With Stefano Carrer a reflection on Japan's resilience
On show in Milan are the articles and photos of our colleague who died prematurely. Entitled 'From Hiroshima to Fukushima', the exhibition tells the story of how the Japanese country dealt with two nuclear catastrophes
There are colleagues who leave a mark. A small light. A trail to follow, an example of passion, intellectual honesty and professionalism for what they say is the most beautiful job in the world. Stefano Carrer was one of these, and he left too soon due to a tragic twist of fate.
A profound connoisseur of Japan and Asia, from the early 2000s he began commuting on Milan-Tokyo round-trip flights to report on the Land of the Rising Sun, then from 2007 as an Envoy and finally between 2013 and 2018 as a Correspondent for Sole 24 Ore.
Until the top management of Il Sole, due to a series of economic turmoil following one of the darkest periods in its history, decided to close some correspondence offices, forced by accounts that were not going as they should. It was a parenthesis, but in that parenthesis Stefano was forced to return to the editorial office, leaving Tokyo. He continued from Milan to follow his issues with the same commitment. But he was no longer the same. He looked like a bird locked in a cage. Waiting to take flight again.
I remember a Saturday at work in the Sun, in early 2020. Stefano was on duty at the Foreign desk. I, who was then in New York as a Correspondent, had sent him a news article on the remarks of the American president - the same as now: he has not changed habits - who in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic was inviting citizens to go to church for the Easter holidays and to drink disinfectants to avoid contagion. Stefano called me several times to fix the piece. I was struck by his professionalism behind the scenes, in the obscure and invaluable editorial work. He checked everything, even the commas. There are few colleagues left who still edit articles in this way. With an attention to detail, to the particular, to the seemingly small things. Attention to quality, which is what makes the difference. I was pleased to discover this. I wished him the best. Once the company crisis and Covid were over, Stefano would certainly start travelling again. He would return to Japan, who knows. Or maybe to China where, he confided in me, he would have liked to go.
Fate was cruel and a few months later an accident during a mountain hike, on 20 May 2020, still in the midst of the Covid emergency, snatched him from us.
