“Ue o muite arukō

Namida ga koborenai youni

Omoidasu haruno hi

Hitoribocchi no yoru.”

Translation: I look up while I walk so the tears won’t fall. Remembering those spring day but tonight I’m all alone.

– Kyu Sakamoto, “Ue O Muite Aruko”

Well, it was my last day in Japan! After nearly 8 years, I will now leave the place I have considered my second country! I will definitely miss the life here in Japan, but most of all, my friends. It’s sad but I must embark to a new path, that is to serve my own country.

Kyu Sakamoto’s 1961 song “Ue O Muite Aruko” was the second Japanese song that I memorized. The first was Ken Hirai’s “Grandfather’s Clock.” The title means “Let’s look up and walk,” and it is a song with lyrics about sadness and isolation. I think this is my farewell song for Japan. I still need to look up and continue walking. It’s sad to leave. The song encouraged people not to look back at the sad past of World War 2 and its aftermath. It urged them to be positive and have hope for the future. Of course, that will not be the case for me. Japan will always be a big part of my past. It will contribute a lot to my life in the present and future.

This will not be the last, Nihon! Mata ne!