When persimmon leaves and the tips of maples take on color, and chilly air rattles windows, composer Yoshinao Nakada¡¯s haunting song ¡°Chiisai Aki Mitsuketa¡± (¡°A Bit of Autumn Found¡°) floats through my mind. Having just learned that the song¡¯s lyricist, talented poet Hachiro Sato (1903-74), rests in Zoshigaya Reien (cemetery), it seems the perfect season to pay respects, and explore the grounds of one of Tokyo¡¯s largest boneyards.
From the Toden Arakawa streetcar line stop, Toden-Zoshigaya, the cemetery entrance is a five-minute walk. October¡¯s breezes graze the upper branches of large zelkova trees that shade the grounds, and golden sunlight warms the stones as I make my way toward the cemetery¡¯s administration office.
Outside the office, I pick up maps that include ¡°addresses¡± of gravesites where people of note are buried. I also avail myself of a quick spray of bug repellant offered up free of charge. While I imagine October to be relatively mosquito-free, no one wants dengue fever bringing them back to a cemetery under involuntary circumstances.
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