zigguratbuilder (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} zigguratbuilder) wrote,@ 2006-01-27 21:59:00 |
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So, this feels kinda weird
I just found out a few hours ago that my best friend in Japan, a friend of 11 years, died yesterday. I was told by a mutual friend through my Japanese LJ. None of us know the details save that:
His family found him.
The wake is on 1.31 (my birthday)
The official funeral is 2.1
Mixed feelings on the matter. On one hand, it's a total shock. I mean, that same day he died he was updating his Hatena Diary (LJ) like normal, nothing mysterious tucked in there or anything. He has lots of friends, lots of people around him that care about him, etc. On the other hand, he was strung out recently, lots of stress both professional and academic, and he was on lots of psychiatric medicines of various kinds.
EDIT I just found out that the cause of his death is still being investigated, but it was natural: He was found between his house and his place of work, it looks like something having to do with his anemia and weak heart (I heard about his heart problems before, I didn't know they were this serious).
When I saw him two months ago, he seemed totally fine: Collecting his manga, hanging out with friends, listening to some killer techno tunes, working with famous Japanese philosophers, loved by family, etc.
Well, Kobayashi, Tanaka, and all of our other friends are in shock. But yet, it's hard to feel depressed, down, or too blue, and I'm not sure why. Maybe because it doesn't feel real? Maybe the shock would have been more profound had I been living in Japan now? If I didn't know how much stress he put himself into? I dunno. It does suck, though, because I lost a friend, a great philosopher, a peer social commentator, and my connection to all different levels of Japanese culture that I never would have experienced without him.
11 years of friendship. I first met him when I lived in Tokyo, when I was there studying for half a year. I was dating this girl named Noriko who was a DJ with some friends in Harajuku, and he and his friends happened to be connected to her events somehow or other. I got to know him because I would go to these daylight raves Noriko's crew used to throw and hand out candy and the like. At one point, I was wearing my "Cyberpunk" hat (which I lost that year, drat), he saw it, and being a HUGE Gibson, SF-technology and roleplaying fan, he started talking to me and we became fast friends.
Becuase of him, I found out all about Japanese SF, philosophy and J lit, manga and indies manga (and lots about pornographic manga, as most of his friends made a decent living from drawing porn), Japanese RPGs (including Tenra Bansho, the game I'm translating now), and all sorts of other things. He also helped me make lots of friends, from the aggressive tech-head Maenaka to the always jovial Kobayashi to the crazed-author Asakusa, among others. Because of him, I was able to really get a view into Japanese underground life and interests that I never would have discovered otherwise.
Crazy. I feel sad, but it's also like I can accept it. Gah, maybe it just hasn't set in yet.
Anyway, some pics of my man. Satoru "Hots" Hosono. His first name is Satoru, which means Enlightenment. I hope he found some.
Me and Satoru, October 2005
Me and Satoru, November 2003
I've got one around here from like 1995. I'll see if I can dig that one out later...
-Andy
I just found out a few hours ago that my best friend in Japan, a friend of 11 years, died yesterday. I was told by a mutual friend through my Japanese LJ. None of us know the details save that:
His family found him.
The wake is on 1.31 (my birthday)
The official funeral is 2.1
Mixed feelings on the matter. On one hand, it's a total shock. I mean, that same day he died he was updating his Hatena Diary (LJ) like normal, nothing mysterious tucked in there or anything. He has lots of friends, lots of people around him that care about him, etc. On the other hand, he was strung out recently, lots of stress both professional and academic, and he was on lots of psychiatric medicines of various kinds.
EDIT I just found out that the cause of his death is still being investigated, but it was natural: He was found between his house and his place of work, it looks like something having to do with his anemia and weak heart (I heard about his heart problems before, I didn't know they were this serious).
When I saw him two months ago, he seemed totally fine: Collecting his manga, hanging out with friends, listening to some killer techno tunes, working with famous Japanese philosophers, loved by family, etc.
Well, Kobayashi, Tanaka, and all of our other friends are in shock. But yet, it's hard to feel depressed, down, or too blue, and I'm not sure why. Maybe because it doesn't feel real? Maybe the shock would have been more profound had I been living in Japan now? If I didn't know how much stress he put himself into? I dunno. It does suck, though, because I lost a friend, a great philosopher, a peer social commentator, and my connection to all different levels of Japanese culture that I never would have experienced without him.
11 years of friendship. I first met him when I lived in Tokyo, when I was there studying for half a year. I was dating this girl named Noriko who was a DJ with some friends in Harajuku, and he and his friends happened to be connected to her events somehow or other. I got to know him because I would go to these daylight raves Noriko's crew used to throw and hand out candy and the like. At one point, I was wearing my "Cyberpunk" hat (which I lost that year, drat), he saw it, and being a HUGE Gibson, SF-technology and roleplaying fan, he started talking to me and we became fast friends.
Becuase of him, I found out all about Japanese SF, philosophy and J lit, manga and indies manga (and lots about pornographic manga, as most of his friends made a decent living from drawing porn), Japanese RPGs (including Tenra Bansho, the game I'm translating now), and all sorts of other things. He also helped me make lots of friends, from the aggressive tech-head Maenaka to the always jovial Kobayashi to the crazed-author Asakusa, among others. Because of him, I was able to really get a view into Japanese underground life and interests that I never would have discovered otherwise.
Crazy. I feel sad, but it's also like I can accept it. Gah, maybe it just hasn't set in yet.
Anyway, some pics of my man. Satoru "Hots" Hosono. His first name is Satoru, which means Enlightenment. I hope he found some.
Me and Satoru, October 2005
Me and Satoru, November 2003
I've got one around here from like 1995. I'll see if I can dig that one out later...
-Andy
