Cultivate Your Destiny

There is a book entitled “Human Studies in Prison”, which puts together the conversations between Mr. Tadayuki Furumi, who was the deputy chief of General Affairs Board of Manchuria (, which was said to be the de facto Prime Minister) until Japan’s defeat in the World War �U, and Mr. Hiroshi Jono, who fought with the People’s Liberation Army even after Japan’s defeat.
　Mr. Furumi was detained in Siberia after Japan’s defeat. He was further transported to China, sentenced to 18 years in prison in a military trial, and was taken into custody to the Fushun Prison. It was the year Showa 38 (1963) that he retuned to Japan. He spent the prime time of life from 45 years of age to 63 years of age in prison. He told that he was surprised to find out that his son, who was in the 6th grade of elementary school when he last saw him, was already married and had kids.
　Mr. Jono fought with Mao Zedong by organizing Chinese people as a field army in Shanxi Province, even after Japan’s surrender. However, he became a captive in the year of Showa 24 (1949), and spent 7 years in the Taiyuan Prison. Then he was transferred to the Fushun Prison, where he met Mr. Furumi.
　The two, who spent their life in prison together, openly talk about “the epitome of human society” in this book, which is the very cornucopia of human studies.

　Let me share one of the stories with you.
　Many people suffered from nervous breakdown in prison. What these people had in common was that they suck up to people with authority. They paid their entire attention to gain the favor of the administrator of the prison, tried to play along with him, and ended up suffering from nervous breakdown after being swayed by him.
　Also, the same thing can be said about those who miss their family and spend time solely on looking at the pictures of their wife, children, or mother. Their mind is dominated by the desire alone, and stops to react to the other things. Mr. Furumi says,
“I thought that human brain is finished when it stops to react to external stimulations. It is the same for everyone to miss the family, but the issue is how to deal with the feeling consciously. There is no point in missing the family, as you are in prison and there is no way to see them in Japan, across the sea.”
　What is more important than that is to focus on what you should do now under the environment to bring out the best, and how you can obtain the mindset. The two were fretted about these issues.
　Although it has been a long time since the two predecessors passed away, the precious wisdom obtained in their 18 years of prison life is still fresh, showing us what is important to “cultivate your destiny.”

“Daily Word from Sontoku Ninomiya* ” was edited by Mr. Issei Terada and has been published recently.
　What bears special mentioning about Sontoku is that although he experienced hardships in life, he never criticized or complained about the system or authority, accepted the reality given to him, and made utmost efforts to improve the reality as much as possible.
　When I reflect on that fact, his words, “My way is all about sincerity and execution”, resounded in me.
* Sontoku Ninomiya (1787-1856) was a prominent 19th century Japanese agricultural leader and philosopher. He was born to a poor peasant family but became a great landowner through a hard working. Even to this day, he tends to be regarded as a symbol of hard work and perseverance.
　The Chinese classic, “Zhongyong “, or "The Doctrine of the Golden Mean” teaches us: Every person has a given position. Never be envious or jealous of others, and instead, do your best wholeheartedly.
　Under the given conditions, never curse your destiny, never complain, and make the utmost efforts you can make now─The key to cultivate your destiny lies in this attitude.

⇒　Chichi WEB (Japanese version)