**3) Overcame parental opposition and decided to enter the sanatorium**

### **-Parents said the staff would have no patience for me, and if I go to the sanatorium I had better prepare to run away and never come back**

But my parents opposed this and said, "Even if you go to the sanatorium they will have no patience for you there." At the time, the general public had strong judgments about macular leprosy, so I was told, "If you run away there and then come back you will shame the family and we will no longer be able to live here. If you go, be prepared to never come back."

### **-Full of despair that my life was over; was indecisive for one year before entering the sanatorium**

Before I went, I was filled with indecision, had no desire to study, and was in just complete despair. I believed all my hopes and dreams had been extinguished.

I thought that my life was over no matter what I did, and it did not matter when I entered the sanatorium since I had no future anyway. I'd just be kept alive until I die like a cow or a pig. I milled about with indecision for nearly a year, but in the end, I persuaded my parents and came here myself. That was April 1, 1952.

#### **4) Surprise at the beauty of the sea around Ōshima**
