The Man They Call Brother-in-Law

In the winter of 1984, their father gave his place on the road to survival to a neighbor and never came back. Their mother made tofu alone and raised six children. The second-eldest daughter left school to work, while the eldest passed her exams on her second try and became a police officer. Just as life was beginning to improve, their mother was murdered by an intruder. At the funeral, the neighbors wondered where the six children would end up. The eldest daughter’s husband, just twenty-three, stepped forward and said, “Little brothers and sisters, you’re all coming with me. As long as I have food to eat, I won’t let you go hungry.”

This story is based on real events. It is about loss, about protecting one another, and about the man they called their brother-in-law.