V
Usually foreign visitors who wants to stay longer period than he indicated on his visa, he would have to go through the extension formality at the appropriate government office. However, as I myself am only a spiritual existence, there are no such troublesome requirements to be gone through. I sometimes wonder how long shall I be here in Japan, with this old man, Willie XXIII? I do not know, or have the slightest idea because his writing seems endless, somewhat of an eternally task. That seems to be because he himself, even after he is dead, the work will be followed by someone else, for example, Willie XXIII’s Willie II, III, or IV are very plausible to appear and further continue writing about the stories to help keeping their existence going. In a decade or two, the activity of this Japan Maugham Society itself will make a drastic change through its continuation of activities and having many more oversea readers of mine come joining the Society and of the Cap Ferrat issue that will be published in the English language. All this is quite imaginable.
Now I wish to tell the readers of this book the very interesting stories about Willie XXIII’s daily routine life. This morning, at 10:00 a.m. on December 6, 2019, he is expected to be moving to his workshop office in a different quarter of O city where he will prepare for the DVD recording system and wait for the arrival of the interviewer from the FM radio broadcast association. O-Radi Oyama Community Radio. The interviewer, Sayaka Kozuka will appear at that time, and prepare her report on the air with her studio assistant, and they will start the talk show for about 10 minutes. Readers may have opportunity of listening to the talk on FM Channel 77.5 MHZ. Everybody is welcomed to that talk show program if he or she understands the Japanese language. Here he speaks mainly of his cultural activities and planned projects be materialized with the cooperative assistance of those listener friends who may feel pleasure for and sympathy about these activities. His main subject of such newly planned project in his mind is always concerned with World Peace, Towards the latter part of this 21st century, human beings are obliged to go through an alley where each one of them will have to consider about the necessity of earthly co-existence irrespective of the difference of races. He seems to believe that such an age is similar to the Jomon Culture that existed thousands of years ago in this country and would once again appear on this globe, everywhere, so people could live all together as friends with each other, supporting each other with peaceful intent. His FM radio talk contents are filled with such concepts as LOHAS, usually not directly, but subtly in his talking tone in much easier words to better understood by those young ages when that the listeners may reach his concept of that philosophical phrase, LOHAS, The Life of Health and Sustainability. And, I think that manner of talking may depends on its maturity of his age.
One Sunday morning, I was sitting beside him quietly so as not to disturb his mind and noticed him take out stuff concerning Buddhist songs, that were called ‘Goeika’ （御詠歌）. They were the performance tools and the printed textbooks of Goeika songs and he spread them out before him with its keeled down stance himself on a mattress, (座布団) and started to practice the recitation by himself. He has, for several years, been engaged in this song recitation, belonging to the recitation group in the temple of his parish, Kongoujoin Tahozan Jigenji(金剛乗院 多宝山 慈眼寺) one of the Singon-Shu Buddhist temples. And, yes, he is a practicing Buddhist. His voice is clear, and the chanting is quite efficient in its phonetic performance, although I did not understand the contents of the songs, unconsciously was absorbed in their tone. The songs were skillfully arranged by the ancient composers to have such a purposeful effect on the listeners. Once, I remember him telling his grandiose concept to one of his close friends, Mrs. Chiyo Wagner, in that obstinate tone. He explained her the songs had deeply hidden meaning which were very skillfully blended with sublime quality that those composers’ intended to put on their works when they conceived them. So, they might have been succeeded by the Buddhist followers. They are the products of the time when Buddhism flourished in this country. He added that there was a high possibility of joint appearances with the great symphonies if those musicians as Beethoven or Mendelssohn could have had the opportunities to listen to their songs. He also told Mrs. Chiyo Wagner that if he could find any of musical composer, he would be able to show those amazing songs by rendering them in musical note style so that they would be easily produced on string instruments.
(The proof reading hereunder must be depended on Prof. Jeffry Miller’s elaborate reading and correcting works, Dec. 31, 2019, 3:25 p.m. )
I asked him who is this Mrs. Chiyo Wagner? He said it would take hours of explanation. So, it would be another occasion that I may talk it about, and only give you readers a little information about her. If you are interested in her existence, you are recommended to give a little thoughts to Mashiko Town in Tochigi Pref. and the Wagner Nandor Art Gallery. Wagner Nandor, (1922-1997) the Hungarian Philosopher and Artist lived there and created many sculptures. His biographical stories are in the book, ISBN 963 346 7217 published in 2006 from Holnap Kiado, Budapest, Hungary. People who are interested in his work, and if they live in Tokyo area, they are able to see at Tetsugaku-Do, Nakano Word. In the spacious garden of this park, his representative work ‘Tetsugaku no Niwa’ (哲学の庭)（A Ggarden of Philosophers） has been placed as an eternal monument exhibition in the park adjacent to the house, now called Tetsugaku--do. Enjo Inoue(井上円上), the founder of Toyo University lived there and now being open as the free exhibition to the visitors. Mr. Isoya Shinji (進士五十八), the Ex-Professor of Tokyo Agriculture University and a Botanist, the expert of orchid flower, and also the specialist of gardening was the person who recommended to put this work in this garden park.
If I am able to have more time and possibility, I will be able to speak of this artist with much more detailed features, and, this time, only I would keep my memory here that Willie XXIII is engaged in writing the other essay, titled, “Nandor’s Chair” in Japanese Language. The main theme of this essay gives his own insights on the mutual life theme with me, him and this great Hungarian/Japanese artist, Wagner Nandor. That theme is “World Eternal Peace and LOHAS Philosophy.” Willie XXIII now intends to have that essay translated into English so that the theme would be penetrated into the whole world as the most seriously concerned and desirable stance of mind setting for the life living on this globe by every human existence.
Today, December 10, 2019 is the day for The World Human Rights. In the United Nations, the resolution was made on December 10, 1948. The NHK has been making their special program on this theme on air through Radio 594 for some days, at 4:06. This morning, Mr. Yoichi Kinoshita was speaking about this Human Rights Theme. He worked as the officer for 18 years at the Immigration Office of Japan and while he was working he realized countless problematical facts and its actual phenomenon which made him feel such accumulating feeling of incongruity about the system and regulations applied to those foreign visitors and their staying environments. He talked about the inexplicable facets in his words that implies us listeners the poverty of politics now prevailing all over Japan and the Japanese people, the greater part of them with mutually sharing sense pattern and some allergic concepts against the different races. (December 10, 2019)