"Daily Word" Echoes
 P.0 Box 30, Moriyama Post Office, Nagoya 463 Tel. (052)794-6422
  March 29, 1998 Number 59 \200
------------------------------------------
    (Essays submitted by listeners/readers on hemes of "Daily Word" messages be-
 tween December 2, 1997 and January 6, 1998. Corrected and edited by Clark  Ofiner.)
          ***********************
December 2 Message (Theme #338)
    The suggested theme is:  tradi-
tions, thoughts, memories  related
to harvest time or Thanksgiving  Day
             ************************
   This autumn I found it difficult to
understand why people were not so happy
to learn that the nation enjoyed another
bumper crop of rice. The rice glut posed
the question of what should be done with
the excess rice. Common sense dictates
that a glut of food somewhere should be
used to make up for the lack of food in
other places where people desperately
need it. In reality, however, this doesn't
work. I wonder why. Isn't there an in-
ternational organization to balance such
disparities? This is the big question
that this year's rice harvest has raised
in my mind. What is the meaning of a
"borderless economy"?
  (SHOJI  SU.GIMOTO, Suginami, Tokyo)
   When I was in primary school, I
spent two years in a small town near a
village. It was a very important time in
my life. I would not know anything about
harvest time or about how our foods are
grown if I only lived in the city.
   Our school held classes until noon
during two weeks at harvest time when
most of my friends helped their parents
on their farms. I told my mother about
it with great surprise since it was my
first such experience. She told me that I
had a happier life than those friends. I
could not understand her meaning at that
time, but I am very thankful for my hap-
piness now.
 (NIICHIKO  SHNO, Minami, Nagoya)
   November 23rd is Labor Thanksgiv-
ing Day. It is a day set apart to recog-
nize the importance of labor, and on this
day we express our gratitude to the work-
ing people. I hear that the fourth Thurs-
day of November is Thanksgiving Day  in
the United States and that turkeys and
pies are served at dinners on that day. I t
was in  1948 that our Labor Thanksgiving
Day was established, but before that,
during my childhood, this day was called
Niinamesai, the Harvest Festival held in
the Imperial Palace. That was the day
when the Emperor dedicated the newly-
harvested rice to  tenjin-chigi, the gods
of heaven and earth, and ate the rice for
the first time in that season. Therefore,
originally this was a day of thanksgiving
to the gods or to nature that granted a
good harvest. In our childhood, we were
taught that, when we eat rice, we should
think of the people who raised it, but
city-dwellers today have no particular
celebration; most of them spend the day
just resting.
   As the Japanese economy has grown
stronger, the Japanese people have be-
come known the world over as hard work-
ers. However, this perception of Japan
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2 MARCH 29, 1998
often includes negative nuances, includ-
ing the idea that Japanese are simply
"economic animals" pursuing profit
above all else. We Japanese have been
engaged for more than two thousand
years in a system of agriculture cen-
tered on rice cultivation. If the farmers
did not put much effort into their work,
they could not support themselves. It is
probably from this that the custom of
working hard arose.
   It was through so-called arbeit in
my student days that I recognized the  im-
portance and difficulty of labor, especial-
ly physical labor. I participated in the
Jidai-matsuri parade in Kyoto dressed
like a samurai and marched down the
streets for three hours in front of the
onlookers. During the summer vacation,
I worked along a river beach in Hiro-
shima, my hometown, gathering small
pebbles for construction materials.
When this heavy labor was over, I had no
surplus energy for pursuing my studies.
Compared to such physical labor, work
as a private tutor was much easier. I
could get high wages for that comfort-
able job and recalled the theory of the
"value of labor" by Karl Marx.
   The Japanese work ethic, however,
has been undergoing significant changes
in recent years. As the Japanese have  at-
tained a relatively high level of material
affluence, their values have become
more individualized and many people,
particularly young people, are placing a
special emphasis on  personal-interest
 activities outside of their work. It is
sad that many people today have lost a
sense of gratitude for working persons
and also for labor itself.
