If I write this down, anyone who knows where I'm from might figure out who I am.
My elementary school was quite old; they held the 110th-anniversary celebration while I was still a student. The school building was falling apart, with wooden stairs and thick concrete handrails that were worn down from heavy use over the decades. (While I was there, it was considered so ancient that half of it underwent major renovations.)
My dad also went to this same elementary school, and he used to say something strange. He claimed that right in the middle of the schoolyard, there used to stand a gigantic willow tree. When I asked him why something like that was there, he said the land had been a graveyard before the war. It was true that there weren't many other large, flat plots of land in the neighborhood, so the government must have confiscated it. But I wondered why they didn't just cut down the willow. Apparently, during sports days, while races were going on, that tree was always in the way and made it hard to see (laughs). That same tree was finally cut down while my dad was a student, but only after a massive exorcism ritual involving dozens of people.
Since the ritual was held at night, my dad sneaked out to watch. That was when he felt a strong sense of unease. Why? Because of the people surrounding the tree. He could understand why there were dozens of Shinto priests, but for some reason, Buddhist monks and even people who looked like Christian priests were there too. Aside from them, there were middle-aged men in suits and everyday-looking women in casual clothes.
He could see everything despite the late hour because powerful lights were shining down from the roofs of the nearby gymnasium and school building. Everyone seemed to be drawing some kind of circle around the willow tree and chanting something under their breath. Because there were so many people, all he could hear was a low, heavy drone, like "Ooooooh..."
He watched for a while, but then he thought about how scary his grandmother was and that she might get mad at him, so he went home. The next day, the schoolyard was covered with blue plastic sheets for a while, but once those were removed after about a week, the willow tree was already gone.
When I heard this story, I asked my dad, "You thought they cut it down, but could they have replanted it somewhere else?" He replied, "There’s no place that would take a creepy tree like that." I still don't really understand why they needed such a massive exorcism. Sorry for rambling on with such a pointless story.
***
My dad told me back then—when I asked him, "Was there even a Christian priest living around our neighborhood?"—he said, "There's no way a blonde priest would be out in the countryside like this. Besides, there was even a Chinaman with a queue." So I guess they must have been gathered beforehand specifically for this exorcism. If that's the case, why didn't they match their religious sects? Or rather, I wouldn't think a public elementary school could spend that much money on an exorcism...
Comments (-)