CHICHIWEB

At the beginning of March, I visited the Shoin Shrine in Hagi to attend a meeting between Mr. Toshishige Ueda, the chief priest of the shrine, and Mr. Masaaki Kawaguchi, who edited “Daily Word from Shoin Yoshida.” After the meeting, I extended my visit to the tomb of Shoin and the trail of his home located at five minutes distance by car from the shrine.
His tombstone was curved with these words: “The Tomb of Shoin, the Fierce Samurai of 21 Times.”
“Fierce Samurai of 21 Times” is the name that Shoin gave himself at Noyamagoku, a prison in Hagi, on November 2, 1854. Shoin describes where the name came from as follows:

〔I was born in the year of the tiger in the Chinese astrological calendar in the Sugi family, and grew up to succeed the Yoshida family. In another year of the tiger (1854), I was put to prison on the charge of planning overseas travel.* Then, an apparition appeared in my dream, and gave me a piece of paper, on which these words were written: “Fierce Samurai of 21 Times”. After waking up, I thought about this dream and noticed that the Chinese character which stands for “Sugi” could be dissembled into three different Chinese characters describing 10, 8, and 3, adding up to 21. Also, the Chinese characters for Yoshida contain parts that add up to 21 in the similar manner, as well as parts that indicate the number of times. My name is Torajiro, and Tora is a kind of tiger. The virtue intrinsic to a tiger is its courage. As I am physically weak, I must have a tiger’s courage as my teacher. Otherwise, I cannot be an admirable person.
*At that time, Japan closed itself off from the outside world, and it was strictly prohibited to travel overseas.
This dream is really like Shoin, who never allowed himself to stagnate or to become lazy even in prison, and embodies his resolution. In fact, Shoin read through 618 books during his 14 months in prison, and transformed the prison into a place of education for prisoners.
He continues, “I have faced things with courage 3 times in my life. Yet, there are still 18 times remained that I have to face with courage.” Looking at the inscription of “Fierce Samurai of 21 Times” on the tombstone, I feel like his spirit is pressing upon my heart.

Shoin’s home is several tens of meters back from the tombstone. The trail of the home was partitioned on the well-tended vacant lot. It used to be a humble house consisting of 2 six-mat rooms and 2 three-mat rooms (approximately 30�u). Right next to the house was a horse barn. Standing there and thinking of the bygone days, I felt as if I went back to the old days of Shoin.
The town of Hagi stretches below, and the Hagi castle stands far ahead. You can enjoy the view of the the Shizuki Mountains and the limitless expanse of the sea from at this place. Shoin spent his early childhood in this abundant scenic beauty. Its effect on nurturing his spirit is immeasurable.

Upon the second imprisonment to the Noyamagoku, Shoin left these words on the wall of Sonjuku, his private school.
“Although Matsumoto village is a rusty and poor village, it will certainly become the backbone of Japan.”
Shoin taught his private school students that if you work hard in the place assigned to you, the place will bloom. The above words crystallize such spirit.
Isn’t it this spirit that we are supposed to learn from Shoin now? Each person has a place assigned to oneself. No matter how humble the place might be, try to improve the place as much as you can, and improve the mindsets of people gathering there as much as you can. I hope all of us bear this in mind and work diligently in our daily lives.
　Are you improving the place where you are?


⇒　Chichi WEB (Japanese version)

【Interview】It Is Me Who Will Develop the Nation-One Person’s Spirit Will Improve the Region and Develop the Nation



Kousei Nakajima （Mayor of Eniwa City）




Eniwa City is a small town in Hokkaido with the population of 68,000, located on the way from the New Chitose Airport to the inner city of Sapporo.
Currently, many people are paying attention to the reform of this town.
The Mayor of Eniwa City, Mr. Kousei Nakajima, who is the originator and also the flag-bearer of the reform, does not hesitate to say, “Everything is for the sake of happiness of the next generation.”
What is the philosophy of Mayor Nakajima to improve the region and to develop the country?


