By Daniel L. Moots

For a man who had lived secluded all his life this adventure he had so carefully planned for months was now upon him.  The last three months had seemed like three years, but the last ten days of those three months sped by, making him feel hurried.  He had never left his home country in a lifetime which spanned eighty-five years. One of his former students had offered his assistance in the process of planning the trip and obtaining his proper traveling credentials as well as the ticket to Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The former student now in middle age was a successful businessman who travelled extensively, both for his job and for his family’s pleasure.  He had treated his former teacher with great respect and honor and constantly reassured him everything would be satisfactory.  All he had envisioned his entire adult life was finally coming to pass.

On the day of his flight, Tonaka was overwhelmed by the constant cacophony of voices of travelers arriving and departing the busy airport. He regretted not coming to the airport before this day because he had never had occasion to visit.  He felt it might have eased his apprehension if he had come before the departure date arrived.  His companion accompanied him as far as he could and the two men bowed to one another at the terminal entrance and Tonaka was on his own, trusting the instructions of his friend and depending on the kindness of strangers in case he lost his way.  Everyone was accommodating, especially as he explained it was his first time flying.  Every step was painful for him, but he was too proud to accept even the aid of a cane.  He was directed to his seat in the economy class, assisted with his overhead baggage by a smiling young female flight attendant and settled into his aisle seat.  Due to his age, he was allowed to board the airplane in the first wave of passengers and regretted he could not stand quickly to allow the young couple sitting on his side to take their seats.  He apologized but the polite pair assured him it was not necessary.

At last, the aircraft taxied to the proper runway and Tonaka wondered why it took so long for them to finally begin moving.  The airplane began rolling slowly but quickly gained speed until the buildings outside became a blur.  He grasped the armrests firmly and the young man to his right patted his hand reassuringly. He was unaware the plane was in the air for several seconds and marveled at how that could be.  It was marvelous to see his beloved city from the air even if it was only for a few seconds. He did not like the pressure on his ears but had been warned about the possibility.  Tonaka looked around to everyone he could see and noticed they were all settling in for the flight, so he made the conscious effort to do the same.  The ten-hour flight was made more comfortable with a nice meal and pleasant attendants.  His traveling companions did not burden him with unnecessary conversation, and he was grateful for their thoughtfulness.

When the plane landed, and he collected his baggage Tonaka was assisted in finding a taxi to take him to his hotel.  The weather was more humid than his home city, but the temperature was not that much different.  He had not been able to sleep on the plane, so he was very fatigued when he settled into his hotel room.  The strange noises of the city kept him awake for a time, but he finally fell into an exhausted slumber.

In the morning, he found he could not step into the shower bathtub, so he cleaned his body with a washcloth and shaved the stubble from his face carefully.  He stared at the twelve ties he had packed for the trip, perfectly folded on the hotel bed. It was most important to him not to select anything which would offend his guest.  His suit was black and his shirt white and any color would be acceptable to most men, but he was intensely sensitive of his choice.  Red would be too gaudy.  Black would be too dour.  Silver or gold would hint at wealth, and he was certainly not a wealthy man.   A history teacher’s salary in Japan was enough to sustain him and allow a modest amount of savings and it was that money he had used to finance this trip.

At last, he chose a fine burgundy tie and after several attempts to complete the knot with his unruly fingers he was satisfied.  The length of the tie had to be perfect.  Burgundy was a color to assist in building trust as well as representing passion and sacrifice.  The longer he looked at his image in the mirror the more comfortable he became.  He checked his watch, and it indicated it was time for him to take the elevator down to the hotel restaurant for his noon meeting.  As he left his room, he moved the Do not Disturb sign from the outside of the door to the inside and he checked to make certain he had his key card before allowing the door to shut behind him.

He shuffled to the elevator and waited for the car to arrive on his floor.  He walked into the car and selected the first floor and after only a minute the doors opened, and he exited to walk to the restaurant.  The lobby was buzzing with activity, and he scanned the room as he walked to the greeter’s desk.

