A Very Ishii Christmas

Why should method actors have all the fun? I'm a strong believer in what Merleau-Ponty called knowledge in the hands, so I try whenever I can to act out the more dramatic scenes in the history of children's literature. Here, then, combining my previous two entries, is my dramatic recreation of the scene in Ken Inukai's house on Christmas Eve 1933, when Momoko Ishii first discovered the joys of A. A. Milne, kickstarting her seventy-year career as a translator, author, editor, librarian and critic. Admittedly, my mother's copy of The House at Pooh Corner (pictured) is from 1934, but that's close enough.



When Ishii died, an admirer who was clearly familiar with the Gospel of St John wrote (in Japanese, but I hope my translation will serve):

What a blessed life!
However, there were also hard times and unknown adversities. She tasted the despair of losing everything.
‘If a grain of wheat dies…’ said the ancient writer. A tiny grain of wheat must fall into the earth and die, but thus it will in time bring forth a great harvest.
Every one of us lives in a vast wheat field called Momoko Ishii – and it is abundant with grain.

If I should ever happen to die myself, I'd be very happy with that obituary (obviously swapping my own name in for Ishii's, otherwise it would just be weird). Wouldn't you?