Sakurai reflects on Iwata’s funeral in latest Famitsu column
In his previous Famitsu column, Super Smash Bros. director Masahiro Sakurai wrote about the passing of Satoru Iwata. This week’s issue of the magazine has another piece from Sakurai in which he touches on Iwata’s funeral.
Sakurai wrote:
“Normally at a place like this, one’s eyes go to the photo [of the deceased]. The smiling face of Mr. Iwata surrounded by flowers was a very nice picture.”
“Inside there was the still body of Mr. Iwata. He was probably dressed in traditional white funeral garb, his glasses removed, and his nose stuffed [with cotton]. And today, his body was going to be burned and reduced to nothing. Mr. Iwata would no longer exist in this world.”
Sakurai was given a guest seat, which is usually reserved for close friends and acquaintances of the deceased. He was both honored and humbled by this, he said.
Guests are permitted to leave a funeral after offering incense. But in Sakurai’s case, he decided to stay. He said: “As this was the last time I would be with Mr. Iwata, I wanted to remain there as long as I could.”
Sakurai also pointed out how there were many people at the funeral who he hadn’t seen/spoke to in over a decade. He said that he was unsure of what to say.
“Many people, especially those close to him, spoke of how the realization that they would never be able to see Mr. Iwata gain just hadn’t sunk in. I feel the same way.”
Finally, Sakurai closed out his column with the following:
“In a previous column, I wrote that when someone passes on, for those around them, it’s simply as though a character has been removed from their story, but for the deceased, the entire world has gone away. However, even for other people, Mr. Iwata’s presence was too great to simply call him a character in the story of life.
Mr. Iwata’s world is gone, leaving a massive impression on those around him. Yet, even so, our world continues.
I will not mourn or fall into depression. I will continue to do my work as best as I can. All I can offer is that I complete that which I have to do.”
