Tender hearts

Two men who never met, both of them long since dead, worked together to soften injured hearts last night. 

One was a World War II serviceman in the Air Force, named Leo. He smuggled a harpsichord into Japan on an Air Force plane just after the war. It is Japan's first. Nothing fancy, and the keys stick a little. It's a treasure, to be sure. Hardly ever in the public eye. But it got brought to Ofunato last night for a special mini-concert, organized by Child Fund Japan.

Kenji Miyazawa, the famous author. Seems everyone along this coast claims him as "one of us." They don't claim to be his hometown, but he's theirs. He's been gone since the 1930s. 

Mr. Miyazawa's "Night on the Galactic Railroad" is ordinarily a two-and-a-half hour read. A professional reader performed a one-hour abridged version, with harpsichord accompaniment. Stunningly beautiful. 

This story about two boys traveling the Milky Way railroad heading to the afterlife brought many of the audience to tears. Death, the unfathomable grief of parting, the challenge of continuing afterward, and all of this in a story not their own. But I could hear grief for neighbors and family in the tears around me.

Serviceman Leo and Mr. Miyazawa had both seen the aftermath of tragedy in their day. Their help was needed in the current disaster as well. 

May the Healer come into the opened hearts.