 (MIKIHIKO  YOSHIMOTO, Gifu)
   Before the end of the Second World
War, November 23rd was called  Niiname-
sai. Since ancient times, this has been
an observance known as the Shinto har-
vest festival, carried out at the imperial
court. At that time, the emperor dedi-
              "DAILY WORD" ECHOES
cates the year's  new_rice to the gods and
tastes it for the first time. This observ-
ance is still held today in the imperial
household. In  1948, it was designated a
national holiday for the people to honor
labor, celebrate manufacturing and give
thanks to one another.
   On this day in each shrine of a tute-
lary god, the Shinto priest used to pre-
sent new rice or fresh vegetables to the
tutelary god. I remember when I was a
child at harvest time I went to my moth-
er's family home in the country to help
with the rice  harvest. It was difficult
to cut rice with a sickle. Now it is a
dear memory.
   Nowadays, parents do not go to work
on this day. Rather, they go out for din-
ner with the whole family. They take
the day off and rest instead of laboring.
Some events are held for the family near
a park or flower garden. Anyway, labor-
ers should relax both mind and body on
this day.
 (MIEKO  OKUMURA, Mizuho, Nagoya)
   My parents were not farmers, but I
was born in a remote country area of
Kyoto Prefecture and lived there until I
was in sixth grade. Then, all boys and
girls wore kimonos and straw sandals
and went to school on foot. There were
no radios there at that time. The village
was situated in a basin, surrounded by
hills. A river ran through the center of
the lowland and along the river were
many rice fields.
   Autumn was the best and busiest
season of the year. Golden rice ears
swayed in the breeze while sparrows and
countless grasshoppers swarmed on
them. In the river and streams lived
many fish and crabs, including crucian
carp, sweetfish, catfish, eels, loaches,
and so on. All living things, including
human beings, coexisted harmoniously.
   I also was busy gathering chestnuts
and mulberries. Even now, I fondly re-
member such fascinating experiences.
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MARCH 29,  1998
At the same time, I feel very sorry for
today's children who cannot experience
such a beautiful countryside season. Af-
ter the war, farmers began to use chemi-
cals and many living things have disap-
peared. Water is running in the river
without fish, crabs and shells. It is a
dead river. What an ominous situation!
 (TSUYOSIII :1LNIfIDR, Minami, Nagoya)
   According to the large Japanese dic-
tionary,  'Open, Labor Thanksgiving Day
was called  niinamesai in prewar days.
On that day, the emperor dedicated the
new harvest to his ancestors and tasted
some himself. In my childhood, we cele-
brated  niinamesai at our school togeth-
er with our principal, teachers and other
pupils.
   On August  15,  1945, Japan was de-
feated in the Pacific War. Those of us
born and raised in Korea were forced to
leave that land. My family relocated in a
small village in the sannin district
where my father was born. He had to re-
main in Korea for a few more months to
settle some business matters. Due to the
disorder resulting from the defeat and
the extreme food shortage, the school
there was temporarily closed. We stayed
in the village and helped my uncle work
his land. Working as a farmer was quite
a new experience for me as I was raised
in an urban area. As I worked very hard
as a farmer for a long time, my uncle be-
came concerned about my neglecting to
study. One day he said to me, "You are not
going to be a farmer in the future. You
should go to school as soon as possible
to study for your future work. Looking
back, I think his anxiety was quite natu-
ral and I appreciate his advice. But I
don't think the time I spent working as a
farmer was wasted. It was a pleasant
experience for me to work hard in the
rice field. I did not feel upset to do that
kind of work. It was, rather, enjoyable.
Thanks to that valuable experience as a
farmer, I did not feel upset even in the
          "DAILY WORD" ECHOES 3
hard  work- assigned by my  company af-
terwards.
   Thus, I really think that the meaning
of Labor Thanksgiving Day is not simply
to celebrate the harvest, but to appreci-
ate the effort required to produce the
harvest. I will become seventy years old
this year. I am very happy that I have
good health and can still be vigorously
active. I greatly appreciate the experi-
ence my uncle provided to work hard as a
farmer in my young days.
