This site is a tribute to Linda. She is much loved and will always be remembered.

This is the tribute read at her funeral by Ko Barclay

Linda’s death was sudden. She was hoping to go back to Japan this year after living here for so many years but cancer took her life very quickly as it so often does.

Linda was 79 which is 10 years sooner than the average age for a Japanese lady to go, but we all know that she lived very happily right up to her very last days.

She lived a quiet and private life, and was an extremely frugal person but worked hard and was very caring.

She was an excellent massage therapist for all her working life in London and had the gift of the magical power of healing through her hands. This was gift and came very naturally to her.

She never really took to technology, did not have a computer, use email and only very recently and grudgingly accepted technological progress and acquired a mobile phone at the insistence of my mother.

Linda was a well-liked and personable person and we are all grateful to have had the pleasure of knowing her. She had no family in London but was very happy with the small circle of friends that she kept here.

Each time a friend passes away we are of course reminded how limited our time is on this planet and perhaps we should use this time to ponder on the bigger questions like why are we here, what our purpose is and what is the meaning of life?

The world’s greatest philosophers, of course, have all tried to answer the same questions - but universally, they all arrived at very similar conclusions:

1. Life has no particular meaning other than the meaning you give it, but we are all here to improve our lives and standard of living

2. Being happy is the only thing that really matters in life

3. It doesn’t matter what your religion is, they all preach the same thing: that you should treat others in the same way that you would like to be treated yourself - in other words, to do no harm to others

All the memories we have shared with Linda will forever be cherished and remembered. She will forever live in our hearts because she is in heaven now and we are here her funeral. This is not the time for us to grieve her death but it’s our time to celebrate her life. I am sure she never wanted to see any of us being sad. She would have wanted to see all of us happy. So at this moment when we are about to lay her body to rest, let’s all think back and remember how Linda touched our lives. How she made us laugh and how kind Linda was as a person. This is not the moment for us to shed our tears but we should all be thankful that we were given the chance to have known a lady and gifted masseur with the power of healing hands called Linda.

Dear Linda, goodbye – We shall miss you and hope to see you again in the next life.