Tenma
Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2016 5:00 pm
I'm surprised that we haven't seen any Tenma submissions here yet. I KNOW there are a LOT of Tenma fans on this forum.
Here is a quick biographical sketch I quickly thought up, based on the literal meaning of Tenma's name, and something out of a description of him by Tezuka in one of the manga stories.
The farmer looked at the rows of plants with their small white flowers, taking in the aroma of the blossoms. He mentally did the calculation of the worth of his future harvest at market, and sighed. It had been a lot of work getting the Brassicaceae planted, and much more labor had been required weeding the fields afterwards. The old man knew he was getting too old for the effort, but bringing the spicy condiment ingredient to market had been his family's livelihood for many generations. He also knew that he would probably be the last of the line as his son showed no interest in working the fields.
The boy's interests were more of the cerebral nature, that those of the physical. The old man had managed to get him to help out with the cultivation from time to time, but his son had done so grudgingly, and with a book stuffed into a back pocket that he'd be reading whenever he could sneak off from his assigned tasks. Sometimes his father thought of just giving up and allowing the boy to go his own way. Perhaps it was time for a member of the Tenma tribe to leave the old ways and rise up in statue. God knows, the old man thought, being a dirt poor farmer isn't a destiny that anyone would choose willingly.
Umataro tried to make the most of his time spent in the rural schoolhouse. The one room shack, and the single teacher served as the farming village's only school for the prefecture's farming community. Few of the students went on beyond the 8th grade, the district had no formal high school, and few of the families could justify the expense of sending their children to the nearest one in the bordering prefect.
Sachiko Yankasawa, the middle aged schoolmaster at the rural school, saw the greatness in the young boy. She knew he was destined to rise above the level of a poor farmer, but her knowledge of higher mathematics and technology was quite limited. She insisted to the boy that he should attend high school, and go on to university after that.
When the old man returned to the farmhouse late in the afternoon he found his son and the village schoolmaster waiting for him. “Otōsan,” Umataro said, “Sachiko San says I should go on to high school.”
The man cast his gaze back and forth between the schoolmaster and his son. “As I've told my son before Yankasawa Sachiko, we're just poor farmers. He's needed here on the farm, and I can't afford to send him to the high school. How would he get there? It's a two hour trip each way, assuming that he had a bicycle.”
“Tenma San,” Sachiko replied, “I see greatness in your son. I don't think it's his destiny to be a farmer. He will be a great scientist or engineer. Japan's future will depend on minds such as his. I beg you to allow him to continue his studies. If necessary, I think I can get him transportation, there is a bus that makes the trip four times each day between the districts. I think he would qualify for a transport pass.
“We won't take charity!” the old man insisted.
“It's not charity,” the schoolmaster shot back. “There is a program at the federal level for higher education. The government knows how important it is for the country's future that our citizens be educated.”
“Please father!” Umataro begged. “I want to lean more about science and technology. I've read all the books I could find, but I need more! I'll make you proud of me.”
The farmer shrugged his shoulders. He knew he was going to lose this argument, the same way he'd lost it to the boy's deceased mother. “Very well.” he said. “But it won't be easy on you. You'll have to wake up early to make the trip each day. You'll still have your chores when you get home, and then homework to do before you can sleep.”
“I know,” the boy pleaded. “I'll do it.”
Life at the university had been an enormous change for Umataro. Tokyo was such a huge city, it was unlike anything he could ever imagine. The town center in the district beyond his farming village where he'd spent four years of high school could not have even started to prepare him for the crowded urban environment that the university was set into. Even so, the teenager took to it like a duck to water.
It was a bitter sweet change of life though, his eyes filled with tears parting from his father for the last time. The old man had given him a long hug before letting him board the bus that would take him to the train station. It was the last time he'd ever see the man, his father had passed away during his freshman year. Umataro really wanted to return home for his father's funeral, but word had reached him too late, and he had midterm exams that he could not miss. Without realizing it, Umatara had already started down the dark path and his destiny.