    (H FUJI  FUKUNII, Minami, Nagoya)
   In  1944, as the war was drawing to
a close, my father told his family to
evacuate to his hometown in Fukui to es-
cape from the air raids though he  him-
self had to remain in Tokyo. In those
days, everything was desperate. Besides
the air raids, we suffered from serious
shortages of food, commodities and la-
bor power. I had been to his hometown
many times while I was a child to visit
my grandparents, but at that time the
situation had entirely changed. My grand-
father had passed away a few years be-
fore and my grandmother had become
very old. I thought I should try to work
as much as possible to raise rice and
vegetables in the field even though I had
had no such experience.
   In those days, the production of rice
was strictly controlled by the govern-
ment. Each individual farmer was urged
to produce a certain amount of rice.
Young men had gone to the front and the
village was suffering a serious shortage
of labor power.  it was impossible for us
to ask anyone to grow rice for us. For-
tunately, a farmer's wife, who used to be
my grandmother's maid and knew me
well since I was a child, showed me how
to work and helped me very much.
   Fukui Prefecture is located in the
middle of Japan along the Japan Sea. It
has much snow in the  winter.  It is im-
possible to work in the fields in winter
but when spring comes, the snow melts
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4 MARCH 29, 1998
and the black soil appears, proclaiming
it is time to begin working in the fields.
Men plowed the field with a spade in
their own hands or pulled by a cow and
tilled the ground evenly with a hoe. Then
the rice paddy was filled with irrigated
water, according to a certain program
for sharing water among the villagers.
When everything was prepared, rice seed-
lings were transplanted, usually by wom-
en. Since it was a group activity, the
day was also determined according to a
certain schedule drawn up by the villag-
ers. They planted the seedlings in a row
in a backbreaking way and I tried hard to
follow the other women. Also while the
plants were growing, they had to work
hard, weeding by hand and spreading in-
secticide and fertilizer. While I was
there, I came to understand that rice
production required an immense amount
of labor, meticulous skills and group
collaboration. I was impressed with the
primitive but scientific method, the
result of the wisdom of many centuries.
   Rice production largely depends on
the weather. Unfortunately, in  1945, we
could not expect a good harvest because
of a lack of fertilizer and unfavorable
weather. I was told it was very impor-
tant for a good harvest that there be
much sunshine and warm days in late
summer and early fall, just before the
harvest. In Fukui, a snowy area, when
the harvest time was drawing near, peo-
ple began making racks, several meters
high with horizontal bars to dry bunched
sheaves of rice. I remember that rice
stalks were cut by hand but threshing
was done by a machine, though it was
primitive. Even though we could not ex-
pect a good harvest that year, we were
thrilled to see new rice, brightly shin-
ing, as if it were a gift from heaven.
   As a newcomer, I would have been
just a burden to the farmers, but I still
remember them with gratitude for their
good help and many kindnesses. I came
to understand how diligent, intelligent
             "DAILY WORD" ECHOES
and cooperative they were to carry out
their agricultural and social responsibil-
ities. Besides working in the field, I
was allowed to attend a meeting held
regularly to discuss irrigation, planting,
harvesting and delivery of the allotted
rice, according to the schedule indicated
by the government. I could not under-
stand very well then and was ashamed of
my ignorance.
   Though it was quite a short time, I
came to like working outdoors. After I
married, I lived in many places. When I
had a yard, I always enjoyed gardening. I
began by digging in the soil to make flow-
er beds for sowing seeds. I was thrilled
to see my children delighted with the
beautiful flowers in the  garden of our
house. I hope they still have happy mem-
ories of the flowers in our garden.
