Re:THE POSTHUMOUS WRITINGS OF MY FATHER-IN-LAW---recollection from the end of World War II to 1953

<Part 9>
　
The day we started the coke-oven, a lot of the people including companys top officials and some Russian engineers came to observe. At the scene, we had to show these observers how well the Japanese engineers could start it. Nervously, I ordered Mr. W. to operate the pusher machine.

An massive amount of red-hot coke was pushed out of the coke-oven, and dropped into the extinguishing station. I cried out, Banzai! Banzai! I was so happy I couldnt stop crying. When Mr. W came to me at the top of the oven, we hugged each other and cried. I had had a lot of experiences in the starting-coke-ovens, but this was the most impressive one I had ever had. With those coke-ovens, our task was successfully completed.

The blast furnace and the iron manufacturing departments followed. They were each made a smooth start under the Japanese guidance. The Anshan Iron Steel Corporation started its operation after many years cessation. As it was before, Anshan again came to be a thriving city. At the celebration marking the reopening of the company, each of the Japanese was invited on the stage. They were then offered a large flower, pinned it on their chests.

After that, I stayed in my office, and I didnt work so hard. I told the staff that I would stay there, because we had done our task, and that I would help them when needed. We submitted a request to go back to Japan, and things didnt go as expected and we remained without an answer.

In our dormitory, some young Japanese couples other than the Japanese working for the project, had come from northern Manchuria. They seemed to have had a hard time getting here. They managed to live on a poor diet. On the contrary, though our rooms were not well- furnished, we lived under comparatively good conditions. However, we never spent a day without thinking about returning home. Those were uneasy days.

by Anmitsuhime

To be continued to Part 10