Nishimura Masanari - a very Vietnamese Japanese

Loving Vietnam from the first time he came to work, over the past 20 years, he has traveled all over the world to learn, research, and contribute much effort to Vietnamese archeology, before he died of a motorbike accident. .

>>>Japanese archaeologists died in Vietnam

Dr. Nishimura Masanari, born in 1965, is a collaborator at the Vietnam Institute of Archeology. He just died of a traffic accident on the road 1B while riding a motorbike to Bac Ninh to learn about the field for new research.

It was about 10 noon on June 9, he hit a truck and was injured. The Japanese scientist was immediately taken to the hospital but because the wound was so heavy, he did not survive. Masanari is being located in Hanoi, waiting for family members to come to Vietnam to look at their children for the last time.

Masanari was always smiling when he was alive.(Photo provided by Dr. Liem)

"It is painful, limbs are like falling apart when I hear that my dear friend died. I still cannot believe that he has left," said Dr. Bui Van Liem, Deputy Director of Vietnam Institute of Archeology. , close colleague and Vietnamese teacher "teacher" for Masanari, said.

"We recently went to a funeral to share condolences with a colleague's family, to listen to the master's thesis defense. We just drank and talked to each other," Liem recalls. "He is an emotional person . "

Dr. Masanari's departure also stunned both domestic and foreign archeology.

"When I heard about his death, I was so shocked, I did not understand why people who were so devoted to Viet Nam were so at risk. Many times I went to Co Loa, I saw him taking a taxi, I don't understand why. This time, I went on a motorbike, " said Professor Nguyen Quang Ngoc, vice chairman of the Vietnam Association of Historical Sciences, a friend of Masanari.

Mr. Ngoc said, Masanari's visit to Bac Ninh was to study archaeological relics at Dam Pagoda, the most important temple of the Ly dynasty, and the remaining famous stone pillars remain.

The fate with Vietnam

Dr. Nishimura Masanari studied archeology at Tokyo University. In 1990, he came to Vietnam in the framework of a project between Japanese science and Vietnam Institute of Archeology to study and survey some ancient tombs in Vac village, Nghia Dan district, Nghe An.

From here, he began to love the study of prehistoric culture and some other sectors of Vietnam. In the process of studying and protecting the master's and doctoral dissertation, he has often associated with Vietnamese scientists to study. Later, when I was attached to and felt unable to leave Vietnam, Masanari asked to collaborate at the Archaeological Institute, and saw Vietnam as my second home.

Dr. Bui Van Liem remembers the image when he first met Masanari 23 years ago, a "lively, enthusiastic, intelligent and sociable person".

Prior to coming to Vietnam, Masanari worked in Thailand, China and many developed countries in the world. There, he studied language and deeply understood the history and culture of each country.

With talent and enthusiasm, Masanari can choose a better country with advanced techniques like Thailand, China, or stay in Japan, but he chose Vietnam."It seems to be fate, only once to Vietnam made him decide to stick with our country for a long time , " Liem said.

Talking about the reasons for staying in Vietnam, Masanari once said: "Vietnam is still difficult, but difficulties have a good thing. I like difficulties, and from the beginning to Vietnam, I feel there is something dear. close to Vietnamese people ".

Vietnamese people have Japanese nationality

To start life in Vietnam, the first thing Masanari does is learn Vietnamese. For him, this is a mandatory requirement when doing research in another land.

The one who helped Masanari learn Vietnamese was Dr. Bui Van Liem."In fact, the first time he worked in Nghe An, he memorized a lot of words, and said babblingly , " said Dr Liem.

"Initially, Masanari imitated me and spoke very mechanically, sometimes making it difficult for listeners. But gradually interacting with local people during the trips, he spoke and understood Vietnamese better himself. ".

During his stay in Vac village, Masarani paid for his pen and face towel, and the computer brought every resident there as a gift. In the early 1990s, these were very valuable gifts that Masanari gave to Vietnamese people when they first met each other. Until now, the Vac villagers, when meeting archaeologists, still asked about the person who gave them the precious gifts of the old year.

