Translation done by American who died in tsunami lives on to inspire

RIKUZEN-TAKATA, Iwate Prefecture--Students affectionately addressed the cheerful young man from the United States who helped teach them English as “Monty Sensei.”

Michiaki Yamaguchi met Montgomery Dickson in 2009 after he came to Japan as an assistant foreign language teacher.

Yamaguchi, now 63, was vice principal of Yonesaki Elementary School here.

The two unexpectedly found that they had something in common.

Many teachers in Iwate Prefecture graduated from Iwate University, but Yamaguchi is a graduate of the Hokkaido University of Education.

He studied at the university’s Hakodate campus and Dickson learned the Japanese language at the same campus.

This connection made their relationship into one of a “senpai” and “kohai” (senior and junior). 

Unlike other assistant foreign language teachers, Dickson didn’t hang out in the teachers’ lounge after lessons.

Instead, he played tag or soccer with students during their break time.

He ate school meals together with students in a classroom.

From the experience of losing his parents when he was growing up in Alaska, Dickson knew how important it was for teachers to freely spend time with each student.

His favorite book was “Bushido: The Soul of Japan” by Inazo Nitobe (1862-1933).

His dream was to serve as a bridge between Japan and the United States and to engage in work that helped people.

He was active outside school, too, holding tea parties with neighbors and drinking at an izakaya (Japanese-style pub).

Yamaguchi was always supportive of such an enthusiastic kohai.

The day of Dickson’s last lesson at Yonesaki Elementary School arrived on March 11, 2011. 

Just before Yamaguchi went home that day, he asked Dickson for a favor.

He asked him to translate a sentence in Ryotaro Shiba’s “Koan no taimatsu” (The torch of Koan) into English.

It’s a short essay that the famed novelist wrote for a Japanese language textbook for elementary school students out of concern for Japan’s future.

Yamaguchi told Dickson that he wanted to present the sentence to students in English.

Dickson was more than happy to fulfill the request and quickly wrote his English translation on a piece of paper.

It read, "There’s nothing as beautiful as dedicating one’s life for a cause."

Yamaguchi was impressed. He thought that Dickson understood Japanese extremely well and although an American, he was also Japanese at heart.

Dickson left the school to visit the Rikuzen-Takata’s board of education office to report that he finished his last lesson.

About one hour later, at 2:46 p.m., an earthquake with an intensity of lower 6 on the Japanese scale of 7 struck Rikuzen-Takata and a subsequent tsunami swamped the city.

The tsunami engulfed the building that housed the board of education, and the board’s chairman and deputy manager were swept away.

Dickson went missing and was later found dead. He was 26.

Students and teachers at the elementary school evacuated to higher ground behind the school building.

But some students who didn’t evacuate with the school and went with their parents instead died. Other students lost their parents as well. 

When classes resumed in April 2011, the school was once again filled with children's laughter. 

Yamaguchi thought, “Monty loved children, so he must have wanted to hear this laughter.”

The piece of paper on which Dickson scribbled his English translation survived the tsunami and was left on a desk in the teachers’ room.

It was given to Dickson’s family when they came to Japan but Yamaguchi, who has since retired, keeps a photocopy of it.

"There’s nothing as beautiful as dedicating one’s life for a cause."

While reading this translation and remembering his kohai, Yamaguchi thinks, “Monty, this sentence describes how you lived.”