Singer Shigeru Matsuzaki appeared on Tetsuko Kuroyanagi's long-running talk show "Tetsuko's Room" (TV Asahi) broadcast on April 1st. He talked about his memories of his close friend of 50 years, Toshiyuki Nishida, who passed away last October at the age of 76.
Matsuzaki says he met Nishida about 10 days before he passed away. The two talked about celebrating their birthdays together, as they were approaching. Nishida said, "Enjoy growing old. Enjoy growing old."
"I can't believe it," she said of his sudden death. "When I went to his home and asked his wife if I could touch his body, the moment I did, I couldn't stop crying. I cried nonstop for the next three days, from the wake to the funeral. I felt like a part of my body had been ripped away, and when I saw him in the coffin, I felt like he was talking to me, and because he was such a great actor, I felt like he was just acting."
As Nishida's body was being carried into the crematorium, I called out, "Nishida, the best in Japan!" Kishibe Ittoku, who was also there, patted him on the shoulder, and Shiba Toshio gave him a big hug. "His wife and daughter had always been strong-willed, but at that moment they burst into tears. It was the last time his body was buried," he said.