 (MICHIKO  KAWAMURA, Meguro, Tokyo)
   My mind is filled with many merry
memories of my childhood. Among them,
the fall festival was one of the most
cheerful, exciting events, elcucliag the
taste of autumn. The sounds of tradi-
tional drums and flutes, peculiar to Ja-
pan, were heard everywhere in the neigh-
borhood and children were very happy to
wear a blue happi with a pink sash and a
white headband, or hachimaki. The festi-
val of thanksgiving for the harvest used
to be held in October, much earlier than
November 23rd. (Now, Sports Day is held
on  Octoberl  Oth.) On that day, school boys
and girls went around the neighborhood
holding up a shishi-gashira (lion's head)
with a long cloth for its body, crying  to-
gether:"Wasshoi! Wasshoi!" They visited
many neighbors one after another with a
6th grader ahead, who held a little lan-
tern into which people put small change.
   When I was five or six, I joined one
of those shishi groups for the first time.
"Wasshoi! Wasshoi!" As soon as we be-
gan to cry with loud voices at the door
of a house, someone opened the door and
gave us a little donation.  "Arigatei!"  w  e
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MARCH 29,  1998
called out in a louder voice and moved on
to the next door. I remember when we
came to a house with a  forbidding black
fence and no one answered our cry. "Cry
louder!" a 6th grader  ,urged us.  "Wasshoi!
Wasshoi!" "Much louder!" "Wasshoi! Was-
shoi!" Suddenly, a  man's loud voice came
from inside the house:  "Uchi wa rusu da"
("No one is at home").
   Different from the "trick or treat"
of Halloween, collecting money by chil-
dren may be considered improper today,
but in those days people enjoyed the fes-
tival very much and were willing to con-
tribute small change for the neighbor-
hood children's association, not from  ob-
ligation. My parents really enjoyed  hear-
ing the children joyfully say  "arigater,
but gradually the custom of shishi col-
lecting contributions came to be called
kojiki-jishi ("beggar lion").
   When I was in 4th grade, I  represent-
ed my class in the Pupils' Association of
the school. As soon as the meeting start-
ed, a very handsome boy stood up and
said, "Let's stop  kojiki-jishi." He was
the president of the Pupils' Association
and that had been one of the important
slogans in his election campaign. He
didn't mean to stop the custom of the
shishi parade, but meant to stop the
collection of money which seemed to be
disgraceful. His movement was success-
ful, with the strong support of teachers.
As a result, during the festival, shishi
walked around without a lantern and
with less cheerful crying. Of course,
children didn't need to cry  "arigato!"
That boy was not only handsome but very
bright and  grcluated from the graduate
school of Tokyo University.
   A couple of years ago, he suddenly
appeared on television in the morning. He
stated his political views and slogans in
his election campaign to become a mem-
ber of the local government. The good-
looking 6th grader had become a bald
man. Looking at him on television, I real-
ized he really liked politics and remem-
         "DAILY WORD" ECHOES 5
bered his definite words in my  elementa-
ry school days: "Let's stop kojiki-  iishi."
 (K  I  '1.liK0  KUMHFIFIR,Nakagawa,Nagoya)
   Every year at harvest time an exhi-
bition of  sheise3-in treasures is held at
the Nara National Museum. This autumn I
had an opportunity to visit there.
   As you know, the term  shOso orig-
inally denoted a repository for the rice
collected by the government. In the Nara
and  Heian periods, the central govern-
ment as well as provinces and large
temples also used to have their own
 shosei-in. During the course of history,
however, all  theshosO-in except that of
 TOdaiji Temple have been lost.
   At the exhibition, a number of trea-
sures that have been preserved for about
1,300 years were on display, including
Buddhist robes, sutras, ornaments, old
documents and records, etc. One of the
representative treasures this year was
"fragrant wood from incense", called
 OjukukO. There were a few marks on it
for General Ashikaga Yoshimasa, Oda
Nobunaga and Emperor Meiji had cut
some pieces from this incense wood for
themselves. To my regret, I could not
smell the incense at all since it  was
kept in a glass case. There was also a
game board for playing go.  It was a gor-
geous one decorated with cut shells,
pieces of ivory and gold. So the game of
go has a long history.