“How many, sir?” the young woman attendant asked.

He held up his right hand with two gnarled fingers.  “I am awaiting a woman who will be similar in age to me.  She knows to ask for an elderly Japanese man.”

“I see.  I have been here for the last hour, and I haven’t seen anyone matching that description.  Maybe she is running late.  Let me show you to a seat and I’ll know where to direct her when she arrives.”

He bowed his thanks to the young lady and she showed him to a booth not far from her station.  His obsessiveness with efficiency caused him to be more annoyed as each minute passed but after seven minutes the young woman from the greeter’s lectern escorted an elderly lady to his booth and he struggled to get out of his seat to bow to both.  He extended his right hand to take hers and bowed once again.

“You are Tonaka-san?” she inquired.

“Yes,” he replied.  “You are Mrs. Bierkewitz?”

She smiled at him.  “Please call me Bella.” He returned her friendly smile and motioned her to sit opposite him in the booth and once she was seated, he took his place again.

“I am grateful to you for agreeing to meet me here in Australia.  I realize it is not an equal distance for us.  You had to travel much further,” he said.  Another young woman appeared at the booth.  “What can I get for you to drink?”

He deferred to his female friend to order first.  “I would like a cup of decaf coffee, please.  I see there is cream and sweetener on our table.”

“And for you, sir?”

“A cup of hot tea, please.”  She made a quick note and turned to prepare their drinks. “I believe we should make our choice of food in order to not be hurried when she returns,” he said.  Bella agreed with a nod of her head.

They studied the menu in silence for a moment.  “Your English is quite good, Tonaka-san.  Where did you learn it?”

“I took every opportunity to learn from anyone who knew the language and would help me.  I grew up an orphan in a Catholic institution and the priests and nuns were from Ireland.”  They both settled on filet of sole with a baked potato and asparagus when the server returned with the drinks.

There was an awkward moment or two of silence after the server departed and Tonaka wanted to fill his time with as much information as possible, but Bella spoke first.

“I was intrigued by your inquiry to my government to speak to a survivor of the Holocaust.  I understand you are also a survivor.”

Tonaka nodded his head in acknowledgment.  “It is not my desire to cause you distress by discussing your past but perhaps it would be beneficial for both of us if we simply told our stories to one another.  If you are in agreement, I defer to you dear lady,” he said motioning to her.

Bella smiled. “I realize you come from a people of honor, but I would truly love to hear your story first.  After all, it was you who requested this meeting.”

“As you wish.”  Their food arrived after a brief wait and the couple had the same deliberate eating habits. “My father was killed in the war defending the island of Okinawa.  My mother tried to persuade him to seek a medical hardship due to his extremely poor eyesight, but he refused.  It was important to him to fight for the honor of Imperial Japan and the Emperor.  He had to wear very thick spectacles to see anything.”  He considered his opening remarks for a moment.  “I have since pondered in my heart the foolishness of giving one’s life because a single man deems it so.  It was a spring day and my mother and sister, and I began our daily toil in the rice fields one mile from the edge of Nagasaki.  I was five years old, and my sister was nine.  I remember the water of the field being so cold at first, I could scarcely bear it, but I was proud to help my family earn enough wages to buy an occasional fish to go along with the rice the owner of the farm provided.  We were also given the use of a one room grass hut to lodge in.  It was dry but very cold at times.  We tried simply to continue our existence.”

“You begin your story at the age of five. When did your memories actually begin, Tonaka-san?”  Bella asked.