Here is a quick biographical sketch I quickly thought up, based on the literal meaning of Tenma's name, and something out of a description of him by Tezuka in one of the manga stories.
The farmer looked at the rows of plants with their small white flowers, taking in the aroma of the blossoms. He mentally did the calculation of the worth of his future harvest at market, and sighed. It had been a lot of work getting the Brassicaceae planted, and much more labor had been required weeding the fields afterwards. The old man knew he was getting too old for the effort, but bringing the spicy condiment ingredient to market had been his family's livelihood for many generations. He also knew that he would probably be the last of the line as his son showed no interest in working the fields.
The boy's interests were more of the cerebral nature, that those of the physical. The old man had managed to get him to help out with the cultivation from time to time, but his son had done so grudgingly, and with a book stuffed into a back pocket that he'd be reading whenever he could sneak off from his assigned tasks. Sometimes his father thought of just giving up and allowing the boy to go his own way. Perhaps it was time for a member of the Tenma tribe to leave the old ways and rise up in statue. God knows, the old man thought, being a dirt poor farmer isn't a destiny that anyone would choose willingly.
Umataro tried to make the most of his time spent in the rural schoolhouse. The one room shack, and the single teacher served as the farming village's only school for the prefecture's farming community. Few of the students went on beyond the 8th grade, the district had no formal high school, and few of the families could justify the expense of sending their children to the nearest one in the bordering prefect.
Sachiko Yankasawa, the middle aged schoolmaster at the rural school, saw the greatness in the young boy. She knew he was destined to rise above the level of a poor farmer, but her knowledge of higher mathematics and technology was quite limited. She insisted to the boy that he should attend high school, and go on to university after that.
When the old man returned to the farmhouse late in the afternoon he found his son and the village schoolmaster waiting for him. “Otōsan,” Umataro said, “Sachiko San says I should go on to high school.”
The man cast his gaze back and forth between the schoolmaster and his son. “As I've told my son before Yankasawa Sachiko, we're just poor farmers. He's needed here on the farm, and I can't afford to send him to the high school. How would he get there? It's a two hour trip each way, assuming that he had a bicycle.”
“Tenma San,” Sachiko replied, “I see greatness in your son. I don't think it's his destiny to be a farmer. He will be a great scientist or engineer. Japan's future will depend on minds such as his. I beg you to allow him to continue his studies. If necessary, I think I can get him transportation, there is a bus that makes the trip four times each day between the districts. I think he would qualify for a transport pass.
“We won't take charity!” the old man insisted.
“It's not charity,” the schoolmaster shot back. “There is a program at the federal level for higher education. The government knows how important it is for the country's future that our citizens be educated.”
“Please father!” Umataro begged. “I want to lean more about science and technology. I've read all the books I could find, but I need more! I'll make you proud of me.”
The farmer shrugged his shoulders. He knew he was going to lose this argument, the same way he'd lost it to the boy's deceased mother. “Very well.” he said. “But it won't be easy on you. You'll have to wake up early to make the trip each day. You'll still have your chores when you get home, and then homework to do before you can sleep.”
“I know,” the boy pleaded. “I'll do it.”
Life at the university had been an enormous change for Umataro. Tokyo was such a huge city, it was unlike anything he could ever imagine. The town center in the district beyond his farming village where he'd spent four years of high school could not have even started to prepare him for the crowded urban environment that the university was set into. Even so, the teenager took to it like a duck to water.
It was a bitter sweet change of life though, his eyes filled with tears parting from his father for the last time. The old man had given him a long hug before letting him board the bus that would take him to the train station. It was the last time he'd ever see the man, his father had passed away during his freshman year. Umataro really wanted to return home for his father's funeral, but word had reached him too late, and he had midterm exams that he could not miss. Without realizing it, Umatara had already started down the dark path and his destiny.