This Schindler's list includes book, massage oils


http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?fl20030802a1.htm


By ANGELA JEFFS

With a famed name and a life story that makes one thankful to live
on an island rather than a landmass subject to the territorial whims
of neighboring states, you would think Japan would take Ana von
Schindler to its heart. But her visit is not panning out quite as
expected. "The holiday part is fine, but I was hoping for rather
more promotion for my book and aromatherapeutic oils."

Fate found Ana von Schindler in the form of a stranger who came
knocking at her door, saying she was the right person to master
multidisciplinary Chinese medicine.

The book, published in Japanese, has the title "Meridian Line
Massage" in katakana, but is subtitled in English "Well-being for
Body and Mind With Meridian Line Massage."

"Like acupuncture, it focuses on physical points that can be
massaged for improved well-being," she says. "There are techniques
for facials and relaxation, using herbs and oils. Also a selection
of recipes for improved eating. Such a holistic approach improves
health and balance, inside and out."

We meet in a wedding hall, as selected by Kyoko Yukawa, her friend,
translator, interpreter and self-styled agent. It is empty, so we
have the wonderful view over the ocean to ourselves. Kyoko keeps her
pale blue hat on (very "Gone With the Wind"). Ana removes her own,
being elegant enough in a pale yellow suit that, in combination with
red hair and blue eyes, dazzles.

Warm and relaxed, speaking in heavily accented English, Ana's life
reflects the postwar history of the Balkans. "We still have a family
home in Trieste, with a bedroom in Italy and the front door in
Yugoslavia," she says, laughing.

Six months after she was born in Moscow in 1944, her Austrian father
was killed in the war. Her grandmother and German-Yugoslav mother
then took her to live in Belgrade. "When I was 12, an aunt took me
to meet relatives in Czechoslovakia. Here I heard about this grand
uncle who had shamed the family by collaborating with the Nazis. It
was only later that we learned of his double life, saving Jewish
people from certain death." His name? Oscar Schindler, whose story
was made known to the world through Steven Spielberg's
film "Schindler's List."

Aged 19, Ana married an aspiring painter. "Luckily, I was ambitious
in my own right. Working as a documentarian and librarian for the
Assembly of Serbia, I studied medicine part time." Then life turned
upside-down. "My husband said, 'Let's go to Paris.' " So off they
went, baby Marie in tow. "We survived by my working as the concierge
for the apartment block where we lived."

One day there was a knock on her door. "It was an elderly Chinese
gentleman, nicely dressed in a suit. I was not brought up to invite
strange men into my home, but thinking he had the smile of an angel,
invited him in for tea. Imagine my surprise when he asked, 'Would
you like to study Chinese medicine?' When I replied, 'Why me?' he
answered, 'Because you are the right person.' " So began an
apprenticeship in all the historical, technical and philosophical
aspects of the tradition.

In 1980, Ana moved to Winnipeg in Canada. "I had such a vivid dream
of tanks in the streets of Macedonia that I woke with my heart
pounding. Believing there would be war, I left with my four
children." Though her marriage was by this time "less than perfect,"
her husband followed on -- and indeed is still around.

Opening a multidisciplinary clinic as a master therapist and
masseur -- "I use acupuncture, shiatsu, Russian massage -- whatever
techniques will best benefit a client" -- Ana became highly
successful.

By 1993 she had a holistic complex without precedence. "We even had
a shop selling accredited organic goods." Then she made a mistake,
taking on a political animal as a business partner. "He stole my
money. The bank took my business." Undaunted, she took four months
to rebuild her practice, "and myself."

In 1997 she took a holiday on the West Coast, and that was it. "Why
was I suffering the climatic extremes of Winnipeg when I could live
in lovely mild Victoria?" It took her three months to make the
move. "Three months later, the buyer (of her practice) went bust.
For me, though, it was the best thing I ever did."

Now remarried to an aikido-practicing French-Canadian, with two
daughters close at hand, she describes herself as "semiretired." She
began her meridian line massage book in 1999, after being promised
by a publisher that she would see it in print if she took his pain
away. The problem was cured; her words never saw light of day.

She has Kyoko Yukawa to thank for this recent publication, even
though there have been changes, allegedly to meet the demands of the
female Japanese market. These include simplistic manga-style
drawings to replace those done by one of Ana's daughters, and some
cutesy stories, including one about the translator and her dog.

Contracted not to use the material in any other published form for
five years, Ana is back to writing a doctorate on psychosomatic
pain, and poems for publication in Yugoslavia and Canada. Her
travels have left her fluent in Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Czech,
French and English, so with her poetry she has more control. "This
is my fifth trip to Japan, and my greatest frustration is not being
able to speak the language."

An earlier trip this year took her to a grave in the French
Dordogne -- a "soul journey" to meet her dead son of 37 years. Now
she is back home, hoping that her book reaches its market, and that
her oils, Angel Dreams and Arabian Nights, as produced through her
company, Healing Touch, find outlets.

One sniff of the organic lavender-based Angel Dreams, and this
writer is out like a light. As for Kyoko Yukawa's dog, apparently
she can't get enough of the stuff.

"Animals suffer arthritis and cancer," Ana says. "They benefit from
the healing effect of massage and oils just as much as we do."

Meridian Line Massage, published by Shufu to Seikatsu sha (Housewife
and Life), ISBN 4-391-12718-0. Healing Touch oils, phone/fax (046)
622-3770.

The Japan Times: Aug. 2, 2003