   I appreciated viewing these extraor-
dinary artifacts of the Tempyo Era and
also learned about the society and life
style of those days. Afterward, I visited
the  ShOsO-in, located behind the Daibu-
tsu-den. The old traditional wooden
building of hinoki, with its raised floor,
was standing in the quiet compound re-
flecting the rays of the sun setting i n
the west. I gazed at it for a while, being
greatly moved with the beauty of its ar-
chitectural style. My thoughts flew to
the old time when Emperor  Shornu per-
formed the ceremony to thank the kami
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6 MARCH 29,  1998
with an offering of new rice. Is not this
one of the beautiful traditions we have
for which we should be thankful?
 (SHARE  raisiMOTO, Minami, Nagoya)
 ***********************
December 9 Messaae (Theme #339)
   One of the effects of global warming
is even now evident to residents of Ja-
pan who live within sight of the  coun-
try's most celebrated scenic symbol, Mt.
Fuji. The white snow covering of the
mountain peak during the winter and its
brown sandy slopes during the summer
are being eroded by a green carpet of
vegetation because the temperature at
the top of the mountain is gradually get-
ting warmer and less snow is falling. An
estimated  30,000 people visit the  3776-
meter volcano during the July-August
climbing season, but according to a local
environment agency official, both indus-
trial pollution and exhaust from vehicles
are affecting the natural environment
there. The theme suggested for essays
this week is: Mt.  Fuji.. What thoughts,
memories or experiences have you had
related to this famous mountain? Why
does it hold such a prominent place  in
Japanese traditional thought?
              **-k********************
  In May, last year, I stayed at a hotel
in Yaizu City in Shizuoka Prefecture,
which is famous as a port for deep-sea
fishing. In the morning, before sunrise, I
hurried to the lobby, erected my easel
and made preparations for painting. Out-
side the lobby, a green lawn extended to
a cliff. On the tip of the cliff, a big, old
pine tree stood slanting with every
bough hanging down toward the surface
of the sea. On the left side, a cape was
              "DAILY WORD" ECHOES
projecting into the sea, casting a shad-
ow on the water. The eastern sky was
beginning to become orange and the sea
was calm, like a mirror, but the horizon
was too dim to be distinguished. I wait-
ed impatiently for the sunrise. Sudden-
ly, I asked myself, "Where is Mt. Fuji?
"Mt. Fuji must be visible!"
   Little by little, the eastern sky
became brighter and the outline of Mt.
Fuji loomed out of the reddish clouds.
What an impressive sight it was! It was
just like a dream. From moment to mo-
ment, the sunrise scenery dramatically
changed and it deterred me from contin-
uing to paint.
 (TSUYOS1-11  MARK Minami, Nagoya)
   I lived in the city of Hamamatsu
until I was twenty years old. I could see
Mt. Fuji from our school yard. It seemed
to be about fifteen centimeters high. I
felt  it was natural that we could see it.
   When I came to Nagoya,  I felt lonely
even though I was with my family be-
cause I felt that I had to live in a distant
place where I could not see Mt. Fuji. I do
not believe the mountain is sacred, but
looking at it somehow stimulated a com-
fortable feeling.
   I climbed Mt. Fuji with my father
and brother when I was eighteen years
old. It was very hard to climb from the
8th station to the top. I used not only
my feet, but my hands as well. That was
the steepest part of the mountain path.
It was the only such experience for me
and I do not want to climb it again.
   I noticed that I could not stay at the
top of a high mountain for a long time. I
came down from the top after only ten
minutes at the top of Mt. Fuji, Mont
Blanc, Matterhorn and Jungfrau. I prefer
taking trips to  plateaus to climbing high
mountains. Anyway, from my experience,
I would say that Mt. Fuji is better to
look at than to climb.
 (MICIW:0  SRN°, Minami, Nagoya)
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MARCH 29,  1998
   Mt. Fuji is the most famous moun-
tain in Japan and has been considered an
object of worship since ancient times.
