Tokyo Just Became a Better City

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Myself and Tak-san in Japan, 2008 .

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While in Phoenix last week I received an email from a producer who works for Japan's NHK Television.

A few years ago NHK filmed a documentary about my father and his atomic bomb photographs, and the film was a huge success in Japan. Takuomi Matsumoto was the producer and director, and I spent many weeks with him while the documentary was being made. By the end of the film, Tak-san not only proved to be an incredible producer and director, but also a great friend.

You can see a clip from his film here: Nagasaki: Photographs From The Trunk

I almost didn't take my laptop with me to Phoenix, but now I'm glad I did, and I'm glad the crappy hotel had free wi-fi service. Here's the letter I received:

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Dear Mr. Tyge,
 
Sorry for the sudden mail.

I am Teppei, a colleague of Mr. Takuomi Matsumoto at NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) Fukuoka branch. 

Takuomi is going to be promoted and will move to NHK headquarters in Tokyo. So we are going to give a farewell party for him this friday. We have always respected Takuomi as a talented TV director (producer). With "NAGASAKI" he erected a monumental landmark in the history of Japanese TV. And he always says that "NAGASAKI" is the best work he has ever done.  At the party we are going to look back to that program and if possible, would like to read out a message from you. Is it possible for you to write some memories or stories about him ? (It doesn't have to be long) We want to know how it was like when Takuomi was filming you.

And also if possible, I want you to send a photo of you and Takuomi together. Please forgive me for causing you so much trouble.

Best regards,
 
Teppei

I had arrived in Phoenix later than expected, but still managed to write something for Tak-san's party. I emailed the below letter and attached a few photographs.

Dear Tak-san,
 
I was very happy to hear you've been promoted and will be working with NHK in Tokyo. I'm sure many of your co-workers will miss you, but at the same time are happy for you also. 
 
Working with you on my father's Nagasaki documentary was a life-changing experience for me. Thanks to you and your wonderful team, I saw photographs and listened to recordings from my father that I had never seen or heard before. This gave me a better understanding of my father, and it also gave me insight on how he would have wanted me to live my life. 
 
I have such fond memories of our travels: Washington, D.C., Nashville, Tennessee, and of course, Nagasaki. In each of these places you were always professional, but at the same time, even with our language barrier, you were understanding and compassionate. I am proud to have been part of something that you now see as your most important work to date, and I thank you for it. 

However, I would give all these memories back, and would even surrender our meeting each other, if only the atomic bombs were never dropped on Japan.
 
History cannot be changed though, so I'm wishing you the best of luck with your new promotion with NHK in Tokyo. I'm proud of you, and I know you will excel at everything you do. I can only hope your new job will someday bring you to Las Vegas again so we can eat those special hamburgers from the "In and Out" restaurant. 
 
I've been thinking of you and the rest of Japan a lot lately, and please know my heart goes out to your wonderful country. 
 
Again, congratulations, and best of luck. You've earned it.  
 
Your friend,

Tyge

Last night before going to bed, I received another email from Teppei. He included a few pictures from the farewell party, and when I saw them I damn near melted. Teppei had printed and framed one of my photos and given it to Tak-san. The photo shows the two of us standing in front of the "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada" sign.

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Perhaps I was just too busy while in Phoenix, but ever since my return—and with seeing these photos—a flood of emotions have returned. I miss my Japanese friends, and like I wrote in my letter to Tak-san, they've been on my mind a lot lately with all the things their country is enduring right now. I almost think it's a form of homesickness I'm feeling.

Last August—during the anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bombs—I wrote a post about how I was tired of my father's legacy, and how I'm not yet prepared to carry-on his mission. I wrote how I prefer to remember Dad as a great father, and not as a well known photographer. I still think and believe these things, but the feelings I've been having over the past few days have convinced me that I still have what it takes, and that I'll still be as passionate about my inherited onus when the time comes to step-up to the plate and swing my father's bat.

And I think  it just might happen sooner than later.

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FiN.

Like it or Not, Osama Bin Laden Was a Victim

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I refuse to celebrate death. It doesn't matter how evil the person was or what horrible things they did when alive, a killed human life is a solemn tragedy. The fact a person needs to be killed—or has to be killed—and society sees fit to relish the death—is a disturbing reflection on mankind.

Am I glad Osama Bin Laden is dead? I'll tell you that I'm glad he was found and is now unable to  plot and carry-out his terrorist acts.  Bin Laden's death is a strong blow to Al Qaeda, but I take more comfort in knowing that (as reported by various media outlets) recent socialized democracies in places like Egypt and Tunisia have hurt Al Qaeda a lot more than the recent demise of their leader.

With the news of Bin Laden's death, I merely felt indifferent. Not happy, not sad, not surprised or ecstatic. I was, however, glad that many people directly affected by the events of 9/11 hopefully now have some sense of closure, and that a horrible chapter in their lives has ended.

In olden days, death sentences were somber events. Crowds would gather in silence and watch the execution with an aura of pity, shame, and disappointment—not because the person being executed did something horrible, but because a human life was about to be snuffed-out. That being said...

