When lilacs last in the dooryard bloom'd. . . .

When lilacs last in the dooryard bloom'd
And the great star early droop'd in the western sky in the night,
I mourn'd, and yet shall mourn with ever-returning spring.
(Walt Whitman)

No lilacs but pink and white plum flowers are blooming now in Tokyo.
We bade goodbye to Prof. S at Shinanomachi Church on Monday, Jan. 21.
Hundreds people came to say goodbye to him.

The last time I saw him was in the summer of 2006 at a French restaurant
in Seijo where we celebrated the publication of our book, The Separation
of Church and State: Its English Origin and the American Develpment.
He was a magnetic center of our study group with his gentle and sincere smile.