【Conversation】 Enjoy Your Fate, and Cultivate Your Own Way
Masatoshi Koshiba （Physicist） & Keiko Toyama (Pianist)
Mr. Masatoshi Koshiba, a Nobel laureate in Physics, and Ms. Keiko Toyama, a pianist, are friends and have many opportunities to enjoy the same activities, despite the difference in their fields: science and art. Both of them have reached the pinnacle of their careers in their own ways, and have been active on the world stage. The two have experienced various difficulties since their childhood, but they have always cultivated their own ways positively and cheerfully. Looking back on their lives so far, they share with us how they have developed their intrinsic qualities.
【Conversation】 How to Develop the Talents of Children- The Way of Bringing up a One and Only Child
Nobuyuki Suzuki (President of BTR) & Setsu Goto (President of Office GOTO）
A Japanese player wrote another important page in the history of Major Leagues this year. The player’s name is Ichiro, who has achieved 200 hits in 7 consecutive years. Not only the Japanese but also the entire world lavishly praises his success. On the other hand, Ms. Midori Goto and her younger brother, Mr. Ryu Goto were both called geniuses during their childhood, and have been enchanting the audience all around the world with their violin sounds even now. All three represent Japan and are active worldwide. Mr. Nobuyuki Suzuki and Ms. Setsu Goto, who have brought them up, talk about their experiences on how to bring out and develop the intrinsic hidden qualities in the children.
2007.11.01 00:00 | PickupArticles |
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The monthly “Chichi” is available only in Japanese.For further details regarding the contents of the magazine, please refer to Chichi WEB (Japanese version).
Make Your Intrinsic Qualities Bloom
A legendary instructor──participants of his training classes call him so. The depth of content he teaches and the beauty of his movements are still deeply engraved in the minds of many people. This instructor is Mr. Kanji Nakata.
Mr. Nakata was born in the year Showa 35 (1960) in Osaka Prefecture. After graduating the School of Economics of Osaka University, he entered Daiei, where he was in charge of training in the Education Department. This had decided the direction of his life. He was attracted by the significance and appeal of human resources education, and changed his job to work for a large-scale training company, aiming at becoming a training instructor. It was when he was 27.
He stepped up tremendous efforts. Days of smooth sailing waited ahead. In his 4th year in the company, he won the Best Employee Award. In his 6th year, he became a manager supervising several instructors. He married Ms. Right and had kids.
Things went wrong in the year Heisei 8 (1996). He developed acute myeloid leukemia. He struggled with the disease for 4 months. Anticancer drug treatment was effective, and he was discharged in February next year. He relished the happiness of being with his family.
However, the peaceful days didn’t last long. On January 1 of the year Heisei 10 (1998), Mr. Nakata’s elder brother forced him to go to hospital, assuming something was wrong with him. Then a new disease was found. He was suffering from a brain tumor. He was immediately hospitalized and received a craniotomy procedure. Fortunately, the operation was successful. However, the pleasure didn’t last long. The leukemia recurred. This time, the treatment was effective again, and he was discharged in July of that year.
Nevertheless, destiny continued to give him even tougher ordeals.
After 1 month from being discharged, he happened to wake up early in the morning to find that he could not see out of his right eye. He received radiation therapy but it was not effective. Eventually he lost his vision in his left eye as well. Mr. Nakata became completely blind.
However, many people adored his character and asked for receiving his training, even in such a state. With the support from people whom Mr. Nakata called “people like God”, he continued working as an instructor.
After finishing his first training class since becoming completely blind, the managing director of the company that received his training said to him, “I have received and also held various training classes so far, but I have never encountered any training like yours. Your training is the best I have experienced.” This comment gave confidence to Mr. Nakata, and became the source of his activities afterwards.
Amid such days, his leukemia recurred once again. It was in January of the year Heisei 16 (2004).
“I can’t describe the feeling upon then with words. The shock was so tremendous that I felt like giving up my life.”
Yet, being encouraged by amazing supporters, Mr. Nakata started to powerfully walk his way again. It was then that our magazine featured him.
What matters for flowers is fragrance. What matters for people is personality. He was a kind of person who reminded me with these words. His struggle with the diseases that inflicted him refined his character as if it were shining.
Mr. Nakata suddenly passed away in August this year. While bathing, he collapsed face down in the bath tub, due to a stroke caused by the aftereffect of the brain tumor. Everything happened in just about 10 minutes. We suffer a real loss. Our sadness is endless.
“Tenshin”, or intrinsic qualities, is the world of Mr. Shinzo Mori in “Shushin-kyoju-roku*”. I interpret its meaning as the truth that Heaven gave to the person alone.
Mr. Nakata is exactly the person who lived his life by making his intrinsic qualities fully bloom.
He used to say with belief, “The spread of your magazine, ‘Chichi’, is sure to make Japanese people happy.” I sincerely pray for this soul mate. May he rest in peace.
*Shushin-kyoju-roku” is a book containing lectures on life delivered by an unparalleled educator Mr. Shinzo Mori.