After three years, Masanari speaks fluent Vietnamese. Mr. Liem remembers a happy memory, when in his time working in Hoi An, he was amazed at Masanari's "bargaining" skill. "I bought the same shirt, I spent 140 thousand dong, and Masanari only lost 90 thousand dong ."

Once, Masanari crowded around the whole day to buy train tickets for everyone in the agency. The ticket seller thought Masanari was an ethnic person because of the fancy outfit, especially the Vietnamese accent."Masanari Vietnam is more than Vietnam and Japan than Japan" , Dr. Liem said of a close friend.

Perhaps because of that, for a decade, Japanese scientists have been called "Vietnamese nationals" by friends.

Masanari has a wife and two sons living in Vietnam. One child is in third grade and one kindergarten. His wife, Noriko, is also Japanese, but they know each other in Vietnam when she is a Vietnamese language graduate student. Because of her love for "archaeologist" , she gave up the language industry to archeology.

According to Professor Ngoc, Noriko is a ' golden leaf branch' of Kyoto, when she first came to Vietnam, she did not pay much attention to archeology. But since becoming acquainted with Masarani, she has just moved into archaeological research, successfully defending Gia Luong's master's thesis in Bac Ninh, then Noriko made a doctoral thesis on Vietnamese ceramics.

Once I went to Japan, Noriko worked as an interpreter for me. She said: 'I now have to study all Japanese and Japanese culture again, because I have been in Vietnam for so long. This made me very touched, " Mr. Ngoc said.

Vietnamese archaeological charm

For more than 20 years, Dr. Masanari has many contributions to the Vietnamese archeology industry with talent and enthusiasm.

Tong Trung Tin, Director of the Vietnam Institute of Archeology, said there are no archaeological "hot spots" in Vietnam without Masanari footprints. He is a man who has great merit in bringing the lively academic atmosphere into Vietnam. Masanari discovered the first piece of bronze drum mold in Vietnam. "This is a very significant finding, because for a long time, many people believe that Dong Son bronze drum is not in Vietnam," said Dr. Tin.

Not only that, he and his colleagues discovered the arrow mold, affirming that the arrows of Vietnam in An Duong Vuong period were produced on the spot.

Besides, he participated in many other programs such as discovery and supervision of excavation and construction of ceramics museum in Kim Lan and Gia Lam communes in Hanoi; study the location 18 Hoang Dieu, Hanoi, participate in researching Ho dynasty, Dong Son bronze drum, and many other places.

He also contributed to the introduction of the popular 'archaeological method' to let people know how to preserve and preserve archaeological relics.

Dr. Masanari also participates in training and guiding young studies of the Institute of Archeology and localities."With the knowledge gained from many other countries in the world, he brought a lot of new knowledge to Vietnam," said Dr. Tin.

"Masanari loves Vietnam very much, he is intelligent and consistent in all matters, how he lives in Japan like that" , according to Dr. Tin.

Despite many contributions to Vietnamese archeology, Masanari always keeps himself humble and silently working. Dr. Liem remembers that once, Masanari was a great successor in spreading Vietnamese culture to Japan. Unexpectedly, Masanari changed her face, and said solemnly: "I can't do it yet."

Masanari on a field trip.(Photo provided by Dr. Liem)

Masanari left, unfinished plans such as the cooperation program on adjusting archaeological relics of Dam and Bac Ninh pagodas; revision of Go Thap archaeological relic, Dong Thap province, and Con Moong, Mang Gong, and Thanh Hoa study relics.

The Archaeological Institute said the Masarani family aspired to hold a funeral for him in traditional Vietnamese rituals. He is expected to be cremated in Hanoi and then put the ashes in Japan."Family members said that Masanari loved Vietnam, worked in Vietnam and died must also be in Vietnam. Therefore, he would be comforted if he knew this," Tin said.

'Nishimura is a very special scientist. He was enamored of Vietnam to a strange extent. He has been scouring all over Vietnam, where there are archaeological sites that he came to find , " said Professor Nguyen Quang Ngoc, proud of talking about his Japanese friend.

"Once I visited the expert team, I found them digging all the mud and digging all the mud like digging irrigation ponds, under the scorching hot sun , " Mr. Ngoc said. "Nishimura is rolling around in the scene, dark skin is dark. Nishimura is a great example for us."