I will never forget the blue of the sky and the dancing sunrays on the yellow leaves of a tree near a window outside my hospital bed. It was in the early morning of October 3rd, 1991. Two days earlier I received a new kidney from an unknown person. I only know the donor is a woman from Ohio. It was a miraculous experience…

I had been on dialysis from more than two years before the transplant. Instead of going twice weekly to a hospital for hemodialysis, I chose peritoneal dialysis which I could administer at home three times a day. I was OK, but fatigue and nausea always followed me.

The transplant was nothing like any other surgeries I had experienced. Day by day I felt my body and mind become stronger and clearer as if my donor had infused her life into my body. Ah, this is life, I thought. Now, I’ve been given a second chance to live by her and her family’s generosity.

In 1997 the Japanese Diet finally passed the bill legalizing organ transplants. Many Japanese have difficulty accepting the idea of organ donation from brain dead persons who are being kept alive on respirators. People believe that the body should be kept in tact until cremation. I witnessed the reverence for the deceased body when I was a little girl. After the passing of my paternal grandfather, the family and friends gathered by his bedside. He was specially dressed in a white kimono, which pilgrims wear when visiting temples. He was wearing a pair of straw sandals. And the mourners massaged his legs through the night, believing he had to make a long journey to heaven. They needed to be with his entire body and to do something to help him so that they could convince themselves that he was safely parting from them.

The question of how to determine death may never be resolved. As a person who received an organ from a deceased donor, the only thing I can do is show people how wonderful life is and shower them with rays of sunshine that my kidney donor gave to me. By the way, I disliked being exposed to direct sunlight before the transplant. I would rather sit under the shade of a tree. Now I am a sun-worshipper.

The following is a letter to my donor’s family from me 14 months after the transplant. I sent this letter through an organization without signature. I do not their names, and they do not my name.

“While it is difficult to express the depth of my gratitude in words, I have decided, at last, to the make the attempt. On October 2, 1991, through your extraordinary generosity at a time of great personal tragedy, I was the recipient of a kidney. When I first heard from the hospital that they had a kidney for me, I could not believe it. I had been waiting for one for over two years. From the start of my dialysis in 1989, I had placed my name on a waiting list for a kidney transplant. For the next two years, I was able to survive and function through the assistance of CAPD dialysis, a never-ending procedure for which I am greatly indebted. Although dialysis enabled me to do everyday chores, I had little energy and was unable to continue my career as a pianist.

The miracle of a transplant dawned on me just two mornings after my surgery. For the first time in several years, I woke up so refreshed as if the dense mist in my head had finally lifted. Though my body had pains and discomfort from the operation, the joy of life ran through every vein; it was a sensation that I had not felt for a long, long time.

I was born in Yokosuka, Japan, a mid-sized city near Tokyo. I finished university there and came to the United States, first Michigan and then the University of Wisconsin, in order to pursue a graduate degree. While attending Wisconsin, I met my husband, an American who teaches Japanese history. After we relocated for his job, I started to study piano again. To become a pianist was my childhood dream. And I found my role in introducing American contemporary music to Japanese audiences, and Japanese contemporary music to American audiences. I was giving concerts in Japan and United States before the dialysis. But I had to stop giving recitals once the dialysis started. It was difficult to travel with all of the necessary medical equipment, and even with help from my husband and friends, I found that I simply lacked the energy to give an on-stage performance.

My transplant has turned out to be a wonderful success. I have not had any rejection episodes, which more than 90% of transplant recipients usually experience. After fourteen months, I continue to do very well. I have been practicing piano hard for some time, and started giving recitals in my area. I am also planning recitals in New York and Tokyo.

My husband and I do not have any children, only a pair of overly indulged cats. I consider myself very fortunate to have had the opportunity to come to the United States. I have lived in this country now for more than twenty years, and I’ve learned the true greatness of this country: kindness toward those in need and generosity toward different kinds of people be they friends, relatives, or total strangers. The only way to repay the precious gift you gave me — life — is to do my best to be helpful to others with the strength and generosity you showed me.

Thank you.”