It is Japan's highest and most beautiful
mountain, known throughout the world.
In the past, it erupted frequently, but
since 1707 volcanic activity has ceased.
Nevertheless, geologically speaking,  i t
is a dormant volcano.
   In the Edo period (1603-1867) in
particular, it was frequently climbed as
a religious act. Because of its grandeur
and beautiful shape, many Japanese art-
ists who painted pictures of it have left
behind outstanding works of art. There
is, for example, the outstanding work
called  Fugaku  SanjO-rokkei, which means
 "Mt. Fuji's 36 Views", which were paint-
ed by ukiyo-e artist Katsushika Hokusai.
It contains world-renowned masterpiec-
es like the Akafuji, meaning "Red Fuji"  i  n
which the mountain looks red because of
the splendor of the setting sun.
   There are many wonderful expres-
sions about Mt. Fuji related to the four
seasons: cherry blossoms on Mt. Fuji in
the spring, bright and clear in the sum-
mer, lakeside Mt. Fuji in autumn and si-
lent snowfall morning Mt. Fuji and only
light and shadows move slowly over Mt.
Fuji in winter. Also, there are the ten
best views of Mt. Fuji in Susono City.
One of them shows a burning field at the
foot of Mt. Fuji aimed at exterminating
harmful insects. It's most famous an-
nual celebration, a sheet of fire expand-
ing impressively, can be seen from the
 Tomei Expressway.
  (MIEKO  OKUMUFIR, Mizuho, Nagoya)
   Mt. Fuji is the highest mountain
(3,776 meters) in Japan. (In my boyhood,
 Niitaka-yama in Taiwan was the highest
because that island was a Japanese  colo-
ny  then.) It is world-famous for its su-
perb conical form, but there is a small
projection on the eastern slope that
breaks the symmetry. This projection is
called Mt.  HOei because it was formed by
"DAILY WORD" ECHOES
7
an eruption during the HOei era (in  1  707).
Although Mt. Fuji has been dormant since
that time, it is classified by geologists
as an active volcano. We never know
when the next eruption will take place.
   Mt. Fuji has been regarded as the
very symbol of Japan and the Japanese
spirit. Once Fujiyama, cherry blossoms
and geisha girls were the three most im-
portant things for tourists to see in Ja-
pan. When some foreigners come to know
that Mt. Fuji is called Fuji-san in our
country, they mistakenly surmise that it
has been given the honorific title of a
person because it is loved so much.  Sure-
ly, Japanese have a very special feeling
for Fuji-san. We feel relieved when the
beautiful shape appears from behind the
clouds on our return from a trip abroad.
Hearing the name, many elderly people
will remember the famous song we
learned in our elementary school days:
"It stretches its head above the clouds,
looking down at surrounding mountains,
hearing a peal of thunder beneath; Fuji is
the first mountain in Japan." We also
have a saying,  !chi-Fuji, ni-taka, san-
nasubi, "First, Mt. Fuji, second, a falcon,
third, an egg plant". This is an enumera-
tion of things which are thought to be
auspicious as the first dream of the New
Year, though nobody knows the true mean-
ing of the saying. We could see the ma-
jestic shape  from  our school yard in To-
kyo on fine days because there were no
high buildings around.
   To the Japanese mind, Fuji-san is
much more than a single volcano. It is
regarded as a sacred object and climbing
it has long been a religious practice.
Some people consider it a place for a
pilgrimage. Once I had the experience of
climbing it and viewing the sunrise from
the summit. It was a divinely beautiful
sight. I have also experienced standing
on the summits of Mont Blanc and Jung-
frau and was moved by their greatness,
but the inspiration from them was a lit-
tle different from that of Fuji-san.
---------------------[End of Page 7]---------------------
8 MARCH 29, 1998
   Fuji-san has exerted a great influ-
ence upon Japanese culture. Throughout
the history of Japanese art and litera-
ture, this holy mountain has been the
subject of innumerable poems and pic-
tures. Hiroshige's pictures on the  Taal-
do in the Edo era are a typical example.
