Ａ Ｍａｎ ｏｆ Ｌｏｆｔｙ Ｉｄｅａｌｓ—Ｃｏｍｍｅｍｏｒａｔｉｎｇ Ｆｏｕｒｔｈ Ａｎｎｉｖｅｒｓａｒｙ ｏｆ ｔｈｅ Ｐａｓｓｉｎｇ Ａｗａｙ ｏｆ Ｉｋｕｍａ Ｄａｎ

May 17th， 2005 marks the 4th anniversary of the passing away of Ikuma Dan， renowned Japanese musician and good friend of the Chinese people. Four years ago when invited by the CPAFFC the delegation of the Japan-China Cultural Exchange Association (JCCEA) led by him was on its visit in Suzhou， he died of sudden heart attack.

Ikuma Dan had visited China many times at the invitation of the CPAFFC.I twice accompanied the Japanese cultural delegation led by him and listened to his talks. In 1990 when I as a member of the CPAFFC delegation visited Japan， I was a guest at his home and was invited to spend the birthday together with him. (My birthday and Ikuma Dan’s happened to fall on the same day.) I wrote an article about him which was included in the book Friends All Over the World published by the CPAFFC later. On the occasion of the 4th anniversary of his passing away， I am writing this article to commemorate him.

The CPAFFC once asked old calligrapher Dong Shouping to write a scroll for Ikuma Dan. Dong wrote 8 Chinese characters praising his beautiful music and his pursuit of lofty ideals of life. This is the best appraisal of Ikuma Dan’s character and art.

Ikuma Dan was a Japanese composer and conductor well known both at home and abroad， and a member of the Japanese Academy of Art， the most prestigious institutions among the Japanese art circles. In his lifetime he created 7 operas， 6 symphonies， 16 pieces of orchestral music， 7 pieces of chamber music and many songs for chorus and vocal solo. In 1952 the premiere of his opera The Crane at the Sunset based on a Japanese folk story won unprecedented success in Osaka. At that time there were few operas created by Japanese. The success of The Crane at the Sunset， forerunner of Japanese operas， greatly strengthened self-confidence of the Japanese musicians. The Crane at the Sunset was put on show in over 100 Japanese cities and so far it has been performed over 500 times in Asia， Europe and the United States. It is the Japanese opera performed most times. The thirteen performances of The Crane at the Sunset in Beijing， Tianjin and Shanghai were warmly received by the Chinese audience. Comrade Deng Yinchao went to the theatre to watch the performance. He also created many musical works based on Chinese history and culture such as The Great Wall， Imperial Concubine Yang， The Silk Road， and Flying Apsaras and won high praises and appreciation among the Chinese musical circles.

Ikuma Dan loved the Chinese culture very much. Once he told me that his grandfather and father were Sinologists of great attainment. Since his childhood he was influenced by what he saw and heard from them， and studied very hard The Four Books (namely The Great learning， The Doctrine of the Mean， The Analects of Confucius and The Book of Mencius) and The Five Classics (namely The Book of Songs， The Book of History， The Book of Changes， The Book of Rites and The Spring and Autumn Annals)， The records of the Historian and Tang Dynasty poetry. When he studied music in Britain and traveled in European countries， he did not become a captive of Western music. He deeply felt that as an Asian musician， he should not follow Westerners at every step; instead he should carry forward and develop Asian music. China is the centre of the Asian culture， mother of the Japanese culture and a source of musical creation. Only by absorbing the cream of the Chinese culture while using the Western culture as reference， could he make some achievements in music. This became his lifelong pursuit.

Mr. Ikuma Dan once told me that in 1966 when he came to China for the first time， it happened to be the beginning of the “cultural revolution”. Everywhere he saw chaos. Instead of feeling disappointed at China， he had a stronger desire to know about the country. Since then， in more than 30 years he visited China over 60 times， traveling from Harbin in the North to the Hainan Island in the South. Many times he went to the areas inhabited by the Chinese ethnic groups. Though these areas had poor transport facilities， and life was hard， the simple and unsophisticated music of the ethnic groups gave him valuable inspiration and great joy.

Mr. Ikuma Dan was also a noted Japanese prose writer. Under the title of Jottings While Smoking a Pipe， he wrote articles for the Asahi Pictorial published by the Asahi Shimbun Publishing House. In the 36 years from June 1964 to October 2000， every week he wrote an article for the Pictorial， altogether 4 million words which were later printed in book form totalling 27 volumes. On the occasion of the 4th anniversary of his passing away， a meeting to commemorate the publication of the Chinese version of Jottings While Smoking a Pipe was held in Beijing. Writer Chen Jiangong commented: “Mr. Dan’s well documented articles， which often begin with minor topics were then extended to a wide range of contents. Relying on his rich experience in life and profound knowledge， he would lead the readers to serious issues concerning the destiny of humankind and understanding of life. Most of his works show his concern over the conditions of man’s existence and his understanding of and sympathy for the just causes. His style of writing is characterized by humour， optimistic views of life and witty language.”

Mr. Ikuma Dan， an influential social activist， had deep feelings towards China and had served as president of the Japan-China Cultural Exchange Association. Over the years he made unremitting efforts to promote cultural exchanges between Japan and China. Famous Chinese cultural figures such as Li Huanzhi， Lu Ji， Li Delun and Wu Zuqiang were his old friends.

The reason why Ikuma Dan could become a respected musician and social activist was that first of all he was a man of integrity. Takashi Tsuji， writer and current president of the JCCEA， said， Ikuma Dan seldom mentioned his family background in his literary works. His grandfather was a leader in the economic circles in his time， and died under the terror created by despicable extreme nationalists. On March 5， 1932 the Japanese imperialists launched wars of aggression against Asian countries. Mr. Dan thought that the best way to root out Japan’s closed-doorism and exclusivism was to understand the Chinese history， human relationship and culture.

In an article entitled Postwar 50 Years published in the monthly journal of the JCCEA ten years ago， Mr. Dan wrote， “Since the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895， Japan used its armed might to wage wars of aggression and was dead-set on the road of militarist aggression for 50 years.” “Whenever I think of the sharp contrast between the tremendous sufferings brought to China by the Japanese war of aggression and the world famous declaration made by the People’s Republic of China after the war: For the friendship between the Chinese and Japanese people， China relinquishes its request of war indemnity from Japan， I feel deeply ashamed.” “An important problem is that Japan has not yet clearly solved the problem of who are victims and who are aggressors.” “We should not turn a blind eye to the tendency of disguising ourselves as victims so as to shirk aggressors’ responsibility.” About this article， Norihiko Dan， Ikuma Dan’s son， said， “This article represents many honest Japanese intellectuals’ understanding of history. I believe that in the future Japanese young people will surely understand history as they do. Don’t forget that in Japan there are many people sharing the same view.”

It has been 4 years since Mr. Ikuma Dan passed away. We cherish his memory. His amiable voice and smiling face， handsome looks and noble characters， beautiful music and widely loved prose will forever be remembered. We shall continuously consolidate and beautify the friendly cultural bridge he had built between the Japanese and Chinese people.May Mr. Ikuma Dan rest in peace!