ドナルド・キーンが亡くなって5年になる。彼の朝食は健康の源で、息子と共有した伝統的なメニューにはパパイヤ、クロワッサン、コーヒー、ストロベリー ルバーブ ジャムが含まれる。キーンは三味線の演奏家であり、父親と共に過ごした思い出の朝食は今でも息子によって引き継がれている。正樹は父の遺産を守り、キーン氏の功績を後世に伝える使命を担っている。彼は父親の文化的な遺産を守り、古典芸能と日本文学を広めるために奮闘している。
It has been almost 5 years since Donald Keene passed away. The breakfast he once shared with his father is still a source of health for the busy shamisen player.
[The pride of Keene Seiki’s standard breakfast]
Japanese puppet theater, Bunraku, is performed by three people: a narrator, a shamisen player, and a puppeteer. The narrator and shamisen player for this traditional puppet show are Seiki Keene, a Bunraku shamisen player. This is what is known as singing.
He encountered Bunraku (Bunraku) during his student days. Born in Niigata City, he entered the French Department of Tokyo University of Foreign Studies but was unable to attend lectures due to university disputes.
“One day, I watched a Bunraku performance at the National Theater. The performance by the 4th generation Tachikawa Ferryman strongly attracted me to the shamisen played to convey the emotions of the scene and characters.”
“He became a National Theater Bunraku research student and after two years of training, he made his debut at the theater upon graduation from university. However, the work was intense. After working as an actor for 25 years, he returned to his home country due to health reasons. He continued to work as a ballad singer while assisting in his family’s sake brewery.”
At that time, he encountered ancient Bunraku passed down in Sado. To acquire this knowledge, he visited Donald Keene, a Japanese literature researcher and disseminator of Japanese classical performing arts, at around the age of 50.
Seiki’s love and passion for Bunraku were probably conveyed to Keene. Their bond grew stronger day by day, and they started sharing meals together following the Great East Japan Earthquake in March 2012. In March 2012, Keene adopted Masaki as his son.
Papaya in the Morning
Adoptive father Keene passed away on February 24, 2019, at the age of 96. Despite his father’s passing, Seiki continues the breakfast from his father’s healthy days.
That includes the menu of Zabar’s coffee, papaya, and croissant from a famous supermarket in New York.
“I can’t buy Zabar’s coffee in Japan, but I buy it every time I go to New York.”
He regularly visits New York, donating over a thousand letters addressed to Keene from authors like Kawabata Yasunari and Tanizaki Jun’ichirō, as well as painter Tōyama Kōichi, to Columbia University.
If papaya is not available, it can be substituted with fruits like melon, grapes, or pears. Keene also loved persimmons.
I want to firmly convey my father’s life story and achievements to future generations, both personally and publicly.
Last fall, Seiki staged an English kabuki performance of the ancient Bunraku “Kochi Hoin Oshiki” at his father’s suggestion. This year marks 70 years since the meeting of Keene and Yukio Mishima, commemorated with a performance of Mishima’s play. Alongside these performance activities, he also engages in lecture activities.
“In 2020, I established the Donald Keene Memorial Foundation to continue the work my father always talked about, ‘I am a missionary of Japanese literature and culture.'”
Concrete examples of this include conferences held nationwide.
“I realize that it is my responsibility to inherit my father’s footsteps and accomplishments, to look at a broad and deep spiritual and intellectual world, and to accurately convey that to future generations.”
Keene also had a deep love for Tokyo’s Kita Ward, where he lived for 45 years. He would go shopping in the nearby shopping district and work as a “kitchen assistant” for Makoto and the others once a week. Many of his signature dishes were selected from The New York Times cookbook but were recreated by dedicated fans of the Kita Ward.
※This article is a reprint from the February 2024 issue of “Sarai”. Ages, titles, etc., are consistent with the issue’s publication date. (Interview/Text: Kuniko Ide, Photography: Takashi Baba, Photo Collaboration: Tadao Kazama, Shiki Memorial Hall, Kita Ward Takinogawa Cultural Center)