The yearning for greatness and beauty
symbolized by Fuji-san led ancient peo-
ple to name many local mountains and
towns after this mountain. There is Ezo-
Fuji in Hokkaido and Tsugaru-Fuji in  Ao-
mori. Some  sumo wrestlers and popular
stars also have their names associated
with Fuji-san. We should keep protect-
ing it from various kinds of pollution.
 (MIKIHIKO  YOSHIMOTO, Gifu)
   It is said that there are two cate-
gorical groups of  "stupid people" related
to Mt. Fuji. The first one consists of peo-
ple who have never climbed to its sum-
mit. If you have been there twice or
more, you are categorized into the sec-
ond group. It means that you should get
there once and that is  enough. So, I am a
"stupid person" belonging to the  f  irst
group. But there is a reason for that.
   I have been to the go-go-me (half-
way point) of Mt. Fuji by car twice, but I
have never been to its summit. When I
was a student, my friend told me his ex-
perience of going there. He wanted to
see the sunrise from the summit, so he
planned to stay in a  but near the summit
at night. It was during the summer and
the mountain trail was filled with climb-
ers. He  finally reached the  but in the
evening. After eating a plain meal in a
crowded dining room, he had to sleep
in a futon with strangers' feet on both
sides of his head. He felt as if he was a
sardine packed in a can. Afterward, his
situation worsened. He was unable to  I  i  e
on his back and had to lie on his side. Af-
ter getting up once to wash his hands, he
could not find enough room for his futon
so he ended up crouching in a narrow hall
to take a nap. Such a situation is not on-
"DAILY WORD" ECHOES
ly caused by the greediness of  but own-
ers who work for only two months a
year, but also by the unwritten rule that
they should not refuse admission to any
climber. Even though I can understand
that the refusal of an accommodation
might mean death for some tired climb-
er, this story has scared me away from
the summit.
   However, I am fond of viewing Mt.
Fuji whose shape can be easily recog-
nized everywhere. When I viewed it from
the summit of Mt. Takeyama  (3015 me-
ters) in Toyama Prefecture, the top of
Mt. Fuji was visible above a sea of shiny
white clouds far away. From the same
place, I was also able to see the charac-
teristic shape of  Nato Peninsula and To-
yama Bay below in the northwest. I  imag-
ined the  unobservable Pacific Ocean just
beyond Mt. Fuji and wondered about the
narrow width of Honshu. That was one
of the most impressive sights of Mt. Fuji
for me.
   It is also quite enjoyable for me to
look at photographs of mountains. Mt.
Fuji seems to be the most popular target
for photographers to shoot at. Some
books carry only photographs of Mt. Fuji.
We cannot imagine the swarms of people
on it from those spectacular pictures.
One of my friends also  likes to take pic-
tures of Mt. Fuji and gives me a New
Year's card with his favorite one printed
on it every year. Oh, that reminds me. I
may receive another one soon. I feel the
period of one year gets shorter year af-
ter year. Don't you think that time really
flies?
 (TOSIIIIIKI  MIYAKE, Tsuzuki,Yokohama)
   Mt. Fuji, along with cherry blossoms
and geisha girls were the three main
symbols of Japan in the past. "Fuji" and
"Sakura" were the popular names of su-
per-express trains on the main railroads
of prewar Japan. On the other hand, Mt.
Fuji, which was sanctified because of
its beauty and dignity, was also abused
---------------------[End of Page 8]---------------------
MARCH 29, 1998
by some Japanese nationalists. During
the war, since Saipan was occupied by
the American armed forces, B-29 Amer-
ican bombers used Mt. Fuji as a guide for
the purpose of bombing main cities of
Japan. Once the  pilots caught sight of
that figure, they never failed to reach
their destination, whether it was Tokyo
or Nagoya. The "sanctity" of the moun-
tain was of no use at all.