“I remember one or two things from my childhood before that day.  I estimate my memories began at the age of four.”  He hesitated for a moment.  There were times he became confused, not able to separate his memories from the history he knew after the war.  He wondered if perhaps he had considered those times in his past so often, he had become convinced of events which possibly were completely different than the truth.  Tonaka took a sip of his tea and wiped his lips with his cloth napkin.  “History tells me there were five small scale attacks on our city beginning one year prior to the nuclear attack. I do not recall each one of those bombings, but I have some recollection of what I believe was the first one.  After that, many people, especially those with small children were evacuated to rural areas for safety.  Many of my childhood friends were removed from the city but we remained to work in the fields along with many other widows and their children who had to work for their food.  At 11:02 in the morning on that fateful day, August 9, 1945, we heard two sounds which were foreign to us.  The first sound was the drone of a much larger airplane.  I had never heard that sound before and had to be told afterward what it was.  The second sound was the piercing of the air raid warning.  Where we lived the sirens had only been installed a month before the attack.  My sister ran from the rice field to a rock formation on the north end of the field.  She wanted to climb it to get a better look at what was happening.  My mother screamed for her to return but my sister ignored her pleas.  She was quite headstrong. I remember hearing an unusual loud popping noise before the horrible explosion happened.  My mother gasped and placed herself in between me and an incredibly bright flash.  I recall seeing the light reflecting on the water of the rice field.  She pushed me into the water and landed on top of me and I felt the vibration of the water above us.  I feared I would drown, and I recall wondering why my mother would behave in such a manner.  At last, she got off me and rolled over to her right side and I smelled her burnt flesh first out of all the other scents.  I saw that her clothes had either burnt or melted on her body, and I could see there was no skin attached to the exposed parts of her back.  I looked up to the sky to see a huge mushroom shaped cloud rising from the city and I could see everything to the west being swallowed up by a great roiling cloud of fire and dust and debris. There were no other women standing in the field.  I remember crying and screaming for my sister to come help our mother.”  His voice trailed off and Bella did not know whether she should allow him a moment to gather his thoughts or prompt him to go on with his story.

“What happened to your sister?”

Tonaka was trembling at the memories.  He took another sip of tea to calm his nerves.  “I never saw her again.  I had to accept the realization that she was most likely incinerated in the blast.  If my mother hadn’t pushed me down and covered me, I would have also been killed.  Thirty-five thousand men, women and children died in the initial blast.  Six days later on August 15 my government surrendered to the Allied forces.”

Bella watched him closely but decided to stay silent until he was ready to speak again.

“Help from the Japanese government was slow in coming.  I remember my mother and I were treated by one of the remaining Japanese doctors.  The first simple emergency dwellings were not provided until the following year in 1946. Everything was in a state of chaos.  It was a coalition of nationalities who arrived to provide aid.  My mother received medical attention, but she was too badly burned, and the radiation poisoning destroyed several organs.  She perished within three days. I am a student of history, especially the history of my city and I have discovered there were around 9000 Japanese soldiers stationed in the city.  There were also at least 400 Allied prisoners of war and several of those perished in the blast.  It must have been a difficult decision to sacrifice those men to attempt to end the terrible conflict in such a way.  I have often wondered how their governments informed their loved ones of what they deemed a necessary act.  Such an action would require more than the passing of two generations to forget.”

“I am sorry, Tonaka-san.  What injuries did you suffer?”

Recalling those days came easier to him than he had considered.  It was freeing to speak to this woman about his memories.  “I suffered from radiation poisoning as well.  My lungs were damaged, and I was left sterile.  That is why I never married.  I felt it unfair to not be able to give a wife the children she deserved.”  He hesitated a moment before moving on to the next chapter of his story.  “I wandered the ruins of the city for days until I met an elderly man who had built a crude shelter of wood, block, and portions of a steel roof he had collected. I realize I would have died a small child if he had not shown kindness to me.  I am certain in my hunger I would have eaten random food I found in the streets and that probably caused issues in my digestive system I suffer even today.” He noticed Bella was looking at him in a concerned way, so he felt the need to reassure her.  “Do not worry.  I have discovered which foods irritate me and I simply avoid them.”  Bella was able to relax again. “Many Japanese doctors died in the bombing, but more were brought in by train to care for the wounded.  They set up medical tents for us to dwell in as we were being treated.  After a short amount of time a Catholic priest and a team of seven nuns came to help us, and later they built a school for the children.  As I mentioned before they were from Ireland and taught me how to speak English.  There was no one to adopt children like us so I lived in that orphanage until I was fourteen years old.  I was forced to leave even though I had nowhere to go and no one to care for me and no skills with which to make a living.”