⇒　Chichi WEB (Japanese version)
【Conversation】 What Shoin Yoshida Teaches Us-The Way of Living by Doing What You Are Supposed to Do at Where You Are Supposed to Be

Toshishige Ueda　（Chief priest of the Shoin Shrine）　＆　Masaaki Kawaguchi　（Professor of University of Human Environments）



Hagi is a regional city in Yamaguchi Prefecture, located far from central Japan, at the west end of Japan’s main land.
At the end of the Edo Period* , a humble private school named Shoka-son-juku, which was as small as 1 eight-mat room (approximately 13�u), was established by Shoin Yoshida in this small village. In due course, this small private school became the driving force in transforming Japan.
In that sense, Shoin Yoshida epitomizes a person who improved the place where he was for the best.
Although it has been nearly 150 years since he passed away, there seems to be no end to his followers, who respect him as their teacher in their hearts, and are influenced by his teachings.
What are the things that we are supposed to learn from Shoin now?
Mr. Toshishige Ueda, the chief priest of the Shoin Shrine, and Mr. Masaaki Kawaguchi, the professor of University of Human Environments who edited “Daily Word from Shoin Yoshida”, exchange their views.
*Edo Period …1603-1867

⇒　Chichi WEB (Japanese version)
【Conversation】If You Live with a Mindset of a Light Illuminating One Corner, Tens of Thousands of Such Lights Can Illuminate throughout Japan

Hidesaburo Kagiyama（Adviser of YellowHat）　＆　Shuji Takano（Teacher of Hekinan Aichi Prefectural High School）



A high school teacher Shuji Takano could not get passionate about teaching at class, and was feeling insecure about his future due to his fatal disease.
However, his life was entirely transformed by encountering cleaning* .
He started toilet cleaning at the school by himself alone, but he has overcome the ignorance of others. It has been 10 years since he started the movement, and now it has transformed the students in his classes, and even affecting other schools.
Mr. Takano talks about his cleaning practices with the founder of the cleaning movement, Mr. Hidesaburo Kagiyama.



*The cleaning movement focused on toilet cleaning has been spreading all over Japan. It is not only about physical cleaning, but is also connected with spiritual cleansing. People can feel their hearts are purified after the cleaning. In addition, many people say that the cleansing has affected their lives quite positively and has brought good luck.
⇒　Chichi WEB (Japanese version)

【Interview】If You Give Yourself to the Dharma, the Dharma Will Give Itself to You.

　Eido Shimano（Teacher of New York Dai Bosatsu Zendo）




On New Year’s Eve of Showa 39 (1964), a young Zen monk, Mr. Eido Shimano, left for New York’s Kennedy Airport with a vow to get Buddha’s teachings across the United States. In the beginning after moving to the United States, when this young Zen monk passionately presented his thoughts, an American said, “There would be no Zen temple in the United States, even if the Hudson River’s water became clear.” It has been 43 years since then, and Mr. Shimano, who has become a matured Roshi (Zen master), has built two Zendos (center for Zen practice) overcoming language and cultural barriers, and teaches Zen to people visiting from all over the world. We will introduce his developments over the past half century, through which he has moved with something to swear to in his life.


⇒　Chichi WEB (Japanese version)
【Conversation】My Passion for the Ultimate Resort and My Life

Tateo Tajima（Proprietor of “Tenku no Mori”）＆ Akira Joko（Representative of Kokorozashi Network）



At a distance of little more than a two hour flight from Tokyo, at Myoken Onsen, where you can enjoy a part of a national park in the Kirishima mountain range, exists “Wasure no Sato Gajoen,” a Japanese hot-spring inn which has reproduced the nostalgic scenery of countryside. Mr. Tateo Tajima, who won the hearts of those who are weary of city life, with abundance of nature and simple hospitality rooted in the community, further cultivated vast mountain forests to establish the ultimate resort, “Tenku no Mori,” which costs 150,000 yen - 200,000 yen per person per night. Mr. Tateo Tajima, who continues to pursue his dreams, and Mr. Akira Joko, who represents “Seinenjuku” and continues to teach the importance of spirit to youngsters, are both who have lived with something to swear to in their lives, exchange opinions in view of “Japan’s next 100 years.”
⇒　Chichi WEB (Japanese version)
【Conversation】Be a Bird with No Borders

