Vietnamese funeral of Japanese archaeologist

Wearing cotton shirts, straw hats, mourning scarves and walking with canes, two boys walked bewildered as they carried the coffin of their father, Dr. Nishimura Masanari, to the car. The funeral of the Japanese scientist on the afternoon of June 13 took place according to Vietnamese rituals.

After 12 hours, groups of people lined up outside the funeral home to see Dr. Masanari for the last time. Inside, the archaeologist's coffin was placed under a large photo of him. To the left of the photo was a calendar recording the day Mr. Masanari passed away - June 9. On the altar, in addition to fruit, there were also two banana shoots.

Mr. Masanari’s family consists of his parents, his parents-in-law, his wife (Nishino Noriko), two sons and a younger brother who arrived very early. Wearing a white mourning scarf and a white turban, the Japanese woman occasionally adjusts the straw hat and the brim of the turban of her two active sons, affectionately named Suhao (9 years old) and Susu (7 years old). Like his sister-in-law and two nephews, Mr. Masanari’s younger brother also wears a mourning scarf.

At the funeral, each family member took turns lighting incense and walking around the coffin to say goodbye. Mrs. Nishimura (the doctor's mother) dressed in black, holding a handkerchief, tried to stop herself from crying out loud. Looking at her son through the glass on the coffin, she stood there, covering her face and crying for a while before she could walk away. The whole family then stood in a line to bow their heads and thank the visitors.

The first to pay their respects were his friends from the Vietnam Institute of Archaeology and the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, some wearing mourning scarves, some with black bandages on their chests. When they reached the family, each person stopped to encourage the doctor's relatives. In response, Mr. Nishimura's family members bowed deeply to express their deep gratitude.

In the corner of the room, close friends, colleagues and people who admired the heart and talent of a Japanese scientist who loved Vietnam stood together and cried. They told each other simple stories about the archaeologist with a strong Vietnamese character, about his passion and contributions to the Vietnamese archaeology industry and about the two boys who were too young to suffer the fate of losing their father. Not only the Japanese Embassy in Vietnam, but also institutes and research associations in Hanoi, many delegations from Nam Dinh, Hoi An and Hue also brought wreaths to express their condolences to the family.

Still too young, Suhao and Susu seemed not to understand what was going on. Both of them looked blankly at the people dressed in black, with red eyes, who came to comfort their mother and pat their heads. Unlike his older brother who always stood by his mother, the little boy just wanted to take off his mourning clothes to go find his toys. Only when he was allowed to play video games on his phone would he sit still. If someone asked and hugged him, Susu would smile mischievously and speak Vietnamese, English or Japanese. Looking at him, the people attending the funeral could not help but feel sorry.

Before carrying his son Masanari’s coffin to the car, Mr. Nishimura Keji gave an emotional thank you. According to Mr. Keji, in Japan there is a song called 1000 windows and he will stand below to sing it to send his son off. The father thinks his son is somewhere in the sky of Vietnam and hopes to talk to him whenever he comes here.

Mr. Keji said that Dr. Masanari loved Vietnam very much, so this archaeologist has stayed to live and work here for more than 20 years. “After Masanari passed away, my daughter-in-law and two grandchildren still stayed in Vietnam. I did not want to bring my son's body back to Japan but wanted to bury Masanari in Vietnam. I think my son in the afterlife will be happy with this decision. I chose the place for him to rest in Kim Lan commune, Gia Lam,” he said.

Dr. Masanari had a “fateful relationship” with Kim Lan - a land located on the banks of the Red River, so his body was buried in the communal cemetery. In 2000, when he came to study ceramic relics on the banks of the Kim Lan River, Dr. Masanari met farmer Nguyen Viet Hong. Before that, while digging wells, gardening or going to the riverbank, Mr. Hong often picked up many pieces of bowls, vases, ancient coins and ancient objects.

Sharing the same passion for archaeology, Mr. Hong helped Dr. Masanari in his research and studies. Loving the simple Japanese man, Mr. Hong's family treated Dr. Masanari as a family member. At that time, Mr. Masanari and Noriko had not yet married but were just dating. After they got married and had two sons, Mr. Masanari's family still visited Mr. Hong's house regularly.

In Mr. Hong’s mind, the Japanese doctor loved Vietnamese rustic dishes, especially the dishes of mullet, sardines or corn rice. Every time he came to visit, Mr. Masanari’s two children played barefoot with Mr. Hong’s grandchildren. Not only him, but every resident in Kim Lan loved this archaeologist. Because they could not pronounce his Japanese name, they called Mr. Masanari “Mr. Japanese” or “Mr. Ajinomoto”.

“When he heard that, he just smiled. His whole Japanese family spoke Vietnamese very well. He was hard-working and did not mind hanging around from morning until noon. He was very friendly and kind. When we heard the news of the doctor’s death, everyone in the village mourned. When we read about him online, everyone cried,” said Ms. Oanh, Kim Lan commune.

Not having the opportunity to go to the funeral home, she and the people in the commune went to the cemetery early to prepare to receive Dr. Masanari's coffin. To the people here, Mr. Masanari was not only an archaeologist but also a pure Vietnamese farmer, a simple Vietnamese person. In addition to loving him, they were also grateful to the Japanese archaeologist couple for establishing the Kim Lan ceramic museum - one of the local ceramic museums with the richest and most diverse artifacts and forms of operation today. Respecting him, Kim Lan commune reserved a grave for this archaeologist.

According to VnExpress - TH