My father began uttering abruptly that he had often seen a few peculiar people everywhere 70 years ago. Maybe they were suffering from developmental problems or some psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia. Medical science was not developed enough to diagnose and treat them in those days. They were finally taken into custody for the sake of their households' appearances.
The rich families set up the space for custody in their own houses, but poor people couldn't. They built some kind of public confinement facilities that every household could use, and the construction site was usually in a public place like in a temple. These confinements weren't punishments so these jail-like facilities were designed to be comfortable. One of these facilities was constructed in the temple where my father had lived. He seemed to have not approached the facility following his grandparents' advice. Naturally, he was afraid to see them.
There was a monument on the former jail-like facility. The monument had some letters on it, but I couldn't understand them. At present, the people that I wrote about are accommodated in hospitals and nursery facilities under the protection of fundamental human rights.
- (Vocabulary)
- keep up appearances （無理して）体面を保つ, 見えを張る
- save [preserve] (one's) face [honor] / save appearances 体面を保つ
- for the sake of appearance(s) 体面上
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