Yo Ishikawa（Mendicant priest）　＆　Mamiko Nishizawa（Daughter of Mr. Shinmin Sakamura）



At the end of last year, Mr. Shinmin Sakamura passed away in peace at the age of 96. On his sickbed, he wrote, “Be a bird with no borders” with a calligraphy brush, and prayed for peace and the harmonization of human beings with his last breath. What did this poet, who lived in “Nen*,” have to swear to in his life? Ms. Mamiko Nishizawa, his daughter, and Mr. Yo Ishikawa, who had been under Mr. Sakamura’s tutelage from his early days, talk about Mr. Sakamura’s spiritual-seeker-like life.
*Nen stands for “thought,” “feeling,” “wish” or “desire.” Mr. Sakamura is famous for his word, “Pray, and any flower of yours will come out.” In this sense, the concept of Nen is close to “pray.”

⇒　Chichi WEB (Japanese version)

Prefatory Note

The Importance of Working

Kazuo Inamori, Chairman Emeritus of Kyocera Corporation

■ Hardships are gifts from God
I believe we need to teach the importance of “working” to the youngsters today.
When I was young, I suffered many setbacks and experienced many troubles. However, despite such hardships, I worked positively and desperately, which led me to who I am today. I have noticed this and therefore I keenly realize the importance of working hard.
After graduating university, I somehow managed to get a job with Shofu Industries, which was at the time, nearly bankrupt. Looking at me in such a situation, people around me used to say, “What a pitiful boy Inamori is. He studied hard at university and his academic performance was good. Yet, he could only get a job with a shabby company. What will happen to his life?”
However, in hindsight, that was the greatest “gift” from God. God made me get a job only with a deficit-ridden company, left me no other choice but to devote myself to research and development of fine ceramics, which put an end to my setback-ridden life and opened the door to a new life.
I focused and devoted myself single-mindedly to the research of fine ceramics materials, which were not common yet at that time, in a lab with inadequate infrastructure. Because of that, I could make wonderful achievements, including success in the development of new materials. However, I had a fight with my boss over a new technological development, and it was best for me to leave the company.
People who supported me during such a state of affairs, helped me establish Kyocera Corporation. Having said that, you never know when a newly founded company could go bankrupt. I had no other choice but to work even harder than before, in order to keep the employees from being thrown out onto the street.
People around me at that time made comments like;
“The guy gets no luck. At the age of 27, he is leading a company whose future is uncertain, and putting his nose to the grindstone. Will his efforts ever pay off?”
In fact, the hard efforts did pay off. Kyocera Corporation continued to expand, and it has now grown to a company with sales of over one trillion yen. At the same time, thanks to the support of many people, my life has become wonderful beyond imagination.
This is not only about me. The same thing can be said about everyone who worked with me together desperately with the starting up of Kyocera and shared troubles together. They entered Kyocera, which was a micro enterprise whose future was uncertain, and they worked hard together from morning until night. Their parents may have given advice like; “You don’t have to work that hard. Leave the job, otherwise you will ruin your health.” Yet, the employees never spared efforts.
Some people left, but the remaining employees worked with determination and dedication overcoming troubles, without complaining, and with bright hope. Such devotion to work has nurtured their wonderful personalities. The then everyday, ordinary youngsters, who experienced troubles together, grew to become outstanding leaders, and supported the company’s development thereafter. Thanks to their effort, many people live happy lives now.

