Every time the relatives would gather for a major holiday, the father-in-law would have her sit near him, and he would tell her all the things that were done to him in the Iwate coal mine. Each time, the daughter-in-law would respond by saying, “Father, I apologize to you on behalf of Japan. I am sorry.” She would shed tears and ask for his forgiveness. For as long as he would vent his anger at her, she would listen to him tell the same stories over and over until he was finished, and she would continue to apologize.

       This went on for about ten years, and then it stopped. Relatives noticed that his cold attitude toward the daughter-in-law had become much warmer and that he even seemed to like her. So they asked him, “Why are you behaving so kindly toward your daughter-in-law. She’s a Japanese woman. Don’t you hate her?”

       “I don’t hate her anymore,” he said. “All the hatred that had accumulated in my heart has gone away.

       “I never hated her,” he added. “I was just venting on her all the hatred that was in me for having been conscripted to work in the mine. Because of her, the hatred has all disappeared. From now, I’m going to be kind to her, because she’s my daughter-in-law.”

       The daughter-in-law paid for the sins of the Japanese. This is an example of the path of redemption that will lead humankind into a world of peace.