カラマズー会 大嶋英二会長 スピーチ
President Dunn, Steve, Jane, WMU exchange students, and friends from Kalamazoo Kai:
Thank you for joining together for the Grand Reunion of Kalamazoo Kai today. It has been 6 years since our last Grand Reunion was held and the absence may have been too long, for which I have to apologize. But here we are at last, and I am glad to see all of you here.
Our special welcome goes to President Dunn of Western Michigan University who was kind enough to share with us his precious time in Japan. We are very honored to have him here as this has been exactly 20 years since President Haenicke came and saw us in 1993. I hear that the recent development of the University has been quite remarkable and people all agree that it should be accredited to the strong leadership shown by President Dunn. We are lucky to be able to hear about it directly from the President, today. Later, Steve will give us an update of the Japan Center and the Japanese Major programs. We are happy that our donation is being spent quite properly by WMU.
As you already know, this Grand Reunion is not an ordinary reunion. We are gathered here today not only welcoming President Dunn and rejoicing and renewing our friendship and memories, but also we are here in memory of the late Dr. Soga, who passed away on the 3rd of March this year. Let me recite part of my speech at the Memorial Service held in WMU on April 21st this year.
Dr. Soga, Soga-Sensei as we called him, was the father for all the students and scholars who came from Japan to WMU. He had three beloved sons, but in reality, Dr. and Mrs. Soga had more than 600 sons and daughters, and probably many more over the course of 45 years that they lived in Kalamazoo. As one of the sons, I wish to say a few words about my experience with Soga family in the early days of their settlement in Kalamazoo. I must say that it involved much more than just a friendly association with the family.
I was the 7th Murakami scholarship student from Keio who arrived in Kalamazoo in 1969. It was just one year after the Soga family joined WMU. When I arrived there, I was determined not to meet with any other Japanese people, nor speak Japanese with anybody who may try to do so. But that lasted only three months. By the time Thanksgiving Day came, exchange students like us needed a warm place where we could escape from the freezing weather of Michigan. All the Japanese students at WMU, and there were only about 10 of us, got to know each other when we were invited to a dinner by the Soga family during that holiday.
Since then, there were many occasions when Dr. and Mrs. Soga kindly invited us to gather around in their living room, and through these occasions, I met my future wife Kiyoko. What is amazing is that it was not only us who married afterwards, but there were two more couples, Mamoru and Noriko Takamura, Mike and Sachiko Kido.
Takamura san, Mike, where are you ? Here they are….
Imagine, of all the American beauties and handsome men in the Midwest, six out of ten Japanese students! There must have been something in the Soga family that made us, young and hopeful couples, to dream that one day, we all could be like Sogas—a warm, sincere, joyful, and loving family.If I look around this room today, I can see at least 4 more couples who should have met in Kalamazoo and whose marriages are lasting till today. Congratulations to you all !! Let me go back to my speech.
I was filled with sorrow to hear that Mrs. Soga lost her lifelong partner; all the more because I lost the love of my life just 4 months prior to Soga Sensei’s passing away. I know how much Mrs. Soga misses her husband from the way I miss my wife. The only consolation is that Soga-Sensei and Kiyoko both told us, their spouses, that they had no regrets at all about their rich and full lives they led. I sincerely wish that Kiyoko and Dr. Soga are having a nice chat by the fireside at the deep corner of the universe, together with Mamoru Takamura, Noriko san’s late husband, and Yumiko Miyazaki, the 8th Murakami Scholarship student, who both passed away about 20 years ago. Maybe, Yukiko Murakami, Masami Otsuka, Professor Toshiro Sakow, and many of his late friends, will also be there to greet Dr. Soga.
I hope that they are having a nice re-union up there just like we do now. Loved ones, we pray for you all. Thank you. Incidentally, Mrs. Sakow, and Mr. Michiharu Soga, Dr.Soga’s nephew, and Ms. Nobuko Enya, his niece are all here with us today. We will have an opportunity to listen to them. Well, I am speaking too long now, so let us enjoy our reunion, talk about WMU, and fond memories of Dr. Soga. Back to you, Mr. Fujishima…