Mamiko Nakagawa remembers her experience of losing one of her best friends in a freak car crash. The original page in Japanese will be around as long as her Heart Friends of Shonen Knife stays online, at upp.so-net.ne.jp/dolittle/shonenknife/mana.html
I stuck to the text as tightly as I could, but I broke it up into shorter paragraphs and punctuated.SUPPORT DRUMMER MANA NISHIURAOH, NO! It can't be! Word of her death reached me fairly early, around noon on November the 5th, 2005, by email from American friends: "I saw that a DMBQ show in NY is canceled, there was a traffic accident involving band members (one woman killed, another seriously injured). Hurry and contact the concerned parties!" And then all the emergency contacts.
Because it was information from overseas I didn't believe it without confirmation; but on the information sent every few hours in emails from friends, and by looking at the Philadelphia newspaper's website, I was forced to believe it was true.
(The official announcement from the DMBQ side was on the 8th.) All the things I had talked about with her came back to me all at once, I couldn't sleep but went on crying in shock.
How happy I was to see Shonen Knife revived in 2001 with her support. Her drums instantly blew away a gap of almost three years for Shonen Knife. Oh, taking on an amazing new drummer gave me such a thrill.
Seeing her powerful drumming, her cute and cool appearance, I remember it was my great pleasure to say, "Thank you for coming to support my beloved Shonen Knife. I think I'm going to like the Knife better and better." From that point, and because we were both baseball fans, we became friends on the phone and by email.
— For me, there's only this (drumming).
— For me, there's no such thing as 50%, it's 0% or 100%.
— Nakagawa-san (meaning me), what I do for Shonen Knife (being the support), I guess you realize how much fun it is? This band is the most fun of any band I've ever been in. Never a worry or anxious thought. A Knife tour is heaven.
I'll never forget the things she told me. And then, Mana-chan went to Heaven forever.
The year before her death she had a lot of bands, she was incredibly busy, and I regret that it wasn't easy to see each other. But from now on I get to be together with her all the time. I love you, Mana-chan! Even over there, the beating of your drum is faintly heard by us over here . And then when I go over there, you'll come and get me, won't you!
…Two months after the accident, when I went to NY in early January 2006 taking the person who was the US manager of DMBQ as my contact, I went to the home of the people who had custody of Mana-chan's stored articles such as suitcases. Though it was my sole reason for going to NY, my shock when I saw the luggage cannot be expressed in words. What is her luggage doing in a place like this, after all this time? I had good reminiscences with them about Mana-chan, and I heard about the site of the accident.
On the last day of my visit, a Shonen Knife fan from NY and a friend had hurriedly made a large-scale photo collage of Mana-chan arranged on 50 sheets. We laid out the photo and some flowers, in the rain, crying and praying at the site.
Before I went on this trip, when she had been dead over a month and just before Christmas Eve, Mana-chan appeared to me in a dream, a dream that we were riding together on an international flight — what was this about — and with that, I woke up as if I'd been struck by lightning. At that time, Mana-chan coming to me in a dream on Christmas Eve — although I was grateful, I wondered…
"But it wasn't with the person herself, it was just Mana-chan's luggage; and you weren't going overseas on an international flight, it was an international flight coming home to Japan."
"No doubt about it, that is weeeird… haaaunted… Don't trust the luggage! It's eeevil, no thanks!"
I can feel you saying it.
"Sorry to be late. I'm here now. No more worries, we're going home to Japan together." So I said at the site, and then I returned bringing the precious personal luggage, without having it sent by a parcel service, and delivered it to the bereaved family by hand.
Later they mentioned what you already knew, that the day I had the dream seems to have been the dawning of the 49th day.*
Oh, I'm sure you had gotten uneasy about the neglect of the abandoned luggage when you first appeared in my dream. I am especially glad to render you a last service, Mana-chan. Thank you for choosing me for this important task.
Afterward, when everything had been performed, when I had joined in the memorial gatherings and memorial concerts in Osaka and Tokyo, I felt the greatness of her accomplishment. And among the baggage I came home with, there were battered drumsticks she had been using at the last, which I humbly received as a keepsake.
Mana "China" Nishiura Official Site / MANA CHINA Official Site [dead hyperlink]
↑ Actually the administrator is me.
MANA NISHIURA: Born October 11, 1971 in Mihara, Hiroshima Prefecture. A-type.
2001—2004, participating as the live support drummer of Shonen Knife.
"Mana" in Shonen Knife, she took part elsewhere under the name "China." Onstage, she spoke rarely, in a mix of Hiroshima and Kansai dialects; a great many people have said she was gentle and funny.
While traveling at noontime on November 4, 2005 (daybreak on the 5th, Japan time), on a DMBQ tour of the US, she died in a rear-end collision in the vicinity of the Delaware Memorial Bridge.
Among the songs on which Mana plays drums, I especially love "Whatever", "A.A.A", and "Golden Years of Rock 'n' Roll" (live, the intro that begins with the drums is her idea). The Walrus chorus is also cute. Personally, she liked Knife songs like "Insect Collector".
The Seiichi Yamamoto solo album
Nu Frequency is a CD she recommended listening to. In her opinion, "This is a real professional."
Because she is my junior I inevitably call her Mana-chan… in 2004 [sic, but the ticket below is from October 2003] I got her tickets to the US tour for her birthday (10/11), but I didn't go.
Autographed drumsticks she actually used
©2002–2008 Mamiko N - All Rights Reserved
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* NOTE: This is
shijukunichi, the 49th day after a person's death. Buddhists observe a 7-week mourning period, since traditionally it's supposed to take 49 days for the soul to journey from this world to the next. By the way, the tenth anniversary of a death isn't unusually significant in Buddhism, but in some places the seventh and thirteenth anniversaries are marked by special services.
12 years ago, yesterday, a lovely soul lost her life in a freak traffic accident; we all love you Mana Nishiura. (The time has just flown)
