[powerpress]
My friend Akio wrote on Facebook a few days ago that his grandfather had died:
My grandfather passed away on the 15th Aug, aged 99. I think he had spent very good time with family and many friends in his life.
I learned “people lives to die” from him. This is a very good point. I have took part in many funerals. But this is my first time to think like it. I don’t have any answer for the question. But it is very important how to spend time to death.
My mother was a host of funeral. I have no idea the rule of funeral in other countries, but she was so busy for 3 days. I didn’t support her very much because I live far from her. But my brother supported her very much. I felt strong bond in our family. My wife also worked for her very much. I appreciated all of them very much!
I don’t know much about Akio’s grampa, but I know he witnessed the reigns of three emperors, Expansionism, World War II, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Western occupation, Japan’s rise to becoming the world’s second largest economic power and the crash in 1991, and in his last months, an 8.9 earthquake and 10 meter tsunami that were followed by fears of a nuclear disaster.