in Kamiyama

I’m sorry to report that in the early morning of December 20, 2008, Chan died. He was just 47 years old. He had liver cancer and he fought hard, but he just couldn’t win.

He came to Kamiyama six and a half years ago, and he had lived in his home at the foot of Oawa-yama mountain for the past three years. Every time we went to see him, he always welcomed us warmly. Thank you… Chan.

Lots of people have brought flowers.
(My hand must have been shaking from sadness. I didn’t notice at the time. I’m sorry the shot is blurry.)

His sister came from London, former Kamiyama ALT Joe came from Muroto City, Mutsumi Uchiyama came from her hometown in Kanagawa…a lot of people came rushing over. Keiju Nakajima, Kayo from Wakayama’s “Tsuki no Matsuri”, and Rakuon Rakujitsu high schooler Ai Miyagi played a requiem. Uncountable people came together to say a final goodbye.

He traveled the world for two and a half years with his wife Kyoko and ended up in Kamiyama. Kyoko said, “Being surrounded by so many people, I think Chan must be happy now…”

I wish he could have lived much, much longer.

… I imagine he’s gone somewhere now, but I believe he will come back to us someday.

According to Ainu legend, the soul travels back and forth between this world and the next. They say that when you die, your soul goes to the next world and waits for the day when it can come back to this world. When someone on earth makes a baby, the ancestors of the two families over in the next world talk together and decide whose soul to send back to this world. When it’s decided, the soul goes into the woman’s womb and is born as a newborn baby.

Apparently clean and beautiful souls come back to this world faster. Chan’s soul was very refined and beautiful, so he could already be back in someone’s womb, waiting to be born. Yes… I’m sure he has already come back.