■ Consider the work given to you as your calling
Working hard has led our lives to be wonderful ones. Working is exactly like a “cure-all” medicine, which can overcome challenges in your life and even adversities. By making efforts second to none and working with dedication, you can even change your destiny positively and dynamically.
People tend to consider the work given to them as boring and complain, even when they are in a gifted environment. However, it won’t do any good for your destiny to get better. What you are supposed to do instead is to consider the work given to you as your calling, make efforts to love the work, and devote yourself to it.
In the meantime, complaints will disappear and your work will begin to go smoothly. If you continue working even harder, you can master wonderful mentalities and personalities. As a result of that, you can live a rich life, both physically and spiritually.
Looking at modern youngsters, there seems to be a wide-spread trend to work just to gain money, and there seems to be an increase in the number of people who think it is meaningless to endure or to make efforts. This kind of mindset has probably led to an increase of NEETs (Not in Employment, Education or Training) and part-time employees.
Whatever difficulties you may face, by making efforts second to none, and by always working hard enthusiastically and positively, your life is sure to become rich and fruitful. It is our responsibility as role models in life to tell this to the youngsters who live in the present.



⇒　Chichi WEB (Japanese version)

At the beginning of the Showa Period*1, there was a man named Kikuo Tanaka, who edited the Iwanami English Dictionary and gained fame as a scholar of English. He left higher elementary school*2 before graduation, studied diligently while working as a railroad waiter of the Japan National Railways, and became a substitute teacher for elementary school at the age of 18. Furthermore, he acquired qualifications of a teacher for junior high school and high school under the old system of education, and served as a professor of Yamagata University in later years. He was born in Meiji 26 (1893) and passed away in Showa 50 (1975) at the age of 82.
　Mr. Shoichi Watanabe deeply respects this self-made person from the same hometown, and said, “When I was a boy, Mr. Kikuo Tanaka was a hero in my heart.”
　Following is a story about Mr. Kikuo Tanaka.（Quoted from “Gifts for an Intellectual Life.” Publisher: Mikasa Shobo）
*1Showa Period …1926-1989 : The reign of the Emperor Hirohito
*2Higher elementary school is equivalent to the junior high school nowadays. In 1907, it was decided to have 6 years for elementary school, and 2 years for higher elementary school. This school system was replaced with the current school system in 1941, and former elementary school and higher elementary school were terminated.　
Immediately after leaving (in fact, before graduating) higher elementary school, I became a waiter with the railways.
　I received a written appointment, went back home, and devoted the written appointment to the household Shinto alter. Even now, I can’t forget the feeling then, and I still treasure the written appointment.
“The other boys could go to school with sufficient financial support from parents. However, I can be entitled to share my parents’ burden of life by starting to work from tomorrow. I would be able to support my parents with the money I gained from working. Also, I would be able to buy books to nurture myself. I was allowed to enroll in school in the true sense of the term, a large school named “society” at this very young age. I am thankful. I will work as a really good waiter.” Overwhelmed with gratitude, hot tears ran down my cheeks.

　This is the determination of a boy aged 13 or 14 upon getting a job for the first time. What an honorable determination. By having something to swear to in his life, he nurtured himself and went on developing his life.

　On another note, there is a scene I have encountered recently upon every business trip. High school girls, who tuck up their skirts, sit cross-legged on the ground, at station platforms or on the street. I have seen this throughout Japan, wherever I went. Their demeanor is very vulgar. They don’t have the slightest sense of being clean or beautiful, or shame, which are supposed to be intrinsic to girls. Their facial expressions, as well as the atmosphere of the entire body are dull and stagnate.
　There is no child who becomes bad on his or her own. Their character can be nurtured by discipline, good practices, and cultivation of personality from early childhood. Those girls have wasted their opportunity to enhance themselves which has led them to who they are today. This breaks my heart.

　A role model said, “Every person has his own light.” However, for a person’s light to really glow, certain conditions are required. And I think the foundation is to have something to swear to in your life.
　The words of Professor Tsugino to boy Goichi in “Robo no Ishi (A Pebble by the Wayside)” written by Yuzo Yamamoto, come to my mind.
　There is no one like you,
And life is only once.
　If you don’t fully live your life,
There is no meaning in coming to this life.

　I can’t help wishing that there will be as many young souls as possible who respond to these words, and start their lives with something to swear.


⇒　Chichi WEB (Japanese version)