Hidemi's Rambling No.116

Writing about my grandfather on my mother’s side recalled a peculiar incident. When I visited his house, I found that he had put up a big picture of the Japanese Emperor in his room. I uttered ‘You have bad taste!’ because I believed in democracy. He replied sadly, ‘Hidemi, you should not say such a thing.’ I’d forgotten the fact that he was one of the war veterans who went to war for the Emperor. He was always so gentle that he rarely criticized anyone. That was the first and only time that he reproved me…