Teruko Saito was the wife of the tanka poet Mokichi Saito, and is connected to Kaminoyama. She tends to be hidden in Mokichi’s shadow, but Teruko herself is said to have been a remarkably free spirit.
This piece centers on her travels in later life. NHK has announced that its morning drama for the first half of 2028, Honno Mokichi (written by Kankuro Kudo, starring Yumi Kawai), will be modeled on Teruko plus Mokichi. Someone connected to Yamagata, and to Kaminoyama in particular, will be the subject of a morning drama. As one person living in the same Kaminoyama, I was simply happy to hear it.
Born the daughter of a large hospital
Teruko was born in 1895, the second daughter of Kiichi Saito, founder of the Aoyama Brain Hospital. In 1914, at 19, she married Mokichi, thirteen years her senior. Mokichi entered the Saito family as an adopted son-in-law.
Their two sons were the psychiatrist plus essayist Shigeta Saito, and the novelist Morio Kita. In his novel The House of Nire, Morio Kita portrayed a character modeled on his mother.
Going out into the world in the second half of life
Teruko became widely known later in life. She loved to travel, visiting more than 300 places in Japan, and often went to remote regions of Asia plus Africa.
At 79, she went to Antarctica, a record that matched the oldest in the world at the time. She visited 108 countries. At 85 she went to Zimbabwe, and also took on Everest, climbing to 4,300 meters. People called her the exhilarating granny.
The Saito Mokichi Memorial Museum once held a special exhibition on Teruko, subtitled Beyond Hardship: The Formidable Woman Who Traveled to 108 Countries.
A new freedom from her sixties
What I love about Teruko’s life is that, in its second half, she stepped outside the frames of wife, mother, plus daughter of a large hospital. She did not use age as a reason. If anything, the older she grew, the farther she went.
It is never too late to begin something: a well-worn saying, but Teruko proved it by standing in Antarctica at 79.
I too sometimes receive requests from people at a turning point in life, asking for a painting for the time ahead.
Mermaid nao’s order art is work that leaves the direction you want to head toward in color plus form.
Reference: Saito Mokichi Memorial Museum, Chronology of Mokichi
[References]
Wikipedia (Japanese): Teruko Saito
Kotobank (Japanese): Teruko Saito
Saito Mokichi Memorial Museum (Japanese): Special exhibition, Teruko Saito, Wife of Mokichi
Stella net (Japanese): Kankuro Kudo with Yumi Kawai, production plus lead announced for the first-half 2028 morning drama Honno Mokichi
ciatr (Japanese): Synopsis plus cast of the first-half 2028 morning drama Honno Mokichi
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