Winter in Hokkaido can be very harsh. Wind is whipping everything and blowing fiercely. There is anything nothing
but snow. The young of this small town already have gone to the cities to find
a job. The only thing that remains here is the train which is the only means
connected to the outside of the world. And there is one man on the platform.
This movie is about ‘Oto’ who is working in the train station. He works everyday even when his daughter as well as his wife was dead. During the funeral of his wife, someone blamed him and said, ‘Don’t you feel sad? Then can you even pretend to be, at least? Any tears?’. He could not answer at first easily, but soon he took his hat off and said, “I’m poppoya. Poppoyas never cry.”
This movie is about ‘Oto’ who is working in the train station. He works everyday even when his daughter as well as his wife was dead. During the funeral of his wife, someone blamed him and said, ‘Don’t you feel sad? Then can you even pretend to be, at least? Any tears?’. He could not answer at first easily, but soon he took his hat off and said, “I’m poppoya. Poppoyas never cry.”
Poppoya, the title of this movie, means railroad man. Oto spent whole his life on the train. He rejects the comfortable life, such as the invitation from his friend who has already quit this job and transferred to resort service. His friend thinks Oto is being inflexible. Whether his friend complains or not, he works without saying anything.
Japan’s
craftsmanship is well known in the world. It is hard to find that three
generations do the same job in the world except in Japan. Where does this
spirit come from? The scholars said, After Meiji period, there is no demand for
Samurais. As the war was over, no one needed them anymore.[1]
Therefore they needed to find another way in order to survive. It was learning
new skills, being an artisan or craftsman of paodeCastella(カステラ), sponge cake. Among hundreds of thousands of Samurais, competition was
very fierce wanting to be selected as a successor. So they had no choice but to
work very hard.
Also, Japan’s
traditional values’ of the job can be described as ‘ant’[2].
Even though the work is hard, they work for tomorrow and their family. You
might wonder about Oto’s act why he did not leave the platform even his wife
was sick. To give him an excuse, we should understand that he was also one of
the people from ‘Dankai’ generation
who are only engaged in their work and not really allowed to express their emotion.
However, he shows love for his family indirectly by doing his best at work.
When Oto went to his wife’s grave, his friend asked him to move persistently.
His friend finally gave up when he found the Oto’s name next to his wife’s on
the grave. Oto looked at his friend and said, “I will work until the end on
this land where my wife ended her life.”
The movie
finishes with showing the end of Oto’s life. His cold body was found at the platform.
Some guessed that he was shoveling snow as he always did. Someone might regard
his life as meaningless. Yes, the job of train driver might not be a really
high standard job from the perspective of the society. However, I am sure he
had a good life. Not only him, but also the one who has proud of his job and
exert oneself to the utmost every time, even it seems to be unworthy and
insignificant, I strongly believe they made the basement of the present of Japan.
Title : Poppoya, 鉄道員（ぽっぽや）(1999)
Director : Yasuo Furuhata
Cast
: Ken Takakura, Ryoko Hirosue
Music Department : Ryuichi Sakamoto
This
movie acquired thirteen awards including director of the year from the 23rd
of the Japan Academy Prize in 2000.[4]
[1] Craftsmanship in the world
(n.d.). Retrieved June 15, 2012, from http://kin.naver.com/qna/detail.nhn?d1id=6&dirId=6130203&docId=137209874&qb=7J2867O4IOyepeyduOygleyLoA==&enc=utf8§ion=kin&rank=1&search_sort=0&spq=0&pid=g9rApF5Y7vssstzvKu8ssc--432266&sid=T9ripiXQ2k8AABzDDdk
[2] Kim, G. (2007). 일본 대학생의 직업의식에 관한 연구, [Research: Perspectives of Jobs by
Japanese University Students], p.817
[3] Image taken from http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E9%89%84%E9%81%93%E5%93%A1-%E3%81%BD%E3%81%A3%E3%81%BD%E3%82%84-DVD-%E9%99%8D%E6%97%97%E5%BA%B7%E7%94%B7/dp/B00005Q8DM
[4] The 23rd of winner
list of Japan Academy Prize(n.d.). Retrieved June 15, 2012. From
http://www.japan-academy-prize.jp/prizes/?t=23
Japanese are proud of the craftsmanship, and I think our crafts are appreciated all over the world. But I had never thought about it from the point of view of the movie you told us about. In other words, the act itself of performing a piece of work like shoveling snow or, maybe, chopping wood, is itself the craft. There doesn't have to be a finished product, because the the doing of the job is the product if it's done with skill and pride and practice, as a tradition. In other words, the process and being 一生懸命 is all important. Thanks for telling about this new way of looking at craftsmanship and appreciating people that we may not usually appreciate. btw do you know that "popoya" comes from the sound a moving train makes-popopopopo? In English the train says chug chug chug. What about Korean?
ReplyDeleteI ever seen this movie before, but I want to see it if I have a chance. As Lilia said, Japanese are proud of the craftsmanships, or better say they were. Nowadays it is more and more rare that young generation inherit their parent's crafts. There are a lot of 伝統工芸 (traditional craft) disappearing in Japan. This is because young generation want go to a big city, work in abroad, or some time it is just because they feel doing traditional crafts is かっこ悪い (unattractive). This is really sad thing, but who can force people to work something they don't want do?
ReplyDeleteHowever, I agree what Lilia said. The real craft is probably the power and attitude you have to your own work, which come form your heart. I think this is one of the Japanese traditional way of thinking to do one specific thing 一生懸命ly. Thank you for shearing this movie, Young Ah ;)