Dedicated To The Late
Akio Nagatomi Of
The Anime Café

There are people who touch your life for only a little while but who leave a deep mark on your heart and in your memories. Akio was to me that sort of person, a kind, generous soul and one of the most engaging conversationalists I've ever known, though we never met face-to-face. I knew him through a lively exchange of emails and chats we carried on for close to two years. He was too modest and self-effacing (a very Japanese trait, I'm told) to understand why I was so fond of him, always downplaying my compliments and choosing to compliment me, instead. I received a great deal of thoughtful support from him when my father was dying and for all my various pursuits. I was hospitalized in March of 2000 and received an email from him the day after I got home. When my reply went unanswered for more than two weeks, I checked his website and discovered he'd died the day I'd received his last message. Coming on the heels of other tragedies in my family, it was too much to bear, and I just...broke for a while. I still miss him.

Akio gave me permission to use his name for the character of Akio Yamaguchi and even suggested that family name for him. At the time, I just happened to like the way the name Akio sounds, now it has much more meaning. I hope the real Akio would have liked the way the fictional Akio turned out, though the character isn't much like his namesake, other than being Japanese and an incredibly nice guy.