“Mieko and the Fifth Treasure”
by Eleanor Coerr, calligraphy by Cecil Uyehara.
G.P Putnam’s and Sons, New York, 1993, 79 pages, Grades 3-5.
Calligraphy is the elegant writing of Japanese or Chinese characters. This is one of the earlies written languages in the world. The construction of these characters is as complicated as it is beautiful.
English is taught in a language based on 26 letters. Everything written in English comes from this alphabet. In Japan, there are about 2,600 basic characters needed to function at a high school level. To understand at an advanced level, many more are needed. Additionally, Japanese and Chinese use calligraphy to draw these stunning configurations. This makes it necessary to be something of an artist to reach the full depth of the language.
Eleanor Coerr lived in Asia for many years and brings an intimate knowledge of the beauty of calligraphy in this short novel. She has also witnessed the tragic aftermaths of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Mieko, a young Japanese girl and injured victim of the atomic bombing must come to terms with her life after World War II ends. Eleanor Coerr combines both the beauty of calligraphy and the sufferings of Japanese because of the atomic bomb blasts in this redemptive book, “Mieko and the Fifth Treasure.”
Known simply as The Thunderbolt, the atomic bomb destroys much of Nagasaki. When the blast strikes, Mieko raises her hand to protect her face from flying glass. This saves her face but shards of glass slice her right hand. Before the explosion, Mieko had practiced the beautiful art of calligraphy. Now her right hand is wrapped in a bandage and she wonders if she will ever be able to write again.
Her parents send Mieko out of Nagasaki to her grandparents’ farm to recover. There, the 10-year-old child has terrible flashbacks of the bombing and feels humiliated by her crippled hand. Because of this, she refuses to exercise the injured hand. It is painful to move her fingers and she is filled with bitterness. Mieko’s grandparents force her to go to school and there she meets a kind girl named Yoshi.
In her loneliness, Mieko desperately needs a friend but is too locked up in her own pain to see the friendship being offered to her by Yoshi. As time goes on, Mieko’s hand slowly begins to heal. Supported by Yoshi’s affection, Mieko again starts calligraphy.
At first, there is no beauty in her drawings. But as she works her stiff fingers, the shape of the letters improve. What she really needs is to have the bitterness in her heart replaced with hope for her future. What Mieko needs is to regain her loving heart. There is a competition at school to create the most beautiful characters in class. Yoshi’s friendship is the chain that begins to pull Mieko out of her depression. Mieko decides to again pick up her calligraphy pen. What happens?
Eleanor Coerr travelled the world and lived for several years in Japan. Upon visiting the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, Coerr decided to write about the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Her world-famous book, “Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes” was published in 1977 and has been translated into numerous languages. “Mieko and the Fifth Treasure” is another touching story of a young girl’s struggle to overcome the terrors of the atomic bombing.
Coerr writes with great tenderness and compassion and readers will identify with the struggles of Mieko. Her success in overcoming her hardships is very moving. I hope you get a chance to read this fine novella and encourage the middle grade students in your family to do the same.