“I imagine the city was devastated,” Bella said.  “How did you manage to survive such an ordeal?”

“I don’t believe the objective was annihilation of all the people in the city,” Tonaka said.  “Nagasaki was an industrial city, and the bomb was to disable the factories.  Of course, it was the vast power of the bomb which caused Imperial Japan to surrender to the Allies six days later.  To answer your question, I survived by living on the street and begging people who would take pity on me.  Of course, I searched the city for the best areas where the people had enough to share with someone like me. A few years after the bombing survivors were awarded a monthly allowance and access to free medical care.  Up to that point we were discriminated against, and people thought radiation poisoning could be passed on to those around us.  I attended school and graduated six months later than young people my age.  Construction jobs were plentiful as the city was rebuilt and also my country was allowed to begin shipbuilding again in 1952 so I worked three jobs to allow enough funds for a college education and then I became a history teacher.  My main goal was to make certain my students always remembered what had happened in our city.  I taught students for fifty years before I was forced into retirement.  The only place I ever visited in my life outside of Nagasaki was Kokura because that city was the primary target for the bomb which we ultimately suffered from.  They were very resourceful.  The Yahata Steel Works burned coal tar to fill the air with smoke so the American bombers could not identify their target.”

Bella had been listening intently.  “How did it make you feel to see that city intact?”

Tonaka took another sip of tea as he contemplated her question.  It pleased him to know she took a genuine interest in his story.  “My city has now recovered to the point where an outsider who knows nothing of history would never know what had happened.  I would say Kokura is a more mature city.  Their trees were not destroyed by a blast or an inferno.  Their buildings did not have to be rebuilt.  Their parks are not memorials as ours are.  They are simply places for families to enjoy for recreation.  I admire them for being so resourceful to save their city. I wish our city leaders had done the same.

“Did your city enjoy relative peace before the atomic bomb was dropped?” Bella asked. “I realize you mentioned there were several other attacks.”

Tonaka shook his head almost imperceptibly.  “Everyone lived in fear and people constantly scanned the skies for signs of enemy aircraft.”  Tonaka bowed to his companion.  “I have been dominating the conversation.  If you please, tell me your story when you are ready.”

Bella cleared her throat before beginning.  “My memories began in the Stutthof concentration camp which was located in northern Poland.  My family lived on a farm between Warsaw and Stutthof and I have pleasant memories of our home and a fine vegetable and flower garden.  I recall being in a barracks with other people who spoke many different languages.  I have often wondered if the Nazis did that in order to keep us from organizing in some fashion.  For some reason I was allowed to stay with my parents and my grandfather.  I don’t have much of a sense of time during those years.  I was five years old in 1944 when we arrived after hiding successfully for a long period of time.  I wish I had some knowledge of the people who moved us about from place to place to keep us from the clutches of the Nazis.  I fear they were dealt with quite harshly.  I believe my grandfather was executed by gas within the first two months of our arrival.  My father worked in agriculture, tending crops outside the prison wires, and he was valuable to the camp.  My mother was a skilled machine operator at the munitions plant located there.  After a time, a typhus epidemic swept through our barracks and took the life of my father.  Hundreds of people died of that plague.  Some who were weakened by the plague and could not work as efficiently as they had before were drowned in the mud or clubbed to death.  I remember, even as a young girl worrying constantly about making even a minor mistake that would cause a guard to simply put a bullet in my head.”

“Your mother allowed you to view these atrocities?” Tonaka asked.

“I never asked her why she allowed it.  Perhaps it was to make me behave carefully so I wouldn’t suffer the same fate.”

