KEIKO KOMA net

21st Oct 2008
 

From Armenia No2

On the way to a church commanding wonderful view of Mt.Ararat, we passed by a vast field full of watermelons. Spontaneously I uttered that I would like to taste it. Then our tourist guide stopped our bus and brought us two watermelons. Though I have never eaten fruits before a concert for fear of damaging my stomach, this time I took them back to my hotel and shared them with members of our group as they looked delicious and familiar to me. 
In Armenia, I could touch the warmth of many people helping each other and living in harmony with a rich nature. At a dinner where we were invited yesterday, I was very impressed by the warm and relaxing atmosphere. Everybody welcomed us from the heart, and I had indeed a wonderful time enjoying intimate conversation. This was again an unusual thing for me as I did not normally accept dinner invitations before a concert.  When one of the members of the Armenian parliament told us that the wish to regain one’s home land was essential to all humankind, Mr. Idaki Shin replied that Japanese people were provided with a precious opportunity to regain the hearts of human beings by encountering Armenian people and their land. Armenia reminded me of a lot of good things that I knew from a long time ago. 
When I visited a college in Yerevan that had Japanese language courses, I explained to its students the main theme of the photo book, Legends of Koguryo Rediscovered. Looking at photos corresponding to each poem, taken by Mr. Idaki Shin, I acknowledged that my homeland extended over four countries, China, North Korea, South Korea and Japan. However, now that the world far beyond Heaven was wide open to every human being, everybody’s home was not geographical, but light coming down to us from the future, and from the world far beyond Heaven.