Catalogue ART&TUR 2019 Catalogue ART&TUR 2019 | Page 7

ka z u o dan Postwar Japanese writer and poet Kazuo Dan lived 1 year and 4 months at Santa Cruz beach. He had originally planned to live there for only half a year, but he adapted so well to life, in what was in 1970-71-72 a rustic fishing village that he decided to extend his stay. The reason he chose Santa Cruz Beach was because the location allowed an intimate interaction between himself and Heaven and Earth, all with the sound of the sea in the background. When he moved to Portugal, Kazuo Dan was 58 years old. He rented an abandoned little house, which he considered his palace, which can be visited on the street that now bears his name, Kazuo Dan Street, No. 6. At that time, only around 200 people remained in Santa Cruz all year round. Every day Kazuo Dan traveled the 10 km from his house to the cliff to contemplate the vastness of the ocean. Kazuo Dan's greatest passion, however, was the sunset in Santa Cruz: “What is truly splendid there is the sunset.” He quickly made friends among the inhabitants. The surname Dan resembled Dão phonetically - by the way, his favorite wine - and, therefore, his presence and his name were well marked in the memory of the Portuguese. It was thanks to Kazuo Dan that Dão wine and Santa Cruz Beach came to be known by the Japanese. On his way to Japan on the eve of his 60th birthday on February 2, 1972, he was hoping to return to Portugal, but in the meantime he fell ill. In 1976, Kazuo Dan died, unable to fulfill his last wish: to return to the small Portuguese village. Kazuo Dan's memory, however, would be perpetuated in the village through the initiative of a group of Japanese friends of the writer and poet, led by Takao Nakatani, who instituted a monument in his honor on the north side of Santa Cruz Chapel in 1992. On the monument is a writer's poem about the setting sun in Santa Cruz that reads: “Beautiful setting sun! Ah! Could I pick you up, There, at the end of the sea!” At the base of the monument you can also read: “Kazuo Dan was one of Japan's most popular postwar writers. Possessing a rare literary sensibility, Dan lived a life full of adventures, having traveled all over the world. This poem "Sunset", which he loved, was written in Santa Cruz, where he lived and created close bonds of friendship with the inhabitants of the village. Shortly after returning to Japan, he fell ill. In 1976, at the age of 63, this wandering poet ended his life cycle without fulfilling his dream of returning to Santa Cruz. In fulfillment of his wish, we built this monument here, in order to deepen the friendship relations between Portugal and Japan. ”