Pauline Tsukamoto has been on two psychological paths in her life: trying to make peace with Japan, and trying to make peace with herself. Her body is on yet another journey, one that involves accepting the gift of life itself.
Having left home at age 17, and meeting her Japanese husband in Italy, Pauline came to Japan in 1969 full of spirit but totally ignorant. "I came hoping for light, a breath of fresh air, to escape England's stultifying class mentality. But with a small baby in a strange environment -- Japan was a very, very different place 30 years ago -- I became unhappy, then depressed and finally, panic-stricken."
Pauline grew up living in a caravan until wealthy godparents appeared on the scene, hired her parents to act as housekeepers, and built them a home. "My father's upstairs-downstairs mentality was very much, 'Stay in your station (in life).' But moving in and out of my godparents' world, I knew what I wanted. Elocution lessons erased my accent. Slowly I learned to develop an indifference to my humble roots."
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