In Memory of Ms. Kayo Akiyama: At the 30th Anniversary Memorial Event for Dr. Shinzo Koizumi

Photo: From left, Professor Emeritus Shinsuke Ando, Ms. Kayo Akiyama, Ms. Tae Koizumi, and Junzo Koizumi (May 11, 1996)

Looking at the photograph, I will write down the deeply personal memories that immediately came to mind.

Kayo Akiyama is my cousin, fifteen years my senior. She wore high-quality kimono well, possessed a calm yet proactive demeanor, and whenever people gathered, she was always at the center of the conversation, acting like a leader.

When I was a first grader at Yochisha Elementary School, Kayo attended a parent-teacher meeting in place of my mother, who was hospitalized. This was before Kayo graduated from University of the Sacred Heart. I am sure she delivered her greeting as a proxy representative splendidly. How impressive. My homeroom teacher must have said, "He is a well-behaved child. When making paper boxes in craft class, he cuts off all the glue flaps."

Kayo had her arranged marriage meeting with Tadashi Akiyama at my house. The plan was for Tadashi, my parents, and myself (who was allowed to watch) to wait in the drawing room we rarely used, while Kayo would quietly carry in a tray with tea. The usually fearless Kayo did not appear for a long time. She still hadn't come. What was she doing? Then, the door opened unusually quietly. "Finally, she appears," I said. Kayo says, "Shin-chan, you were scolded by your uncle for that," but I have no memory of being scolded. I checked with my father while he was alive, and he replied, "I wouldn't scold a child for something like that."

Kayo's engagement was in 1943, and the following year I went to Shuzenji for the "Group Evacuation of Schoolchildren." Shinsuke Ando was a sixth grader, three years above me. Years later, at my solo exhibition, Mr. Ando purchased a painting of a naked dancer jumping and leaping. I felt even more humbled when I learned that his wife was about to give birth and he had squeezed the money for the painting out of those expenses.

In 1988, a "Celebration of the 100th Anniversary of Dr. Shinzo Koizumi's Birth" was held at the Imperial Hotel, and my wife Fumiko sang "Hamabe no Uta" (Song of the Seashore) to Mr. Ando's piano accompaniment. Mr. Ando wore a tuxedo and bought new patent leather shoes for the occasion.

Kayo's younger sister, Tae Koizumi, is exactly ten years older than me. By "exactly," I mean we share the same birthday. From a certain point on, Junzo, Tae, my wife, and I held joint birthday parties. We would go to a restaurant in Shibuya that served whale, or to "Hachimaki Okada" in Ginza.

Of the four people standing with the Old Library in the background, three have already passed away. One by one, those I was close to are disappearing.

(Painter; 1958 Graduate of the Faculty of Letters, Shinzo Abe)