あなたは私が誇りを持って「友人のサムライ」と呼んだ人でした。

厳しさのなかにあるもちまえの性格と深い知恵をもつあなたは、私に生涯の友の特権を与えてくれました。

夏の最後の電話で、あなたが別れを告げているとは思えませんでした。いつものようにとても直接的な言葉で、あなたがどれほどの病であったかを認めることなく、死について私に話しました。

あなたは生涯その高貴さをもって、穏やかに勇気を持って去りました。あなたは輝かしい血統を誇りに思っていました。しかし、いつも覚えているのは心の高潔さでした。

あなたのなかには尊厳を命じる高尚な何かがありました。先祖は日本の帝の子孫でした。それが認められたゆえに平の名誉名を受けました。

平安末期の12世紀に生きた平時忠の姿を通して、勧山の祖先が平の一族に愛着を持っていたことから、貴族的で陽気な価値観が受け継がれました。

サムライは平時でも常に戦争に備える必要がありましたが多くは人生で戦うことはありませんでした。血筋は心からの戦士でも、基本的に平和な世界に住んでいたあなたは、千里眼で無力な現代社会の退廃を感じていました。あなたは、崩壊しつつある社会に生きていることに苦しんでいました。暴力によって引き起こされる不安が再び私たちに迫っています。

武装解除された先祖の武士たちは故郷の島から遠くへ追放されましたが、それにもかかわらず、あなたは正義に仕え弱者を守るというサムライの揺るぎない魂を心深くに持ち続けました。

ですから、もし可能なら暴力に終止符を打つ戦士の道に喜んで従ったでしょう…先祖から引き継いだ鎧を身に着けて自国を剣で守ったでしょう。

正義の味方のあなたは、偶然に盗難や暴行を目撃し、戦うことを躊躇しませんでした。空手家としてのスキルは間違いを正し、あなたに会ったがために不運だった凶悪犯を病院に送りました…

戦争があなたを求めたなら、戦いで並外れた勇気を示したでしょう。しかしあなたが人生で戦った唯一の戦いは死との戦いでした。タルタル砂漠の砦の司令官の英雄ディノ・ブザティとは違い、なにも恐れることはありませんでした。ストイックで苦しみには無関心なあなたは勇敢な侍のように死との戦いを戦ったのです。

あなたは正義、勇気、慈悲、礼儀正しさ、誠実さ、名誉、忠誠心など、武士道のすべての美徳を具現化し、ひとつにした人でした。

あなたを知る全ての人々の心の中であなたは永遠に残ります。サムライの友よ安らかに眠ってください。

エルベ

My dear Yukio,

You were the one I called, with some pride, « my samurai friend », whose strength of character and wisdom I admired, behind an apparent harshness. You had granted me the privilege of a lifelong friendship that has brought me so much.

I couldn’t guess from your last call this summer that you were saying goodbye to me. With your words, as always very direct, you told me about death, without admitting to me how sick you were.

You left serenely and courageously, as you lived, with this nobility that was not just a title for you. You were rightly proud of your illustrious lineage. But it is your nobility of heart, which accompanied and distinguished you, which I will always remember.

There was something lofty about you, about your nature, that irresistibly inspired respect. And for good reason, your family was indeed descended from the child that a noble concubine had had with the Emperor of Japan. Recognized by the latter, he consequently received, according to custom, the honorary name of Taira, which excluded him from the succession to the throne but gave him the status of a royal subject.

You were imbued with the aristocratic and chivalrous values ​​that you held from the attachment of your Susuyama ancestors to this famous samurai clan of the Taira, through the figure of Taira no Tokitada, who lived in the 12th century, at the end of the Heian period.

Samurai had to be always ready for war, even in peacetime, and many never fought in their lives. Like you, a warrior at heart by your blood, who lived in a world fundamentally at peace.

But behind this apparent peace, you felt with powerless clairvoyance the decadence of the modern world. You suffered, I know, living in a society that is falling apart. Barbarism is upon us again, as in feudal Japan, where the samurai protected the population from the insecurity caused by gangs of looters.

Disarmed knight, cut off from your roots and exiled far from your native island, you had nevertheless kept deep within you this unwavering commitment of the samurai to serve justice and defend the weak.

So, if you had been able, you would have gladly followed the bushido again, the way of the warrior who puts an end to violence by arms … You would have put on the armor received from your ancestors to defend your sword with your adopted country.

Justiciary at heart, you did not hesitate when chance made you witness a theft or an assault, to intervene physically. Your karateka talents have thus made it possible to occasionally right wrongs, by sending the thugs who had the bad luck to meet you to the hospital …

You would certainly have shown exceptional bravery in battle if a war had called you. But like the commander of the fort of the Desert of the Tartars, the only fight you fought in your life was against death, of which you were not afraid, unlike the hero of Dino Buzzati. Because you fought that fight like a brave and exemplary samurai, stoic and indifferent to suffering.

Rest in peace, my samurai friend. You will remain forever, for all those who have had the privilege of knowing you, this good man who embodied and united all the virtues of bushido: righteousness, courage, benevolence, politeness, sincerity, honor and loyalty.

Herve