2007.11.01 00:00 | Special Feature |
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The monthly “Chichi” is available only in Japanese.For further details regarding the contents of the magazine, please refer to Chichi WEB (Japanese version).
Recently we have released “Daily Word from Sontoku Ninomiya*1” and “Daily Word from Shushin-kyoju-roku*2”, so that we have released 6 books of this Daily Word series in total.
Recently we have released “Daily Word from Sontoku Ninomiya*1” and “Daily Word from Shushin-kyoju-roku*2”, so that we have released 6 books of this Daily Word series in total.
After finishing the edition of sayings of the 6 old sages, there is a feeling of amusement that is swelling silently in my heart. This is a feeling that all the words of the 6 masters of life boil down to one thing:
What matters for flowers is fragrance.
What matters for people is personality.
No matter how gorgeous and glossy artificial flowers may look, they don’t have the charm to really attract people. Likewise, no mater how capable a person may be, the person is not attractive as a person, if the person is arrogant and unbearable.
*1 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 hard work. Even to this day, he tends to be regarded as a symbol of hard work and perseverance.
*2“Shushin-kyoju-roku” is a book containing lectures on life delivered by an unparalleled educator Mr. Shinzo Mori
First of all, you have to create yourself. Refine a person, or yourself respectably, and become a person with the fragrance of virtue.――What the 6 sages talked about throughout their lives are condensed into this one point. This is exactly the most important principle of life, the principle that you can be sure your life is absolutely fine if you comply with this, or the golden rule of life.
Then, how is it possible to create yourself? What the 6 sages said can be largely summarized by the following 3 things:
The first thing is to be determined in your life. Unless you are determined, you will never start your true life. The old sages preach this point repetitively.
A fisherman in Okinawa once said,
“When I make a determination to go to a pelagic fishing ground, winds blow, the sail bustles, and waves start to ripple. However, if I am not determined, winds will not come to my ship.”
The same thing can be said about life.
The second thing is not to be arrogant, and be humble, respectful, and modest. A person who is humble when out of luck, becomes arrogant when things start to go well. This is the common down side of human beings. However, when a person becomes arrogant, Heaven pulls the carpet under the person. There are countless examples of this case.
The third thing is to be sincere. Sincerity is the best virtue of human beings that old sages cherished the most.
If I were to add one more thing, it would be “endurance”. By continuing for long periods, the golden rule of life will become rock-solid.
Lastly, I would like to introduce Sontoku Ninomiya’s poem on virtue.
Both my parents and their parents are inside me. Love myself, respect myself.
Your life is not your own possession. Your life is the life continued for generations including your parents and their parents, in an unbroken line. Your life is there because the flame of life has continued without interruption even once. In your body, the flame of continuous lives of millions or tens of millions of your ancestors is burning.
You have to profoundly consider that you are the crystallization of such precious lives, and have a way of living by loving yourself and respecting yourself.
Here is the golden rule of life that we should never forget.
2007.10.01 00:00 | Special Feature |
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【Conversation】 Things Learned from the Book of ‘Golden Rules of Life’, “Shushin-kyoju-roku”
Hidefumi Matsui (Advisor of AFLAC Japan) & Yoshitaka Kitao (CEO of SBI Holdings, Inc.)
There is a book selling well continuously since its first edition in the year Heisei 1 (1989) without much attention. The book is “Shushin-kyoju-roku*”, written by an educator named Mr. Shinzo Mori. The book has attracted not only those in the field of education, but also management and leaders in various fields. Mr. Hidefumi Matsui and Mr. Yoshitaka Kitao both cite the book as “the book that has always been with me” and say, “The book taught me many things about life.” They share with us many things they have learned from the book of golden rules of life, “Shushin-kyoju-roku.”
*”Shushin-kyoju-roku” is a book containing lectures on life delivered by an unparalleled educator Mr. Shinzo Mori.
【Conversation】Principles of Making a Good Company
Masatsugu Nakai (President of Chibo) & Youji Aoya (President of Bandou Taro)
Mr. Masatsugu Nakai is the president of Chibo, the chain of Okonomiyaki* restaurants, a specialty dish of Osaka, that has its stores both in Japan and abroad. On the other hand, Mr. Youji Aoya runs many Japanese food restaurants in the Kanto region, centered around Bando Taro, the restaurant of noodle stew. Both of them lost one of their parents when they were young, and started their business from scratch. They have developed their companies and continue to do so, by overcoming many hurdles. What are the principles of making a good company that the two have learned by devoting themselves? Also, what are the principles of living a good life?
*Okonomiyaki is a Japanese-style pancake containing vegetables and other foodstuff.
