The following is from a serial column by Yoshiko Sakurai, who brings the weekly Shincho, released on December 23, to a successful conclusion.
This paper also proves that she is a national treasure, a supreme national treasure defined by Saicho.
It is a must-read for the Japanese people and people worldwide.
First of all, I would like to talk about making this column.
In order to send out a genuine article that not only the Japanese people but also people all over the world need to know about, it must first scan the original text.
Proofread for scanning errors. Change the numbers for vertical writing to horizontal writing, change the paragraphs, etc.
It is how we send out our work to Japan and the world.
When I was working on changing the paragraphs in this chapter, I felt wailing.
I realized that Shoin's spirit was still in me.
Shoin grew up in a genuinely enviable family.
He was executed and lived an early life, but it was delightful.
I grew up in an unhappy family, but my heart is no different from Shouin's.
Many times, people around me must have heard me say, "I am eternally 19 years old.
My sworn friends all agreed, "You are indeed...".
I ran away from home when I was 19 years old.
Since then, I have been listed as "missing" in the alumni directory of my alma mater.
In other words, it is not an exaggeration to say that my life has stopped at the age of 19.
A person who is ordered to stand on the shoulders of Kyoto University has led a completely different life.
It was a dazzling life, as different as heaven and earth in some respects.
One of the best articles of the 21st century was written by Mr. Nobuyuki Kaji, in which he warned against the common belief that there is a labor shortage.
My family had the misfortune of not sending me to Kyoto University and letting me stand on the shoulders of this university.
However, I have no regrets about that.
On the contrary, I am proving the correctness of Mr. Nobuyuki Kaji's theory.
The truth is that a university education is not essential to life at all.
On the contrary, he pointed out the stupidity and ridiculousness of the current education system that forces people with a score of 5 to enter high school and college.
He pointed out the foolishness of the educational system that discourages people who were born to live in the soil, cultivate the fields, and grow crops.
He pointed out the foolishness of educational administration that makes people born to live in the sea and love fish and the sea spend their whole lives in idleness.
He pointed out the foolishness of the educational system that allows people who were born to live in the forest and live with trees all their lives to spend their time in idleness.
He pointed out the foolishness of the educational system that allows people who live and live in a world of crafts created by the Japanese habit of seeking perfection to spend idle time.
He pointed out the foolishness of the educational system that allows people who inherit the skills of a lathe operator, which no one else in the world can imitate, to spend their lives in idleness.
He pointed this out from his own experience because he is a genuine intellect.
I will continue this article later.
What about the U.S. society where a college degree is all that matters?
That's because the United States, with its short history, actually has only a thug-like philosophy.
The evidence is that they are easily fragmented in domestic public opinion by maneuvering in a country like China.
This column proves that the intelligence of Japan is far superior to that of the United States.
The Asahi Shimbun and other so-called cultural figures who sympathize with them are proof of the shallowness of the U.S. intellect.
I was in the midst of a difficult period as a businessman due to the mismanagement that brought about deflation in Japan.
A friend who worked for a large company asked me to entertain his boss.
I responded with a feast to my heart's content and went to the after-party.
At the after-party, the boss said to me, "Your life is like walking a tightrope."
Perhaps he was right, but I was momentarily taken aback as the host.
I did not have a family like Shoin's, but I still love my parents.
I am infinitely grateful to them for bringing me up.
I am unconditionally grateful to them for nurturing one of the greatest minds of the postwar era into a strong body.
I am genuinely grateful to have been born and raised in Yuriage, a place that I will love forever.
I am grateful to all my elementary and junior high school classmates who still love me beyond measure.
That is why I have been able to do the work that has been described as the best in Japan for an unknown small business owner, even if I am only one person.
Since July 2010, I have been working for free every day to make sure Japan and the world are correct, even if I am alone.
The "turntable of civilization" is my life, and my life is the "turntable of civilization" because I have the spirit of Shoin in me.
The Family and Father Who Raised the Great Shoin
During a recent visit to Yamaguchi Prefecture, I received a copy of a book entitled "The Thought and Life of Shoin Yoshida" from a local like-minded person.
The book is based on six lectures given at the Bank of Yamaguchi by the late Toshio Kumura, a well-known scholar of Shoin, and was published by the bank to learn by its employees.
It was a profoundly moving book.
As is well known, Shoin taught at the Matsushita Village School for only two years and three months.
During this time, about 60 people from all walks of life came to the school.
The significant figures from the samurai class who studied under Shoin were Takasugi Shinsaku, Kusaka Genzui, Maehara Issei, who was beheaded in the Hagi Rebellion; Yamada Akiyoshi, who became a minister; and Nakatani Masaaki.
Among the Ashigaru, Eitaro Yoshida was seriously injured in the Ikeda-ya Incident and committed suicide after returning to the gate of the Choshu domain residence.
Rokuzo Irie was killed in the Forbidden Gate Incident.
Hirobumi Ito became the first prime minister.
Aritomo Yamagata was chief of the general staff at the Russo-Japanese War.
And Yajiro Shinagawa and Yasushi Nomura also contributed to the great work of the Meiji Restoration.
One student who was neither a samurai nor an Ashigaru was Matsuura Shodo, a painter and the son of a fishmonger.
There is a portrait of Shoin sitting on the floor, which is said to have been painted by Shodo.
Incidentally, the first student at Shōkasonjuku Academy was Masuno Tokumin, the son of a doctor.
