His father was a soldier on the Ryukyu Islands for years, leaving his mother to raise the family by selling vegetables and picking through trash.
父親沒讀過多少書，年輕時候在琉球當了好幾年兵，留下他們母子以賣菜、撿破銅爛鐵維生。母親從小就是個苦命的童養媳，省吃儉用把兒女一個個拉拔大後，一直在小旅館裡，做清潔打掃的工作。