週刊NY生活

2019年（平成31年）3月9日（土）VOICES From

THE NEW YORKERS
Finding Comfort
When Friends Move Away
By Ashley Matarama
Since college I had
sought language partners to keepup
theJapanese I
studied inhigh school.
Many of thelanguage partners I met were Japanese
students or employees who were traveling, living, studying and/or working in
New York. Sometimes friendship blossomed and we would meet regularly atcafes, events or restaurants while sharing each other’s languages and enjoying each other’s company.
However, there always comesthat inevitable realization that these
Japanese nationals are temporary visitors to the States. Parting with thesefriends as they head back to Japan canbe bittersweet and they are dearly
missed. Akin to the fleeting beauty offalling cherry blossoms, the weeks,months or years they stayed in New
York go by in a flash. Thankfully there
are many ways to keep in touch, but it
doesn’t feel the same as hanging out inhttps://www.yomiuri-info.jp/daily_yomiuri/nys/person. On some occasions, you visit
them on your next trip to Japan or theyvisit you again sometime after settlingback home. On the other hand, as thecity life takes its toll, distance and otherfactors may cause you to lose touch.
Regardless of whether or not
you stay in touch, there is one Japaneseidiom that carries a profound message:
Ichi go ichi e (meaning “one time, onemeeting”). Many moments in our lives
such as meeting new people only happen once, and it is precisely because
they happen once that we should cherish and enjoy the moment. Even if you
meet the same person or go to the same
cafe 100 times, every one of thosemoments is unique.
We can find solace in having
been given the wonderful opportunity

THE

SHUKAN NEW YORK SEIKATSU[English Edition］ (10)JAPAN VOICECOOL JAPAN from New Yorkers’ Viewpoints

Sayonara,
Keene Sensei
Professor Who Introduced Japanese
Literature to the Western World
Donald Keene, renowned scholar ofJapanese literature, died of heart failure in Tokyo on February 24, 2019.
He was 96. He is survived by his
adopted son Seiki Keene, a shamisen
player and bunraku puppet theater narrator.
Keene was born on June 18, 1922 in
Brooklyn, New York. He entered
Columbia College at the age of sixteen
in 1938. In 1940, he happened upon adiscounted copy of Arthur Waley’stranslation of The Tale of Genji in aMidtown bookstore and found refuge
from constant news of warfare overseas in the world of Murasaki
Shikibu’s 11th century classic. He
served as a translator and interpreter inHawaii during World War II. After thewar Keene returned to Columbia tocontinue his studies and he produced aprolific stream of translations andscholarly studies of Japanese literatureand culture, publishing hundreds ofbooks in English, Japanese and several
European languages.
Awarded for cultural merit in 1953,Keene received a Ford Foundation fellowship to study at Kyoto University.
During the two years that followed, heto have met someone and befriend
them over time. The first time you met
them in a sense is the last, because you
can’t repeat a first meeting, and neither
can you repeat the second, nor the thirdand so on. Treating each moment as if
it were the last might sound morbid,
but actually if we treat it as the last, wemay find ourselves putting more effort
into making it a beautiful moment anda wonderful memory. To all theJapanese visitors who crossed paths
with me in New York, I wish you all
the best in your lives back home!

Sadao Watanabe
Quartet’s Concert
at Blue Note

Donald Keene at his final lecture at Columbia
University on April 26, 2011. (Photo: Ryoichi Miura)(1922-2019)began friendships with prominent
Japanese authors, including
Jun’ ichiro Tanizaki and Yukio
Mishima.
For many years Keene divided histime between Manhattan and Tokyo.
After the Tohoku earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in March
2011, he moved to Tokyo full time,
becoming a Japanese citizen inMarch of the following year. OnApril 26, 2011, he gave his last lecture at Columbia University. In thelecture he said, “I want to spend therest of my life in Japan to express mygratitude to this country, and we needto know the truth of this disaster.”

At Columbia, the Donald Keene
Center of Japanese Culture and theDepartment of East Asian Languages
and Cultures will host a memorial service in the fall of 2019. The Keene
Center has also established a scholarship fund in his honor; donations can besent to Columbia University, 507 Kent
Hall MC 3920, 1140 Amsterdam
Avenue, New York NY 10027 or by
donating
online:https://web.giving.columbia.edu/giveon
line/index.jsp?schoolstyle=32402
For more information, please visit
www.keencenter.org.
(Kaoru Komi/Translated by ChikakoIwasaki)

The Sadao Watanabe Quartet willhold concerts on Thursday, March 21,Saturday, March 23 and Sunday, March
24 at Blue Note (131 West 3rd Street).
Performances will feature Sadao
Watanabe (saxophone), Russell Ferrante(piano), Ben Williams (drums) andIttetsu Takemura (drums). There will be
two performances on each day at 8:00
p.m. and 10:30 p.m.
Watanabe was born in 1933 inUtsunomiya City. After graduating highschool and moving to Tokyo, he joined
many bands including Toshiko
Akiyoshi’s Cozy Quartet. Studying
abroad at the Berklee College of Musicand acquiring a unique personal jazzstyle, he is active as a top Japanesemusician around the world. He also participated as a Japanese representative forInternational Jazz Day, hosted by former
United States President Barack Obamaand his wife at the White House in April
2016. The vigorous performance by thisinternationally recognized lifetime player is a must-see.
Entrance fees are $30 for bar seating or $45 for table seats. Reservations
can be made at 212-475-8592. For more
information, visit
www.bluenotejazz.com/(Ryoichi Miura/Translated by Ai Omae)

THE JAPAN VOICE is the English Edition of SHUKAN NY SEIKATSU
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Editor in Chief: Ryoichi Miura, Associate Editor: Ashley Matarama, Editor: Kaoru Komi
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