Tonaka watched his companion closely.  He knew the conversation would bring back horrible memories for both.  It had taken many months to find someone who was willing to have the wounds reopened from their past.  He reached across the table and patted her hand causing Bella to smile weakly.  She dabbed at her eyes with her napkin before continuing. “Food was scarce in the camp.  Before he died, my father worked with many other prisoners in the fields, and some were shot to death because they took a bite of a turnip or an onion they were tending.  Starvation makes you take drastic chances. The only meat we ate was an occasional rat which we caught with a makeshift trap.  I have trained my mind not to consider what we may have been eating.  It was not unusual to be lying next to a dead body in the morning.  It was also not unusual for that body to lay there for several days before it was removed, and I am certain the Nazis did that to cause more heartache for us.”  Bella had finished her lunch and pushed the plate away.  “I savor every good bite of food ever since then.”  She clasped her hands together on the table and continued.  “After four seasons had passed, my mother and I both noticed a change in the demeanor of the guards of the camp.  They were even more agitated than they had been before, and many prisoners suffered their wrath.  On a spring day hundreds of people were forced into the ocean and drowned or were shot to death.  I do not know how many people were killed but my mother was one of the victims.  Her dead body shielded me from being murdered and then as suddenly as it had begun, the slaughter ended, and the Nazis fled south as quickly as they could.  After one day the Russians liberated our camp.  The Russian soldier who lovingly watched over me had a daughter of the same age and I suppose I reminded him of her.  I know this because he showed me a picture of her while pointing to himself.  I learned later we were the last camp liberated and the date was May 9, 1945.”

“Did you have other relatives in your country, or did you become an orphan like me?” Tonaka asked.

“I had no one left in Poland or anywhere else in Europe but I had an uncle and aunt in the United States and after a time they arranged for me to board a ship for New York City, and they met me there when I arrived and took me by train to their home in Chicago.  Are you familiar with the geography of America, Tonaka-san?”

He had heard of the city and knew it was one of the largest in the United States, but he had to shake his head to signify his lack of knowledge.

“Chicago is a very large city built on the shores of one of five great lakes in the northern Midwest part of the country.  To me it was like a glorious safe haven compared to where I had come from.  I later learned it has a history of gangsters and political corruption, but I never experienced that, nor did I care.  I wasn’t in a prison camp, and I didn’t live in constant fear for my life and I had plenty to eat and warmth when the weather was harsh. Once I mastered English I excelled in school, going on to be an honor student.  I met my husband at Chicago University, and he was a good man with a fine mind for business.  After we married, he managed to obtain a string of four hardware stores in north Chicago and they provided us with material wealth.  We had two children, a boy and a girl who flourished and now I have seven grandchildren.”

Tonaka was confused.  “If I may ask, why did you make the decision to move to Israel when you had such a fine family in the United States?  It must have been very difficult to leave your grandchildren behind.”

Bella smiled slightly.  “My grandchildren stopped seeing me when they entered college.  It made my decision rather easy.  I don’t live in Tel Aviv all the time.  My husband left me enough money to have a home in Chicago as well and I spend three months of the year there.  I am also drawn to Warsaw for a week or two at a time to cultivate friendships with families I have been acquainted with for my whole life.”  Bella gave Tonaka a quizzical look.  “Did you have any relatives who survived the war?”

“I must admit I did not concentrate my efforts to find any relatives,” he explained.  “Records had been destroyed.  People lost their identity.  My family was small.”

The couple decided to share a piece of cheesecake for dessert and as they slowly ate it allowed more memories to surface.

“The Nazis hated us Poles,” Bella continued.  “They especially hated Jewish Poles, but we had several Catholic Poles in the camp as well.  They received preferential treatment such as maids or cooks for the officers of the camp.  The men were never given easy tasks.  If they could not do their jobs they were simply executed.”

Tonaka bowed and smiled at Bella.  “I apologize for causing you to remember such an awful time in your life.  You have been so kind to speak with me on these matters.”

Bella returned his smile.  “I almost cancelled our meeting at the last minute but a friend I am travelling with convinced me I would regret that decision.  I am very happy she talked me into it. Life is short, Tonaka-san.”