The following student was Eitaro Yoshida, who lived next door to the Sugi family (Shoin was adopted into the Yoshida family, but lived in the Sugi family, his birthplace, all his life).
The third person to enter the school was Matsuura Shodo, also mentioned above.
Mr. Kumura explains the significance of the fact that the first three students at the school were the children of a doctor, Ashigaru, and a fishmonger, all commoners, not samurai.
It is noteworthy in light of the realities of Japan and the Mori clan at the time.
During the Edo period (1603-1868), Japan had a system of four occupations, with the children of warriors studying at clan schools and the children of commoners learning at Terakoya.
The Mori clan also had a domain school, Meirinkan, in Hagi.
However, Shoin did not care about the hierarchy of status and saw everyone as a human being.
I am reminded here of the five-point pledge that was issued at the same time as the new Meiji government was born.
The five articles of the pledge, issued at the time of the establishment of the new Meiji government, are as follows: "Meetings should be held widely, and it should make decisions on all matters of public opinion. It should nuite the top and bottom of our minds, and we should conduct our governing in a prosperous manner."
It is the very philosophy that guided the Meiji Restoration.
Although Shoin, born about 190 years ago, was executed ten years before the Meiji Restoration, he was well ahead of his time and put his ideas into practice.
Why learn?
More than two dozen of the approximately 60 students who have studied at Shōkasonjuku Academy have left their mark on history.
Does this mean that the village where Shoin lived had a concentration of exceptionally talented people?
I don't think so.
Mr. KUMURA says that there are talented people in every village in Japan, and when they meet a good teacher, they can polish their natural talent and become outstanding people.
In other words, Shoin was a good teacher.
So, why was Shoin able to nurture people?
Mr. Kusumura writes that it was first and foremost because of the family in which Shoin grew up.
When the Tokugawa Shogunate signed a peace treaty with the United States, Shoin wanted to stow away on Perry's ship and study in the United States.
He watched for an opportunity near the port of Shimoda, rowed out in a small boat, and finally climbed aboard Perry's ship, but his wish was not accepted.
Shoin came forward to claim that he had violated the national ban by attempting to stow away.
As a result, he was sent back to Hagi and handed over to his father, Yurinosuke Sugi.
It was in October 1854, when Shoin was 25 years old.
Incidentally, his father Yurinosuke was the chief of police in Hagi.
To cut a long story short, Shoin was sent to Noyama Prison.
Eleven members of the samurai family were already in prison.
While in prison, Shoin read a book.
When he was moved, he read with tears in his eyes; when he was angry, he read with a raised eyebrow and an agitated tone; when he was happy, he read with a hoarse voice and knees.
The police chief's son, undaunted by his imprisonment, immersed himself in reading and enjoyed himself.
It inspired the eleven others, and a round-table discussion in prison began.
Everyone asked him.
"Why do you learn when you can't even hope to get out of prison?"
Shoin answered.
If you learn the way in the morning, you may die in the evening.
If you know the way of humanity, that's all you need to know.
If you are going to be in this world for a day, you should do something worthwhile with your day.
Even if you can't get out of here for the rest of your life, you can either die against the path of human beings or pass by following the course of human beings, depending on your preparedness.
Eventually, the prison's warden was so impressed by Shoin's character that he changed the rule that forbade him to light a lamp at night and allowed him to light a lamp at night and use a brush, ink, and paper freely.
One day, he also asked to be Shoin's disciple.
Shoin's personality enabled him to change his life in prison in such a positive and cheerful way.
He was able to maintain his original character at all times and was independent enough not to be discouraged by the trivial circumstances around him.
It is admirable.
However, we should not overlook the power that supported this way of being of Shoin.
According to KUMURA, the power of the family and the family culture supported Shoin.
A desirable family
As mentioned above, Shoin's father was a chief of police.
His son, however, violated the national ban and attempted to smuggle himself into the United States.
He was punished and sent to Noyama prison.
Usually, it would get angry, but neither his father, mother, brother, sister, uncle nor anyone was angry.
They all continued to support him as people who understood him well.
For example, the "Noyamaprison Reading Record" shows that Shoin read about 40 books a month, or about 500 books in a year.
According to the book, he read 106 books from October 24, 1854, when he entered Noyamaprison, to the end of the year, 480 books in 1854, 505 books in 1854, and 346 books by September 1854.
His brother Umetaro obtained these books by visiting booksellers in his neighborhood.
He also ordered copies to be made in Edo.
Umetaro lived until the end of the Meiji era (1868-1912), and he said that he had a hard time getting the books that Shoin wanted and supplying them one after another.
It was not all.
When Shoin was returned to the Sugi family from Noyama Prison, his father, brother and uncle became his disciples.
In prison, Shoin lectured on current affairs, politics, life, and education to eleven people, and he began to extend his lectures at home.
It is how the famous book "KoMoYowa" was born.
In addition to the lectures on Mencius, both his father and brother would read together on certain days the Economic Abstracts, New Essays, and Nihongo Gaishi.
Shoin must have been bored, as he could not leave his house even for a moment.
We all wanted to take care of him somehow.
His mother, sister, and other female relatives formed a "women's group" and held reading sessions with Shoin as the center.
Shoin's family was indeed a desirable one.
It is the power of the father, Mr. Kumura writes.
It is the family that nurtures a person.
It was a loving family that nurtured Shoin's humanity, as he was able to honestly focus on the characteristics of a person, rather than judging them by their status or wealth.
This book taught me the importance of family and family culture from Shoin's short life of 30 years.
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