Piano wa shitte iru: Gekkō no natsu (The piano knows: Summer of the moonlight sonata)
written by Tsuneyuki Mōri
illustrated by Seigo Yamamoto
Jiyukokumin-sha, 2004, 41 pages
The 1993 film Gekkō
no Natsu (Summer of the Moonlight Sonata) has achieved great popularity
with Japanese children of all ages. The movie tells about two kamikaze pilots,
Shinsuke Kazama and Mitsuhiko Unno, who visit an elementary school to play
Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata before they leave on their suicide mission. Tsuneyuki
Mōri wrote this
children's picture book in 2004 for the
50th anniversary of the incorporation of Tosu City, the location of the
elementary school where the two pilots visited in 1945. This children's book tells the same
story, but in much simpler terms, as the novel
on which the film was based.
After the two kamikaze pilots visit the elementary school, they fly to Chiran Air
Base and depart on their mission soon afterward. Their squadron, made up of six
pilots from ages 17 to 22, flies toward American ships near Okinawa, but
Kazama's plane develops engine trouble. He reluctantly returns to base, where
staff officers call him a coward even though he wants another chance to fly on a
kamikaze mission.
In 1989, Kimiko Yoshioka, a teacher who met the kamikaze pilots when
they visited the elementary school in 1945, hears that school officials plan
to get rid of the old piano. She visits the school to tell students the story of how
the two pilots played
Moonlight Sonata when she was a young teacher at the school. She starts to
search to see
whether the pilots might have survived, and she finds out that a man in Kumamoto
Prefecture seems to fit the description of one of the pilots. This man is
Kazama, and he visits the elementary school again after he receives a letter
from Kimiko Yoshioka. When asked by a student whether he will play the old grand
piano, he nods and quietly says, "I'll play for those who died in the
war."
The plot and dialogue of the story from the novel have been greatly simplified
for younger children. The author clearly presents themes of love, devotion, and peace, such as
the following excerpt from the dialogue between the two pilots on the night before
departure on their final mission (p. 22):
Kazama: Unno, I'll die to protect my loved ones and to protect my home.
Unno: We'll die to leave the nation of Japan for future
generations.
The book's final sentence makes clear the book's central message: "The piano
must surely be wishing that another war never happens."
This children's picture book differs in several ways from Mōri's novel.
For example, the novel depicts the harsh treatment that Kazama received from
staff officers at the Shinbu Barracks in Fukuoka Prefecture, whereas this
children's book only briefly mentions that officers call him a coward and do not
believe Kazama's story about engine trouble. This book also does not cover
Kazama's distress and shame at surviving when his comrades died in battle.
The end of the book has a couple of pages on the history of Japan's special
attack forces that carried out suicide attacks near the end of World War II. Another page
provides information on where the piano is currently displayed in Tosu City so
visitors can see the famous piano played by two kamikaze pilots. A book for older elementary school children, Sensei no piano ga utta: Futatsu no
piano monogatari (The teacher's piano sang: Story of two pianos),
tells the true story on which this book's fictional story is based.
Although some words and concepts in this children's book may be difficult,
children as young as kindergarten can enjoy and learn from this heartwarming
story that thoughtfully treats important themes such as death, war, commitment,
and love.
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