Just received this from Shungo Suzuki at Rinsoin in Yaizu, Japan, Shunryu Suzuki's former temple
Dear David-san,
The nephew of Suzuki Shunryu Roshi, Uchiyama Shuzan Roshi, has passed away.
He is the son of Suzuki Shunryu Roshi's younger sister, Aiko.
Name: Uchiyama Shuzan
Birthdate: August 2, 1939
Deathdate: February 13, 2025
Age: 85 years old (87 years old by Japanese age reckoning)
28th head priest of Zuienji Temple, Hamamatsu City
The chief mourner is his daughter, Miyagi Haruko.
Cremation was completed on February 16th.
The funeral will be held on April 2nd at Rinsoin Temple, with Suzuki Hoitsu as the ceremony chief priest.
He was a man who valued his roots and was proud to be Suzuki Shunryu's nephew.
The second photo was taken at the third anniversary of Aiko's death, held at the City Center.
Shungo Suzuki
Below is the group photo from that ceremony. When I met Shuzan Uchiyama in the dining room, he greeted me with an enthusiastic, "Hebo kyuri!" That was significant because it's the way to say crooked cucumber that we used in the Japanese translation of Crooked Cucumber - except for the title where they used the normal magatta kyuri because it wasn't so pejorative. I considered Shuzan's use of the word that day to be further confirmation that hebo kyuri is what Shunryu was called. Read more on this here. - dc
