Tomiko Sato
Encyclopedia
was the common-law wife of the Chinese Communist scholar and poet Guo Moruo
. She is often referred to in Chinese sources as Anna (安娜), the way Guo Moruo called her. Satō Tomiko spent about 20 years with Guo, in Japan and in China, until they were separated by the war
, and they had five children together.
(north-eastern Honshū
). In her teens she studied at a Baptist
boarding school in Sendai, the capital of the prefecture. At 21, rebelling against the prospect of an arranged marriage, she left her home prefecture and went to Tokyo
, where she found a job with St Luke's Hospital
as a student nurse.
Satō's relationship with Guo Moruo
started in the summer of 1916, about a year after her arrival to Tokyo. A friend of Guo, named Chen Longji (陈龙骥), happened to be treated for tuberculosis at St Luke's Hospital. Guo, who had just completed his first year of study in Japan, visited his sick friend in the hospital on his trip to Tokyo, but the patient died soon. After the death of his friend, Guo met her when visiting the hospital to request the dead friend's X-ray
records. Satō was sharing Guo's grief over the death of his friend, and once Guo returned to Okayama, they started regularly exchange letters. By December, Guo Moruo convinced Satō to leave Tokyo and join him in Okayama.
Satō and Guo had their first child, a son, in December 1917.
Satō and Guo's union was vehemently opposed by both of their families, and ill-received by the community they were in.
In April 1923, Satō moved with Guo and their three children to Shanghai
. They had financial difficulties, and in February 1924 she went to Japan, taking the children along, but returned to Shanghai in mid-November.
After the Marco Polo Bridge Incident
in July 1937, the war between China and Japan
started for real. On July 25, Guo managed to escape Japan and to return to his homeland. As his attempts to get her and their children out of Japan later that year were frustrated by the Japanese government, Satō was left alone to take care of the children in wartime Japan. She resisted the pressure of the authorities to have them naturalized as Japanese citizens; this protected them from the prospect of being conscripted and possibly sent to fight against their father's country. The four elder children were able to enter Kyoto Imperial University; all graduated, and became specialists in industrial chemistry, aquaculture, architecture, and mathematics.
When interviewed in 1980 by Sawachi Hisae (澤地久枝), who was to write her biography, Satō summarized her life story as follows: "I am a stray dog all my life, but whatever bitterness can be said about this bitter life, that was because of my own foolishness". She died in 1994, aged 95.
Guo Moruo
Guo Moruo , courtesy name Dingtang , was a Chinese author, poet, historian, archaeologist, and government official from Sichuan, China.-Family history:Guo, originally named Guo Kaizhen, was born on November 10 or 16, in the small town of Shawan...
. She is often referred to in Chinese sources as Anna (安娜), the way Guo Moruo called her. Satō Tomiko spent about 20 years with Guo, in Japan and in China, until they were separated by the war
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...
, and they had five children together.
Biography
Tomiko Satō was the eldest of eight children in the family of a Japanese Protestant minister in the Ohira village, Kurokawa District, Miyagi PrefectureMiyagi Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan in the Tōhoku Region on Honshu island. The capital is Sendai.- History :Miyagi Prefecture was formerly part of the province of Mutsu. Mutsu Province, on northern Honshu, was one of the last provinces to be formed as land was taken from the indigenous Emishi, and became the...
(north-eastern Honshū
Honshu
is the largest island of Japan. The nation's main island, it is south of Hokkaido across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyushu across the Kanmon Strait...
). In her teens she studied at a Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
boarding school in Sendai, the capital of the prefecture. At 21, rebelling against the prospect of an arranged marriage, she left her home prefecture and went to Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, where she found a job with St Luke's Hospital
St. Luke's International Hospital
is a general hospital located in the Tsukiji district of Chūō, Tokyo, Japan. It was founded in 1902 by Rudolph Bolling Teusler, a missionary doctor sent by the American Episcopal Church. In 1933, R. B...
as a student nurse.
Satō's relationship with Guo Moruo
Guo Moruo
Guo Moruo , courtesy name Dingtang , was a Chinese author, poet, historian, archaeologist, and government official from Sichuan, China.-Family history:Guo, originally named Guo Kaizhen, was born on November 10 or 16, in the small town of Shawan...
started in the summer of 1916, about a year after her arrival to Tokyo. A friend of Guo, named Chen Longji (陈龙骥), happened to be treated for tuberculosis at St Luke's Hospital. Guo, who had just completed his first year of study in Japan, visited his sick friend in the hospital on his trip to Tokyo, but the patient died soon. After the death of his friend, Guo met her when visiting the hospital to request the dead friend's X-ray
X-ray
X-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 0.01 to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz and energies in the range 120 eV to 120 keV. They are shorter in wavelength than UV rays and longer than gamma...
records. Satō was sharing Guo's grief over the death of his friend, and once Guo returned to Okayama, they started regularly exchange letters. By December, Guo Moruo convinced Satō to leave Tokyo and join him in Okayama.
Satō and Guo had their first child, a son, in December 1917.
Satō and Guo's union was vehemently opposed by both of their families, and ill-received by the community they were in.
In April 1923, Satō moved with Guo and their three children to Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
. They had financial difficulties, and in February 1924 she went to Japan, taking the children along, but returned to Shanghai in mid-November.
After the Marco Polo Bridge Incident
Marco Polo Bridge Incident
The Marco Polo Bridge Incident was a battle between the Republic of China's National Revolutionary Army and the Imperial Japanese Army, often used as the marker for the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War .The eleven-arch granite bridge, Lugouqiao, is an architecturally significant structure,...
in July 1937, the war between China and Japan
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...
started for real. On July 25, Guo managed to escape Japan and to return to his homeland. As his attempts to get her and their children out of Japan later that year were frustrated by the Japanese government, Satō was left alone to take care of the children in wartime Japan. She resisted the pressure of the authorities to have them naturalized as Japanese citizens; this protected them from the prospect of being conscripted and possibly sent to fight against their father's country. The four elder children were able to enter Kyoto Imperial University; all graduated, and became specialists in industrial chemistry, aquaculture, architecture, and mathematics.
When interviewed in 1980 by Sawachi Hisae (澤地久枝), who was to write her biography, Satō summarized her life story as follows: "I am a stray dog all my life, but whatever bitterness can be said about this bitter life, that was because of my own foolishness". She died in 1994, aged 95.
Published works
- はまって、もうやめられない川柳. 文芸社: 2004. ISBN 978-4-8355-8036-4
- 我的丈夫郭沫若. 日新社: 1938. ASIN: B000JAJY8U