Semiconductor devices contain submicron-scale components built up layer by layer on a silicon wafer. Defects occur in the manufacturing process when one of the structures is not well formed or when contaminants are inadvertently incorporated into a device. Detecting defects and diagnosing their root causes are important aspects of controlling the manufacturing process. In order to look at defects and structures below the surface of a device, analysts break the silicon wafer to create a cross section. Silicon, like diamond, can be precisely cleaved along crystal planes. We usually cleave silicon wafers manually. So it is impossible to aim at a specific point. The Microcleaving machines developed by SELA achieve remarkable accuracies and preserve excellent quality.
At that time, I was helped by Mr.Ishikawa, Mr.Matsumura(HPL-J) and Mr.Oliver(SELA). They told me how the MC500 worked, and why it could achieve such accuracy. And they demonstrated the machine for me. After work, we had a dinner at a restaurant. During the dinner, we had a chat and I talked about my hobby tenkoku (seal engraving). They were interested in tenkoku. And Mr.Ishikawa and Mr.Oliver asked me to make their seals. And they also asked me to make Mr.Smith's seal. He is the CEO of SELA.
There were no difficulties to make a seal for Mr.Ishikawa, because I usually make this kind of seal for Japanese people. But I have never made seals for foreigners. I asked Mr.Oliver, "What kind of character do you want in the seal?" He said he preferred ancient Chinese characters to English ones. I felt there were some problems to make this kind of seal. My thought was to replace English characters with Chinese ones. And I took on this project. This happened in May 1999. So I don't remember the exact details about it any more. Now I am attempting to write about this story and I will write the reason later.
At first Mr.Ishikawa requested a name seal. But later he wanted me to make his Japanese seventeen-syllable poem seal. The following is the short story about the poem. When he established HPL-J, he happened to go to Kiyomizu-dera, one of the most famous temples in Kyoto. There was a garden of Jyojyuin in the area of Kiyomizu-dera. There, he saw a very graceful world that was beyond description. Then the poem came to his mind. "成就院 見て清水の 枯葉舞う(In Jyojyuin, some withered leaves of Kiyomizu whirl in the wind.)" He wanted me to make this poem seal.
I had been thinking deeply how to make his seal. Mr.Ishikawa had no idea, either. But he was interested in traditional ancient Chinese character seals. His poem consisted of two kinds of alphabets:kanji(pictographic characters imported from China) and hiragana(phonetic alphabets developed in Japan). Traditional ancient Chinese character seals use kanji only. I couldn't translate Japanese into Chinese. So I thought it was better to ask Chinese friends to translate the poem. At last I came to the idea that it was better to make a Japanese poem seal. I thought if the poem was translated into a Chinese one, the impression of the poem would be changed from the original. I recommended my idea to Mr.Ishikawa, and he agreed with me. At the same time he changed his poem. "成就院 見て清水を 飛ぶ枯葉(In Jyoujyuin, withered leaves are flying around Kiyomizu.)" Kiyomizu-dera is famous for it's very high stage. There is a Japanese proverb "Jump down from the stage of Kiyomizu-dera." It means that one makes a fixed and bold determination and does something. Mr.Ishikawa compared himself to a withered leaf. And he expressed his fixed and bold determination of establishing the new business.
We usually use ancient Chinese characters in tenkoku. Ancient Chinese characters are different from modern ones. Ancient Chinese characters often consist of symmetrical parts. So it is rather easy to write reversed ancient Chinese characters on a seal. But it is difficult to write reversed modern ones. Mr.Ishikawa's poem consists of modern ones. Although it was difficult to make his seal, it was interesting and a challenge.
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I had been deeply impressed by the first poem "成就院 見て清水の 枯葉舞う (In Jyojyuin, some withered leaves of Kiyomizu whirl in the wind.)" And I confused the last poem with the first one. But I had no excuse for this mistake. I lived my dark days. At any rate, one year had passed since he requested his seal. I told Mr.Ishikawa I was so sorry, but the present condition was this. He said he would accept the seal. I couldn't believe his words. But to tell the truth, I felt a relief. If I was a conscientious and stubborn tenkokuka(a professional self-respecting seal-engraver), I would have insisted on engraving it again. The fact was, I wasn't a tenkokuka, and wasn't a diligent man. I took advantage of his kindness. I am still sorry for this action. I want to say to Mr.Ishikawa, "I will engrave it again whenever you want."
