work in the world of Japanese children’s literature where
stories about the sea are rare.
Yamashita heard the story of the white horse from a fisherman when
he was young. He himself saw the white horse when he was sailing. The experience
and his love of the sea made him write Umi no Shirouma. He was influenced by Lucy M. Boston’s The Sea Egg and wanted to write a similar kind of fantasy.
Umi no Shirouma received the Noma Award for Juvenile Literature, Honor Book in 1973. Rironsha published a reprint in 1980.
|