Tonaka nodded his agreement.  “Before we part, I wanted to ask a final question.  I also considered not asking this, but you are such a thoughtful lady and I have enjoyed our conversation very much.  I trust you to give an honest answer.”

“What is your question, Tonaka-san?”

Tonaka hesitated, collecting his thoughts.  “As a history teacher I have specialized in the study of men and women who cause calamity for mankind.  It has become an obsession with me. In every culture there have been people who have attempted to impose their will on history and most of the time the result is the cruelty of war.  In the great war the main countries of the Axis powers were Germany, Italy, and Japan.  Hitler ruled over his people with the use of fear from the secret police and the Gestapo.  When he was an infantryman in World War I he was wounded near the end of the war.  When the Germans surrendered to the French, the generals and political leaders were gathered on a train car in Paris where the treaty of Versailles was signed.  Hitler was furious with his countrymen for surrendering so when the Germans occupied Paris during World War II, he herded the generals and available political leaders on to the same train car where the treaty had previously been signed.  The train was no longer in use, but a type of memorial had been created for this one important car because of its historical significance.  Hitler did not stay on the car for the signing of the surrender of Paris but after that had been accomplished, he had the car towed back to Berlin and burned.  Mussolini simply desired to fuse socialism and nationalism into fascism and of course he considered himself to be elite and the only one who could solve the country’s social and economic problems.”  Tonaka became pensive because it was difficult for him to speak poorly of his own country.  “Many centuries ago, my country was ruled by the shogunates before the time of the emperors occurred.  The emperor was considered the heavenly sovereign, a god.  Today, the emperor only has minimal political powers.  However, he is still revered by some factions in Japan.” Tonaka had been looking at the table rather than at his lunch companion but now he set his gaze on her again.  “In my country, most of the people practice what is called Shinto which is the worship of ancestors and spirits.  In my humble apartment in Nagasaki, I have a small shrine honoring my parents and my sister.  I have no other connection with memories of prior ancestors.  Japan is like many countries in our world today.  Of course, Buddhism is a major religion but in the seventeenth century, Christianity was introduced to the west coast of Japan where the Catholics arrived, and many people there still worship your God Yahweh.  Did you also know that many Polish Jews fled to Japan before fighting broke out in Poland and after the war a great number moved to Israel when it became a state?”  Bella was fascinated with that information.

“Why would Jews from Poland flee all the way to Japan?”

Tonaka shrugged.  “Perhaps they thought the further they could escape the more difficult the task of detection.  It is ironic they arrived in a country foolish enough to attack the United States and draw them into war.  I believe Japan originally wanted to unite all Southeast Asia into a mighty kingdom.”  Tonaka was embarrassed when he again realized he had been dominating the conversation.  Years of loneliness caused a great desire to talk to someone.  “What are your thoughts on the cruelty of war, dear lady?  It is something which has affected us both.”

Bella looked at her counterpart with kind eyes.  “Do you know of my country’s heritage, Tonaka-san?”  Tonaka nodded slightly.

“I have some knowledge, but it is severely limited.”

“I also consider myself a student of history.  It is one of the main reasons I moved to Israel in my old age.  My country was led by the prophets for centuries.  Yahweh would convey his message to the prophets, and they would pass that along to the people.  The prophets were not always treated with the respect they deserved and at last the people demanded a king because all the other nations around them had a king to supposedly serve the people and protect them.  The times of the kings began but then there was a conflict which caused the nation to split into two, Israel as the kingdom of the north and Judah the kingdom to the south.  Each of the two nations had their own kings.  Some were good but many were bad, causing the people to worship false idols and not follow the one true God.  It seems to me the good kings and queens lived longer, more productive lives than the evil rulers did.  We never seemed to learn our lesson and my ancestors were taken into captivity often as God attempted to show us what He expected of us.  The Jewish race was scattered to the winds and my family ended up in Poland, thousands of miles from Israel.  My country has experienced the cruelty of war, many times caused by arrogant, poor leadership.”  Bella had been turning her fork in her hand and now became aware of it and ceremoniously placed it back on the table.  “The Crusades were an attempt by Europeans to conquer Jerusalem from the Muslims for hundreds of years.  You see, my country is one of turmoil as well.”  Bella suddenly recalled something from her days at Chicago University.  “I once took a course in college which dealt with personality traits.  I believe every despot displays the same nature.  Perhaps one day men and women like that can be identified and watched carefully by their respective governments so they aren’t allowed to force their will upon others, driving people to be caught up in their mad ideals.”

