Not merely a devoted scholar, he was also a keen promoter of international education. His work benefitted a number of younger scholars around the globe, including me. In addition to being an inspiring mentor, he is also fondly remembered as a caring friend. In the course of his long stay in Kyoto as the Director of the Italian School of East Asian Studies (ISEAS), it became a Forte family tradition of sorts to invite international students to spend the New Year’s Eve at their cozy house in Hieidaira on the outskirts of Kyoto. I am always reminded, whenever I celebrate New Year’s Eve with my family and my own students, of the scene of his student-guests lining up to accept New Year gifts (typically a sizeable loaf of panettone) that he and his wife, Lilla, “distributed” at the end of each New Year party.