June 22nd 2011
As I have already mentioned, Ms. Chikako Ogura is the most outstanding living performer of the genre.
The black text in the article is mine.
"The bill will be paid when you leave." Chikako Ogura
If Kakuei Tanaka were still alive, he would be 93 years old this year (as of 2011).
Kakuei Tanaka, who was born on May 4th, 1918, passed away quietly in 1993 at the age of 75.
Looking back on it now, it was a premature death.
What's more, it was a death of regret, as he had suffered a stroke and lost his speech for nearly nine years.
More than 30 years have passed since Tanaka stepped down in 1974, and I remember a passage from his resignation statement.
"When I think about the future of our country, I listen attentively to the sound of the heavy rain that pours down on the earth like a torrent."
The word "haizen" refers to the sound of heavy rain.
It is said that Kakuei Tanaka liked to listen to the sound of rain.
At this time, Kakuei was 56 years old.
He became the youngest prime minister after the war at 54, but two articles in the magazine "Bungei Shunju" criticizing him triggered a strong public outcry against him.
Kakuei visited New Zealand, Australia, and Burma.
Yoshihiko Mayumi, a reporter for the Mainichi Shimbun who had been covering Tanaka, told a young reporter that "the life force of the Tanaka administration has run out. He will probably make a decision when he returns to Japan", hinting at the decision to step down.
Masaatsu Yasuoka added "Kokoro" in "shin-ji wo smasu."
He said that Tanaka, who had decided to resign to take responsibility for his criticism of plutocracy and the confusion in national politics, was "a man worthy of a better cause..."
The phrase "shin-ji wo smasu" means to have a clear head, and it shows that even at the time of his resignation, he had a clear mind.
The reason I hope that the prime minister has a clear mind is not because we currently have a prime minister who is said to have "problems with his humanity" (my note: Naoto Kan).
The reason is that whether you are the prime minister, the president of a company, or the manager of a baseball team, people cannot respect a boss who does not have a clear mind.
In his book "Kakuei Tanaka in the Battle Zone" (Mainichi Wanz), Mayumi introduces the childhood of Kakuei Tanaka.
After graduating from Niigata Normal School, Mr. Kanai was assigned to Nita Elementary School in Nishiyama-cho, where he was in charge of Tanaka Kakuei in the fourth grade. He lived in a boarding house at a temple.
The area around Nishiyama-cho is famous for matsutake mushrooms.
One day, during lunchtime, Mr. Kanai murmured, "I'd like to send some matsutake mushrooms to my parents."
"When lunchtime was over and class was about to start, Kakuei, the class president, came to the teachers' room.
What a surprise! He and his classmates brought a mountain of nearly overflowing matsutake mushrooms into two mandarin orange crates.
During the lunch break, Kakuei gathered the whole class and said, "The teacher is a dutiful son. He wants to send matsutake mushrooms to his parents, so why don't we all split up and gather some?"
So, 50 students immediately went into the hills behind the school and gathered a mountain of matsutake mushrooms.
Kanai-sensei, surprised by this, said, 'Well, I'm grateful that you gathered them, but there are far too many. I don't know how to send them home,' Kakuei was furious.
'What are you saying, teacher? You must send them all. If they can't be used at your parent's house, they'll be divided among the neighbors and the nearby people.
Kanai-sensei, who had been touched, sent all the matsutake mushrooms as the young Kaku told him to.
After that, Kanai-sensei was surprised when he went home to his parents' house on holiday.
Although they certainly couldn't eat all the matsutake mushrooms at home, as Kakuei had predicted, "they were pleased to share them with their neighbors and acquaintances," said the teacher's parents.
"It was like being led across the shallows by the child on one's shoulders."
Kakuei knew the meaning of "sharing" in the fourth grade.
It was utterly different from sharing the name of "committee member," which was based on generosity, compassion, and sincerity.
"Life and Loss" | CALM PIANO | Luke Faulkner
