China, Dec 29: A man’s “touching” posthumous post has gone viral, capturing the attention of hundreds of millions in and outside Japan, with people admiring his optimistic attitude towards death. The optimistic post appeared two days after the man passed away following his battle with a rare cancer.
The post has attracted one million likes, 86,000 reposts and reportedly viewed more than 300 million times over a short period. It is a compelling story of a Japanese man who announced his own death in a post published after his demise.
Kanaru Nakayama, A 22-year-old man, has continued to move many people online with an optimistic post he scheduled for publication after his death.
On October 12, Kanaru Nakayama died peacefully after battling a tumour on his back, a rare aggressive soft tissue cancer, for two years.
Two days later, Nakayama’s social media account @nkym7856 posted a short lighthearted message which read: “I am dead,” getting one million likes, 86,000 reposts and reportedly more than 300 million views over a short period.
Some also donated condolence money, a funeral offering traditionally given to the family of the dead, to charities in Nakayama’s name to pay tribute to him and wish that he rests in peace.
“You overcame your daily struggle with illness and finally left this post behind after the end of your life. I have the utmost respect for your way of life,” said one online observer.
“This is a cool way of facing death,” said another.
“The likes that have exceeded 100 million make his funeral seem like a state funeral by those living in the ocean of the internet,” remarked a third.
The post also comforted Nakayama’s father.
Nakayama senior discovered his son’s account after a classmate asked him about the viral post following the funeral.
There he saw a different person from the son he had known for 22 years.
The farmer from northern Japan’s Hokkaido prefecture raised his son, who was always quiet and enjoyed studying and playing alone in his room.
When he hurt himself in accidents while growing up, he rarely cried or complained, making Nakayama senior worry that his son might be too introverted.
He also feared that his son might not be able to make friends.
When Nakayama junior was diagnosed with the rare tumour, he remained calm.
But his social media account showed a different picture.
He nicknamed the tumour “big guy”, posted his hospital meal online saying he would “try hard to eat it because it looks tasty”.
Nakayama junior enrolled as an agriculture major at Hokkaido University in 2023.
He told his father he went to the university because it is the best, but at the funeral, his teacher told his father that he studied agriculture to help him farm in the future.
A spokesperson for the Japanese Cancer Research Association, an institution based in Tokyo, said that they have received more than 2,000 donations, the total amount of which exceeded 10 million yen (US$64,000), as of December 4.