Yesterday U.S. Special Forces carried-out Bin Laden's destiny, and I half expected Osama's body to be put on parade and dragged through the streets—or hung from a pole, ala Benito Mussolini. I bet a lot of the young people in the above photograph would have loved that.  From what I've read and heard, our Navy Seals performed professionally and efficiently, and afterward our men showed dignity by burying the body (at sea) within twenty-four hours—per the Islam faith. I hope no embarrassing photos surface with troops posing with the body, like when Colombian drug czar Pablo Escobar was killed.

When it comes to religion, I've always believed that the Universal Law has a nice way of making everyone right. If you're Buddhist, you'll see Buddha when you die. If  Hindu, you'll be greeted by Shiva or Vishnu—or whoever. If you're Christian, you'll see God. Or Jesus. Or Mary. Or Saint Peter. And if you believe in nothing, you'll get nothing. Because of this theory, I'm forced to believe that Osama Bin Laden is now in some paradise garden, screwing a lot of virgins.

Although a fucked-up fact, Bin Laden believed until the very end that he was doing Allah's work. In the eyes of many extremists, Bin Laden died a martyr. As someone wrote on Facebook last night, these people will make Bin Laden a legendary—even mythical—man, not unlike the fictional character Keyser Soze, from the film The Usual Suspects. Bin Laden followed the martyrdom process to a tee. He didn't try to compromise his situation by bartering and lying—like Che Guevara did. He didn't kill himself in the end—like Hitler did. Bin Laden really did die a martyr, and by the definition of the word, a martyr is a victim—no matter how crazy their actions or beliefs.  

I can't help but wonder... what if Osama Bin Laden had died yesterday from his kidney malady instead of at the hands of our Special Forces—would we have seen all the celebrating in the streets of America? We'd probably be pissed-off that—although still dead—Bin Laden had manage to elude capture. We'd be pissed-off that we didn't get to exact revenge by killing him. His being dead wouldn't be good enough for us. We should have been his executioner, and reveled in the glory. 

Yesterday many Americans did exactly that—they reveled the death of the big fish.

I'm grateful for our troops, here and abroad. I thank them for keeping our homeland safe and secure. I thank the Navy Seals and other Special Forces for their talent and professionalism. I thank President Obama for keeping his word. I'd be honored to repay all of them—whatever way I can— for their outstanding service, loyalty, and perseverance.

But please don't ask me to celebrate, because this party that so many people are literally hell-bent on, got off to the wrong start ten years ago with 9/11.

FiN.

13 comments for “Like it or not, Osama Bin Laden was a Victim”

1. 

   Tyge

   May 23, 2011 at 11:41 pm (edit)

   I should have clarified the time period. By “olden days,” I was referring to the 1800 and early 1900′s, here in America. When outlaws were executed in the old west, the event wasn’t celebrated. Moving on, the hangings of Lincoln’s conspirators come to mind. Sacco and Vanzetti’s executions (1927) were actually protested, and mourned. Lynching has never been sanctioned by the government, because it’s a crime carried-out by nonjudicious murderers. And yes, lynchings were reveled by those who chose to be a part of such a crime, sad but true. It’s ironic how England and France did those things you wrote about, and now, in this day and age, America is the only civilized (non-third world country?) that still uses the death penalty. These days, England and France think we’re barbaric because we execute people.

   Thanks for the comment!
2. 

   Curious

   May 23, 2011 at 8:32 pm (edit)

   Even though I don’t think I was around for the “Golden Days” of public executions, I think I will have to take issue about death sentences being somber events. From what I’ve heard when the heads of traitors were placed on pikes at the entrance to London Bridge, or when the heads of the nobility were held up to the crowds after being guillotined in Paris, or when young men posed for a picture smiling with their wives and or girlfriends in front of black man who had just been lynched, burned or sexually mutilated were never places where people bowed their heads in reverence for the ordeal. Instead they were places where people would come to witness a spectacle and take part in as best they could.

   Some people will say that celebrating the death of Bin Laden is about justice and closure and maybe even revenge, but I would say that it’s really about showing who we are and how we really haven’t changed.
3. 

   Tyge

   May 6, 2011 at 12:11 am (edit)

   Thanks for the comment David, and I understand your point.

   I didn’t mean to portray Bin Laden as a victim of 9/11, but moreso by the definition of a martyr, or even in the more technical sense that he was indeed a victim of revenge (getting picky, I know). I think there are such things as bad victims, although oxymoron-ish. Bernie Madoff was a victim of his own stupidity and greed, and perhaps even of the U.S. Justice system.

   I’ll admit I used the term liberally, but when you have a fledgling website like mine, desperation often breeds strange activity.

   Thanks again and as always, I enjoy hearing from you. It’s flattering even.
4. 

   David Weir

   May 5, 2011 at 9:32 pm (edit)

   Although I appreciate what you wrote, I have to take issue with your use of the word “victim” for Osama bin-Laden, even if it was meant to be ironic. Those professing to be faithful to some God or another always seem to find their faith a convenient way to inflict pain on the the rest of us, in ways large and small, because it allows them to justify their own selfishness, betrayal, lies and cruelty and in extreme cases, even horrific violence, whenever it suits their purposes. That is who bin-Laden was in my eyes, just another religious hypocrite, like too many others I have encountered in my own life.
5. 