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After six months, in December 1999 I met Mr.Ishikawa at SEMICON Japan. And he gave me
a present from Israel. It was a little frame. Inside the frame, there was a small
sculpture of a mosque in Jerusalem.
Because it was such a splendid frame, I was full of gratitude.
I didn't tell Mr.Ishikawa that I would go to SEMICON Japan. So I asked him
"Did you know I would come to SEMICON Japan?" He answered "Yes, I knew you
would come here." He was a mysterious man, I felt.
Another one and a half years passed. In July 2001 I made up my web site. I sent Mr.Ishikawa an E-mail about my web site. I asked him if he would allow me to use his, Mr.Smith's, and Mr.Oliver's seals in my web site. He readily agreed to my proposal. But I heard very sad news, too. Mr.Oliver died last year. I've never forgotten the impression that I felt when I sent the seal to him. I was very disappointed to hear about the loss of Mr.Oliver, owner of the seal. Moreover, he was in the prime of life. It was unbelievable. And my heart was full of sadness.
Mr.Ishikawa told Mr.Smith that my web site was open and there were Mr.Smith's and Mr.Oliver's seals in it. Mr.Smith replied "The timing is good because Mr.Oliver's family is coming to visit Sela soon. I will show them the web site." I was surprised by the coincidence. It was an honor for me that Mr.Oliver's family would see my web site. I wanted to show not only the seals but also express some words of condolence. So I decided to make up a web site page for his family. Even if some other person saw it, it wasn't a serious problem. I made up the web site page for them in a hurry. Click here to access the page.
After the visit, I received two letters from Mr.Smith. The first was as follows.
"The visit went very well. We made a corner in the office that Hervin occupied in memory
of him, and placed a computer on a table in the room for the family to directly access
your web site. This was definitely the highlight of the visit, and the family was very
touched by your attention and deeds. Ilana, who is Hervin's wife, has your seal you
made for him, and treasures it. I didn't know this until we talked about it. Hervin's
father also participated in the visit and we made copies of your letter for different
members of the family. The rest of the visit was spent celebrating the older daughter's
birthday, and we prepared some games for them. They are also interested in computers so
we showed them our computer aiding designs. I know that the visit was a success because
they didn't want to leave.
So I would like to thank you very much for helping make this a memorable occasion. And
not only the family, but everyone else was touched by your kindness. Ilana also asked
me to thank you on her behalf and tell you how much she appreciates your thoughts and
actions."
The second one is as follows. "We established a very good relationship with the family at the time of Hervin's accident, and supported them in a material sense to the best of our ability during the two week period that he was in intensive care before he finally died. We followed up after his death by supporting the family and putting at their disposal a child therapist to help his daughters come to terms with the loss of their father. The two daughters had a very close relationship with their father, and Hervin was a very dedicated family man. One of the actions was to bring them to a visit to SELA and show them the environment in which Hervin worked. We have since made a rule of inviting them on the occasion of the birthday of one of the daughters, and they are very excited about coming on these visits. I think it helps them remember their father in a way that eases the pain of the loss. And this reflects on his wife and father. They feel much better knowing that the daughters are able to manage with their loss."
I could feel warm hearts of the staff of SELA. I was happy to help them even if it was a little. I made up this web site only about six months ago. But I was very impressed by the warm feeling through my web site. This was a very valuable experience for me that would never come again.
The web is connected all over the world. I had understood this as a fact. But this time, I showed my web site to foreign people and I received messages from them, which I could understand from the bottom of my heart. And I thought that I could connect to them using not only the web technique but also tenkoku art. I thanked tenkoku once more.
I think their request itself is interesting. But it did not come into my mind to make a web site about the request, because it was private.
I told about my web site, I received very sad news, I sent a message, and I heard about the visit. This was a memorable story for my web site and my tenkoku life. This time, I made this web site with their permission because it would be a message for Mr.Oliver and others.
May he rest in peace! Even if this is an unskilled web site, I dedicate this web site to
Mr.Oliver, his family and the staff of SELA and HPL-J.