【Conversation】 Learn from the Natural Law Revive Forests, and Human Beings Will Become Alive
Akira Miyawaki (Professor Emeritus of Yokohama National University/Director of the Research Institute of Japanese Center for International Studies in Ecology) & Aya Kuwamura (Proprietress of Japanese Restaurant Wakuden)
For more than a half century, Mr. Akira Miyawaki, a plant ecologist, has been studying and reforesting areas with real forests in which lives can benefit from. His tree-planting activities are said to have taken place at 1,500 sites at home and abroad, or 30 million trees. Through his practices, he has discovered universal principles common to people and plants. Ms. Aya Kuwamura, proprietress of a Japanese restaurant inn, Wakuden, relates to his ideas and leads the reforestation activities. She has also been reflected on the should-be figure of people and companies through the reconstruction of a Japanese inn that went almost bankrupt. What are the golden rules of life that the two have grasped?
【Conversation】 Human Studies Learned from Chinese Classics
Eiichi Tanizawa (Professor Emeritus of Kansai University) & Shoichi Watanabe (Professor Emeritus of Sophia University)
In order to survive a chaotic state of society without deviating from the right path, solid guidelines of life are needed. Chinese classics, which have deeply penetrated into Japanese’ minds, encourage and lead us when we can not make a decision or when we are in disappointment. Mr. Shoichi Watanabe and Mr. Eiichi Tanizawa, who are well-versed in ancient and modern classics, have picked up words resonated with their hearts from Chinese classics. Let’s learn the golden rules stated there.
2007.10.01 00:00 | PickupArticles |
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Manage an Organization Based on Virtue
Kazuo Inamori, Chairman Emeritus of Kyocera Corporation
◎Royal Road That Sun Wen Preached
In order to manage an organization, there is a way to manage by “force”, and a way to manage by “virtue”. In other words, there are 2 ways to govern a group; “royal road” based on virtue, and with an “iron fist” based on force.
Consideration on this “royal road” and “iron fist” methods reminds me of a part of a speech delivered by Sun Wen, the father of the Chinese Revolution, held in Kobe in 1924.
Sun Wen considered establishing a new China through the revolution. Seeking support from his friends, he visited Japan, which was leaning toward the imperialistic directionon a day to day basis, and made the audience confront the following issue.
“The material civilization of the West is a civilization of science. It has become a civilization of force, and pressing Asia. This is a civilization of an “iron fist”, as it has been referred to in China since ancient times. There is a more excellent culture of the “royal road” in the East. The essence of a culture of the royal road is moral, benevolence, and righteousness.”
“You, Japanese people, have adopted a culture of an iron fist from Europe and the U.S. At the same time, you have the essence of a culture of the royal road in Asia. In view of the future of the world culture, whether Japan will be a watchdog of the iron fist methodology of the West, or become a shield and castle of the royal road of the East, depends on what Japanese people choose carefully, after through consideration.”
Unfortunately, Japan didn’t listen to Sun Wen’s advice, pursued the “iron fist” methodology with great rapidity, and stuck to its policy to beef up its wealth and military power. At the end of the day, Japan lost the war in 1945.
The “royal road” that Sun Wen preached is a national policy based on virtue. In China, “virtue” has been described with 3 words from ancient days: “benevolence”, “righteousness”, and “courtesy”. “Benevolence” is to care for others, “righteousness” is to be in reason, and “courtesy” is to know good manners. Also, a person with all the 3 aspects of “benevolence”, “righteousness”, and “courtesy”, was called “virtuous”.
In a nutshell, “to manage by virtue” means to govern a group with lofty humanity.
◎Corporate Management Depends on the Caliber of the Top Management
In corporate management alike, I believe managing by “virtue” is the only way to establish a company that can prosper for long periods.
In general, many companies in Europe and the U.S. are proceeding with corporate management with a forceful approach. For example, they wield their authority over personnel issues or appointment power based on the theory of capital. Or they try to control employees using financial incentives.
However, there is no way for a management style, which controls people with power or stimulates human desires by money, to last long. Even if there is a temporary success, such management will someday lose people’s minds, and is sure to be ruined. Corporate management must be something to aim at eternal prosperity, and the only way to achieve this goal is to proceed with management based on “virtue”.
In fact, a company grows and develops, as the personality of the management improves. I describe this as “Corporate management depends on the caliber of the top management.” As the saying goes, “A crab digs a hole that is like his own shell.” Even the management wants to make a great company, the company can be only as big as the size of the humanity of the management.
For example, it is often seen that management that succeeded in a small company starts to lose control as the company grows bigger, and ends up in bankruptcy. It is because the management couldn’t make their caliber bigger, as the organization grew bigger.
If management wants to develop the company, it is required first of all for management to make continuous efforts to improve their caliber, in other words, their humanity, philosophy, way of thinking, and personality.
However, fewer and fewer in management understands this idea in Japan these days. There has been a succession of management who has lost modesty just by making a little bit of success in their business, became arrogant, pursued self-interest, and ended up losing the success they once gained.
Now the time has come to learn from the wisdom of sages and renew our understanding on the importance of “virtue”. Doing so will not only lead to development of a group, but will also make a substantial contribution to revive the degenerating Japanese society.
2007.10.01 00:00 | Prefatory Note |
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