Paris rites

Masatsugu Okutani carries out a purification at a ritual in Paris

Any readers in Paris might like to head for Pere Lachaise today as there will be a Shinto ritual carried out at the grave of Nonaka Motoemon (1812-67), a samurai merchant from Saga who headed for the Paris Exposition in 1867. 

At 3 pm June 28, Masatsugu Okutani, a licensed priest who is working for a Japanese company in Paris, will conduct the Irei-sai ceremony for the dead in honour of Nonaka which will be televised by NHK and shown on television here in Japan on July 11.

Not much is known about Nonaka except that he came from a long line of Saga samurai.  On the voyage to France, which lasted two months, he kept a poetic diary which was published in 1936 by his son.

Grave of Nonaka Motoemon in Pere Lachaise in Paris

The route from Nagasaki included Shanghai, Singapore, Bombay and the Suez Canal.  Sadly not long after his arrival in France Nonaka was taken ill and died.

Pere Lachaise is the home of many famous figures from the past.  The list is impressive, including such illustrious figures as Frederic Chopin, Marcel Marceau, Sarah Berhnardt, Oscar Wilde, Yves Montand, Moliere, Jim Morrison, Honore de Balzac, Simone Signoret, Marcel Proust, Gioacchino Rossini, Edith Piaf and Maria Callas.

Now, at least for Japanese visitors, the grave of a samurai from Kyushu may also be attracting attention.