Tonaka smiled and nodded his head.  “Unfortunately, liberal governments would never stand for such an intrusion upon the private lives of a citizen, even though it might prevent future catastrophe. I fear we will see this happen again in the future.  As Hitler did with your native Poland, one country will decide to invade a neighboring country and make it their own.  That could lead to another great world war.”

Bella nodded her agreement.  Tonaka could see she was fatigued.  “I have enjoyed our conversation very much, but I have need of a bit of rest before I venture out into this beautiful city to see some of its history.”  He struggled out of his seat and took Bella’s hand to assist her in rising.  “You are a great lady.  Thank you for sharing your story with me.  I hope you and your companion will enjoy your stay in Australia.”

Bella placed her free hand over Tonaka’s.  “I hope our time together has given you some relief from your past.  In many ways your story is more tragic than mine.  You chose to live a life of loneliness.”

Tonaka bowed once more.  “I had the admiration of thousands of students over a fifty-year period of time.  Though I had no physical family I was never truly alone.”

The couple parted and after napping, Tonaka toured a pair of World War II museums in the city and two more the following day.  Tonaka possessed a window seat on the flight back to Nagasaki.  He was fascinated with the clouds once the plane achieved its flying altitude, but the view became boring, and he was able to fall asleep.  The flight attendants did not bother to wake him up for dinner or drinks as they passed through the aisles of the aircraft.

The plane landed in Nagasaki after darkness had fallen in the city.  Everyone was in a rush to pour out into the aisle, retrieve their overhead baggage and wait in line for the people in front of them to make their way into the terminal.  The flight attendants patiently waited in the front and back of the aircraft while their passengers disembarked.  The trash had already been collected but once the passengers were out of view they began a final check of the seats, wiping them with disinfectant.  When they got to row twenty-three, they noticed an elderly Japanese man still sleeping in his seat, not aware they had arrived in Nagasaki.  Several of the attendants had checked on him during the flight.  He had seemed to be out of place traveling from as far away as Australia.  One of the male attendants shook his shoulder gently, trying to rouse the gentleman.

“Sir.  Sir,” he repeated but there was no response. He instinctively checked the man’s wrist for a pulse, but he could not detect one.  He held a spoon under the nose of the man in the hope it might show a breath but there was nothing.  He looked worriedly at one of his coworkers and she also checked for signs of life but could not find any.  She hurried to the cockpit area.

“Captain, we have a situation in row twenty-three.  An elderly gentleman is still seated there, and we cannot find a pulse.”

The captain hurried back to the lone passenger and also checked him for signs of life.  He looked up at his crew who were gathered around him, and he simply shook his head.

“We must contact the airport authorities at once,” the captain stated.  “I am afraid this man has gone to his ancestors.”

Tonaka’s body was carefully removed from the aircraft and the police discovered his identity from his travel papers.  They went to his residence to see if they could identify any next of kin but the only person who had an interest in the old man was the kindly former student who had assisted Tonaka with the preparations for his journey.  He was allowed by the police to go through Tonaka’s personal papers and belongings to ascertain the old gentleman’s wishes for a funeral.  There was no family plot, so a simple ceremony was settled upon and many of Tonaka’s former students came to burn incense and bow at the altar where a simple urn rested containing his ashes.  He had left a small amount of money to purchase a tiny plot of dirt where his remains were laid to rest. He wanted to make certain he would always be a part of his beloved city of Nagasaki.