In 2018, Chieko Kase, a 90-year-old Japanese woman, passed away peacefully in her native country, surrounded by her family. At the age of 39, she moved to Paris with her husband, a famous karate master, and their two young daughters, where she lived for over half a century. Her life and mine had crossed paths in 2005, when I was 13, and since then I had always called her Mamie (French for “Granny”). We often ate together and talked about all sorts of things. We were like a grandmother and her granddaughter, but we were also good friends. But then Chieko was suddenly struck down by a cancer that was discovered in Japan, where she returned temporarily. It wasn’t easy for me to come to terms with this eternal loss without witnessing her final moments. Having decided to stay in Paris instead of going to her funeral, I set out to find traces of her life in this city, to mourn in my own way.

2018年、日本。加瀬千恵子、享年90歳。家族に見守られながら、静かに息を引き取った。彼女は39歳のとき、空手家の夫と幼い娘たちと共にパリへ移住し、それから半世紀以上を異国の地で生きた。

私がチエコと出会ったのは2005年、私が13歳のとき。それ以来、彼女のことを“マミー”（フランス語で「おばあちゃん」）と呼び、よく一緒に食事をし、たわいもない話を交わしてきた。祖母と孫のようでいて、どこか親友にも似た、不思議な関係だった。

だがある日、彼女は一時帰国先の日本で突然、病に倒れる。最期の瞬間に立ち会えなかった私は、喪失を受け入れきれずにいた。葬儀に出る代わりに私が選んだのは——この街、パリの中に“マミーの痕跡”を探すことだった。彼女の記憶とともに歩くことで、自分なりの「さよなら」を見つけようとした。