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| Home | > | Messages from Keiko Koma(2019/7/27) |
In the Japanese-style room of my home in Morioka, at the same latitude as Koguryo at forty degrees north, I display a framed fan-shaped piece of marbling paper and framed sets of photographs with poems. From the Japanese ‘washi’ paper that I dyed, I see, in the marbling pattern, the surface of the Yalu River on the border between China and North Korea. In calligraphy, I wrote, “The surface of the great river shines. Sorrow changes to love.” A river flows in front of my home in Morioka. I take pleasure in watching the river over the trees and following its flow. When the water before my eyes starts to overlap with the Yalu River, I think about my homeland. “When sorrow changes to love, the water will shine brilliantly, a river reflecting the sadness of being forbidden to cross. A time will come when a door opens to peace.” A poem I have read in the “Legends of Koguryo Rediscovered” concert revives. Today as the calligraphy on the marbling paper jumped into my heart, I instinctively took its photo.
Below the frame of the marbling paper is a photograph of Gojo Mountain Fortress. Paired up with it is my poem, “The wind blowing tells a time of eternity spent with King Tomei. Love.” I become filled with joy just by feeling the wind of Mt. Gojo. With the land of Koguryo in my heart, I rejoice to have set up a home and a base for work at the same latitude as my dear homeland at forty degrees north.
The photograph above is the site where King Tomei built his first castle on a plain. I sensed that there was such a place nearby, and I asked a local person about it. On a morning scented by early spring with remains of snow, I went there before climbing Mt. Gojo, the birthplace of Koguryo. My soul knew the plain without ever being taught about it. I used to mistake the place for Gojo Mountain City. Standing on the flat land with remains of snow, I encountered the young King Tomei, clear and beautiful. His bright, graceful smile was unified with the brilliance of the snow, and the air was filled with a breath of nation-building. I was honored to meet him, which filled me with the utmost joy—encounter, love, eternity.
From my home at the land of forty degrees north latitude, I have a view of the Komagatake mountain right in front. I came to set up home in Morioka owing to the guidance of souls. In the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake, I clearly saw that there was no future for Japan without the recovery of the Tohoku region. Following the innermost demand of my life born at the time to commit myself to Tohoku, I was led to this land. I knew in my soul that this was the place and bought a home. When I learned that the mountain before my eyes was Komagatake (a name related to my ancestors), time stopped inside me from the shock. I understood that I came here because of immeasurable guidance beyond my will. Feeling an existence today, I looked over to find the mountain. From this place, I will move to realize the earnest wish of the souls; a true demand emerges from within. I will live by expressing my deepest feeling.