   Heather Barton

   May 3, 2011 at 6:58 pm (edit)

   I always try to leave ‘em laughing!

   If I have to claim a religion it would be Unitarian. Its kinda “Everyone’s Right Stop Fighting” style. Years ago when I realized I was angry at God I had to sort out my feelings and I boiled it all down to this:

   If we strive for Unconditional Love then certainly GOD had it down pat. & If God loves us Unconditionally, then he doesn’t care whether we pray to the east, in a church or dance naked around a bonfire. If he made us, he must like what he made. If we strive to BE the best US we can, spread joy not strife, do minimum harm to others and most importantly LISTEN to our inner voice which is his conduit to us… if we do all that, how can we NOT be worshiping God?

   I’ve always felt ANY religion that insists its the only one weakens its credibility! Blew my mind when I read this article.
   http://www.uwgb.edu/dutchs/PSEUDOSC/ForestDesert.htm
6. 

   Tyge

   May 3, 2011 at 5:48 pm (edit)

   Religion does strange things to people, and so does fighting in a war. My uncle came out of Vietnam a different person, and not in a good way.

   Shalom.
7. 

   Tyge

   May 3, 2011 at 5:40 pm (edit)

   Thanks for the comment Heather. I’ve been trying to be a more passive, buddha-like human, and even looked into Buddhism here in Las Vegas, but sadly, a true Buddist doesn’t smoke or drink (although Leonard Cohen does)and well, I guess I have selfish priorities that take precedence over having good karma.

   Nice thought about the virgins, although I’ve seen some pretty hot nuns over the years. thanks again!
8. 

   Tyge

   May 3, 2011 at 5:34 pm (edit)

   Yes, a formal apology would have been a nice thing for Osama to do, right before being executed. Did you even read the post? I don’t claim sympathy for Bin Laden, I just refuse to celebrate his death, or the justice of it. I’m sure the majority of familes who lost someone on 9/11 (I’m not in that category) didn’t go out and cheer in the streets when hearing the news of Bin Laden’s death. Celebrating won’t bring their loved ones back.
9. 

   Tyge

   May 3, 2011 at 5:25 pm (edit)

   “Just sayin’?” FUNNY GAL.

   Thanks Mara. Considering your past service and your husband’s important role the other day, your similar feelings validate what I hope to be the thoughts of many military personnel. I did not want to offend or disrespect, and reading your comment confirms to me that I haven’t. Thanks again, and I hope C. is home soon and safe. Tell him he is appreciated.
10. 

    Steve

    May 3, 2011 at 3:49 pm (edit)

    I agree with the gist of what you’re saying…
    The taking of the life of a man by another man is never a good thing, maybe well deserved but still not good… It’s just unfortunate that we humans get ourselves into these situations, often in the name of god.
    Religion does strange things to people!
11. 

    Heather Barton

    May 3, 2011 at 12:44 pm (edit)

    I think American’s are less Celebrating Death as Celebrating the feeling of Justice his death has given to many. He boldly claimed responsibility and we couldn’t give him the justice we felt he deserved for considering the deaths of so many non-combatants (people not to just Americans) necessary to make a point. It left us with a feeling that if we didn’t show severe consequences for such acts that more and more of them would be committed. I think many are celebrating the Hope (small as it is) that 911 will never happen again now that Bin Laden is dead. Even though we all know that hope is not based in reality we, celebrate any step that takes us toward it.

    I didn’t celebrate his death. I was actually surprised he was still alive and pissed at Pakistan. (Even knowing the impossibility of America knowing if a huge criminal is hiding on its soil.) Since my beliefs on death are cyclic and karmic and a bit Hindu, death… any death, is a point of moving on. I don’t celebrate it and I don’t overly mourn it. I’ll miss a person I’ve know who has died and feel the pain death causes another.. but I don’t elevate human existence so much that death becomes the ultimate crime.

    That being said, I also didn’t chastise those who felt the need to celebrate a victory nor did I “woot woot” it with the celebrants. I read many blogs and posting with warnings about martyr consequesnces… etc.

    But me being me..I did quip here and there that if Bin Laden was in heaven with his virgins, I hoped they were nuns with rulers because really… these days… other than indulging in pedophilia.. where else will you find virgins!
12. 

    Anonymous

    May 3, 2011 at 12:25 pm (edit)

    I guess you would have preferred it if Osama would have issued a formal apology, and told the world to move on and just get over all the fucked up shit he did. Did you lose anyone on 911?
13. 

    Mara

    May 3, 2011 at 5:20 am (edit)

    Thank you. This echoed my sentiments exactly. In my occupation it is not always the best or right thing to voice my opinions and I feel validated knowing that someone else had the same reaction as I. I did, however, listen to a moving piece on the radio yesterday, that reminded me of how this all began approx. 10 years ago and I felt a small piece of my military pride rekindled… an odd feeling that had faded to almost nothing within the past few years. I’m glad to have served… but I prefer to remain a “quiet professional” instead of a screaming, taunting, gun-toting asshole. Just sayin’.