On April 5 Hideo Tsuchiyama, 83, was at a memorial service held at a Nagasaki funeral hall for former Mayor Itcho Ito, slain a year earlier while campaigning for re-election.

"As a politician, he was always open to other people's ideas," said Tsuchiyama. Ito's sudden death, at the hands of an assassin with underworld ties, left Tsuchiyama bereft. An assault upon an electoral candidate is an assault upon democracy; and a murderous assault with a deadly weapon like a gun violates everything the pacifist Tsuchiyama stands for.

At the funeral hall Ito's widow Toyoko, 62, enclosed Tsuchiyama's hand in her own. When her husband was alive he spoke of Tsuchiyama often, she said.

"Do take care of yourself," she urged.

"Thank you."

They stood together for nearly a minute, his hand in hers. Gazing at the photograph on the altar of a smiling Mayor Ito, Tsuchiyama said, "This has left a great void in my heart."

In 1996 Nagasaki's municipal government floated a plan to remove the obelisk marking the precise epicenter of the atomic blast. Residents responded with outrage. Finally, after 10 months of heated but inconclusive confrontation, Ito asked Tsuchiyama's advice.

"Mr. Mayor, you are wrong," Tsuchiyama told him bluntly. "A politician should recognize when he's made a mistake."

"Well, I'll think it over," said Ito.

Days later, the plan was withdrawn.

Some time afterwards Ito met Tsuchiyama again and, smiling, said to him, "Thank you very much for your advice that time." Thereafter, Ito frequently sought Tsuchiyama's counsel on matters concerning peace.

A week after the memorial service, on April 12, Tsuchiyama gave a lecture in Nagasaki on "the current state of nuclear weaponry and the Non-Proliferation Treaty." He addressed his audience of about 50 in his usual calm tone, but at one point in his speech, briefly, he raised his voice.

"Nuclear weapons," he said, "represent humanity's greatest crime." In fact he detests not only nuclear weapons but weapons of all kinds -- including one that claimed the life of Ito.

Recalling Ito's smiling face and unshakeable will, Tsuchiyama was once again overcome by sadness.

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