祈りの言葉 2018年／金子 親雄

水俣病患者・遺族代表　「祈りの言葉」
Minamata Disease Patient and Bereaved Family Representative’s “Words of Prayer”

今年も５月１日になりました。水俣病の犠牲となり、２年前に亡くなった母スミ子の魂も今日はここで見守ってくれていると思います。
母さん・・・今なにをしていますか。
弟の貢（みつき）には会えましたか。沢山抱っこしてあげていますか。
父さんと夫婦で「うまか～」て好きな魚やびなを食べてますか。
私たちが生まれ育った明神は水俣湾と不知火海に挟まれた岬で、日常に工場の音が響き渡っていましたね。
そんな中、私が２歳になった昭和２８年には、私が原因不明の病にかかり、貢は生まれて間もなく亡くなったうえ、父さんも私が３歳の時に亡くなりましたね。
後になって父さんは劇症型水俣病、私は小児性水俣病、新たに生まれてきた弟、雄二は胎児性水俣病ということが分かりましたね。「魚をとり、魚を食べる」ごく普通の生活で水俣病におかされていったのです。

It’s May 1st again. I think the soul of my mother Sumiko, who died two years ago as a victim of Minamata disease, is watching over us here today.
Mom, what are you doing now?
Did you get to see my younger brother Mitsuki? Are you giving him lots of hugs?
Are you and Dad eating your favorite fish and Bina shellfish?

My brothers and I were born and raised in Myojin, a cape between Minamata Bay and the Shiranui Sea, where the sound of factories echoed in our daily lives.
In 1953, when I was two years old, I had a disease of unknown cause. My little brother, Mitsuki, passed away shortly after he was born. My father also died when I was three years old.
Later it was found that my father had a fulminant form of Minamata disease, I had a childhood Minamata disease, and my new brother, Yuji, had a fetal Minamata disease. 　Catching and eating fish was a very ordinary life for us, but it led us to Minamata disease.

母さんは、どんな時でも苦しみや悲しみに負けず、頑張り屋で、親切で、人の喜ぶ姿が大好きでしたね。悔しく苦しい耐え難い思いだったと、親になった今では母さんの気持ちがよく分かるような気がします。
私は、中学時代まで病院で過ごし、縁あってチッソ開発で、母さんに心配をかけながらも定年まで４１年働きました。３人の宝子にも恵まれ、その子たちも立派に成長し、今では６人の元気いっぱいの孫たちがいるお祖父さんになりました。父さん、母さんが尊い命を繋いでくれたのです。
母さんは、雄二たち胎児性水俣病の人たちの将来を最後の最後まで心配していましたね。
雄二は、最近は好きな寿司ものどを通らず、年々衰える不自由な身体でも、食べたい、自分の足で歩きたいという望みを捨てず、たくさんの方に助けてもらいながら、歯を食いしばり生きています。

Mom, you were a hard worker. You were kind, and loved to see others happy. You did your best to overcome sorrow and pain at all times. It must have been so frustrating and painful for you. Now that I am a parent too, I think I can understand how you felt.
I spent my junior high school years in a hospital. After that, I went to work for Chisso Corporation, where I worked for 41 years until I retired, despite your worries. I was blessed with three precious children. All of them have grown up and I am now a grandfather, surrounded by six energetic grandchildren. Mom, Dad. You gave me the baton of life.
Mom, you were worried about the future of Yuji and other fetal Minamata disease patients until the very end. These days, Yuji can’t get his favorite sushi down his throat, and his health is deteriorating every year. Nevertheless, he never gives up the desire to eat and to walk on his own feet. With the help of many people, he has been bearing up in tragedy to survive.

母さん、人前で話した事がない私が、今日ここで話すとは夢にも思わなかったでしょう。
いま私たちに何ができるのか？年月が流れても決して忘れてはなりません。
母さんが語り部になったのは、「妻として、母として、同じ苦しみを世界中の女性に味わってもらいたくない」との思いからでしたね。もう二度と同じような悲劇で、多くの人が苦しまないよう、どうかどうか見守ってください。
「一番苦しんだ人が、一番幸せになれる」
その強い心をもって、私たちは、水俣病という宿命を使命に変え、困難に負けずに生きる姿で、人に勇気を与える人生を、これからも歩んでいきます。

Mom, I’ve never spoken in public before, and I’m sure you never dreamed that I would speak here today.
What can we do now? As the years go by, we must never forget.
Mom, you told me that you became a storyteller because, as a wife and a mother, you did not want other women in the world to experience the same suffering. Please watch over us so that many people will never have to suffer from a similar tragedy again.
“The person who has suffered the most can be the happiest.”
With such a strong heart, we will turn the fate of Minamata disease into our mission, and continue to lead a life that gives courage to others by overcoming difficulties.

最後に、水俣病で犠牲になられた多くの方々のご冥福をお祈りいたします。
どうか安らかにお眠りください。

Lastly, I pray for the souls of the many victims of Minamata disease.
May they rest in peace.

平成30年5月1日
May 1, 2018

患者・遺族代表　　金子　親雄
Chikao Kaneko,　Representative of Minamata Disease Patients and Bereaved Families

水俣病資料館ウェブサイトより
Reference Minamata City Minamata Disease Museum Website
翻訳 水俣インパクト  translated by minamata impact