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Eulogy at Nana Veary's Memorial Service
(Honolulu, June 1993)

When his good friend Hawaiian spiritual leader Nana Veary 
passed away, Richard Chamberlain gave a moving,
philosophical and poetic eulogy for her memorial service
that started with these words:

"Nana means "Light" to me.
We are an immensely troubled species we humans
Creating an immensely troubled society on the magnificent earth.
The darkness of our ignorance sometimes seems overwhelming to me,
and probably to many of you.
But Nana could see the indwelling Spirit, the spark of Divinity,
the Light within each of us - within everyone she touched." 
...

(Page 146, "Shattered Love")

Words can be like arrows

An exclusive article by Richard Chamberlain (“Shogun”)
for Bild+Funk:
The considerate social interaction he experienced
in the Land of the Rising Sun
(Germany, early 90s)

 Hitotsu zutsu – one thing after the other. It is not an American rule of life,  it is a Japanese one. Actors are used to do many things simultaneously always pressed for time. Studios, cities, hotels, faces without a name, new masks, costume changes.  A deadly pace that mars our perception. What remains are only blurred memories. I remember well though the six months I spent in the Land of the Rising Sun despite eleven years having passed since as Pilot-Major Blackthorn I became stranded in 17th century Japan.  

 The shooting of “Shogun” is one of those adventures one never forgets. Not only because of the perfection with which they work there, but because of the people.

A Japanese friend invited me to stay with her parents in Izu. The first night after
dinner I was so tired I could hardly keep my eyes open, but out of politeness I remained
seated. The clock kept ticking away and I was horrified at the mere thought of having
to work the next morning. At some point, I was overpowered by sleep in the sitting room.
The next morning I learned that my hosts had also fought a desperate battle against tiredness.  But they had to wait until their houseguest gave the signal to call it a night.
My first lesson in Japanese courtesy.

Don’t show your face, don’t show your feelings and smile. A false world where emotions are not shown?  Smile while you are gritting your teeth and while you are seething and boiling inside? That’s what non-Asians like us might think. Haven’t we been told by our therapists that, for our own psychological hygiene, it is not healthy to repress frustration and anger? That it can even be dangerous not to let out our aggressions. Strangely enough Japanese have a much higher life expectancy than other nations... 

Care for others is the most important rule in the daily life of the Japanese. “We are not raised that way, civility is not drilled into us by our parents,” my friend Nana told me. “I think we are simply born polite.” 

Once I arrived late to an invitation. Before I could even apologize, my Japanese colleague said “forgive us for having come too early.”  

Later on we talked about this approach that was rather alien to us. “It is terrible when we cannot transform negative energy into positive energy,” he said. “How often do we overshoot the mark, do we aim our anger at the wrong target? Words are like arrows.   And we never know what effect their venom has on the people we hit." 

It was not only this wisdom that I took back to Los Angeles. Once home, I had my house remodeled. I replaced the heavy oak doors with the typical wall-high paper sliding windows, allowing the light to gently spread throughout the room. A pace of light that      has a relaxing effect. Something else that I picked up from the unusual way the Japanese perceive form and light: it is not the furniture but human beings that bestow meaning and atmosphere on a room. Thus I redecorated my house accordingly. Moreover, I became    an enthusiastic collector of Asian antiques and a passionate fan of Japanese cuisine,     which is considered the healthiest in the world.

I still profess an interest in Japanese culture, especially the Zen philosophy. I hope that in the future I will get a chance to see more of this wonderful country and its fascinating people and learn more from them.

“Hope to see you again!” In the United States they are just empty words. When my Japanese friends bid farewell to me by saying “Sayonara” (See you again) I knew
they meant it.

To all our readers my warmest good wishes,
Richard Chamberlain

© 2002 Richard Chamberlain





Original in English 
Translated from German back into English
© 2010 MC/K

Article courtesy of Christel

The Raymond Massey I Knew
(TVG, Canada, 1984)

By Richard Chamberlain  


I didn’t know, when I first met Raymond Massey in 1958, that he would become such a motivating force in my life.  I just knew that I was scared....