   I tried to climb Mt. Fuji for the first
time when I was 66 years old. As I
brought a handy oxygen cylinder with me,
I was able to climb all the way to the
summit. I was impressed with how
rough and steep the climbing paths were,
contrary to the mountain's beautiful ap-
pearance. The sudden change of climate
was also fearful, but I believe these se-
vere conditions must have enhanced the
dignity of the mountain behind its natu-
ral beauty and mildness.
   I hope I may have another opportun-
ity to climb Mt. Fuji in the future.
 (HRRULII  FUKUM1, Minami, Nagoya)
   I like walking in fields and woods or
in the countryside. I also like to  climb
mountains, so I have climbed Shirouma-
dake, Yake-dake, Fujiwara-dake and so
on, but for some reason I was never in-
terested in climbing Mt. Fuji. It may be
because I had heard that Mt. Fuji is good
for viewing from afar but not so enjoya-
ble to climb.
   Nevertheless, I did climb Mt. Fuji in
the summer of 1992. The motivation
was simple. In those days, I heard that
young acquaintances from America who
had lived in Japan for only a few years
had climbed Mt. Fuji and two of my
friends happened to invite me to join
them in climbing. But the result was not
so good. We started climbing from the
fifth station on the mountain (5-go-me)
where we had gone by car. My physical
condition was not so good from the start-
ing point, about 2300 meters above sea
level, and I couldn't help giving up  climb-
         "DAILY WORD" ECHOES 9
ing and staying at a cottage at the  8.5-
go-me (3400 meters)  due to mountain
sickness and sending off the others, who
conquered the summit. But viewing the
rising sun floating in a sea of clouds
was the most impressive sight I have
ever seen--even if it was from the  8.5-
go-me rather than from the summit.
   Do you know the saying, "A fool is
one who does not try climbing Mt. Fuji
even once; a fool is also one who climbs
it twice"? What do you think the saying
means? I understand it to mean that we
should try to do anything once, even
though it may be very hard or seems
 silly. I may become a fool who tries to
climb it twice some day.
 (YOSHIKO  TOYOTH,  Kanie, Aichi)
   Every summer before we had our
first child, my husband and  I used to
climb mountains in the Japan Alps in a
group of five or six. The leader of the
group, whom we called Pin-chan, was an
expert in rock climbing and had experi-
ence climbing foreign mountains. He a  I-
ways made the plan for our climbs: dates
mountains, courses, lodging and food.
Food was assigned to each of us to pre-
pare and carry. When I found "cans of
azuki and condensed milk on a food list, I
asked him, "What for?" "To make  /Cori
azuki with snow (frappe with anko)", he
answered.
 Actually in climbing almost  3000-
meter-high mountains, we sometimes
passed through very dangerous places
where some climbers had lost their
lives. After such an extremely tense
moment passed, we took a short rest,
lying on a snowy flat and enjoyed talking
and eating a little snow ball with sweet
azuki and milk. "This is one of the great-
est pleasures in mountaineering", Pin-
chan would remark with a satisfied
smile. He was one of my husband's col-
leagues and rather strange in many ways.
He must have climbed the highest moun-
tain in Japan, but he never made a plan
---------------------[End of Page 9]---------------------
10 MARCH 29, 1998
  for us to climb Mt. Fuji and I did not feel
  like proposing it either. I knew  well
  what his reaction would have been: "Mt.
  Fuji? Then you don't need me. Join the
  long line of people going to the top of Mt.
  Fuji and,  in,time, you'll reach the highest
  spot in Japan. Even a little kid can do
   that. Ha, ha, ha."
     In fact, the mountains of the North
  Japan Alps were much more attractive
  and exciting for us. When we stood on
  the top of one of those fascinating
  mountains in Toyama or Nagano prefec-
  tures and were surrounded by or above a
  huge white ocean of clouds, we could en-
  joy viewing the peculiar peaks of some
  mountains floating, on the clouds: Tsuru-
  gi, Yari, Kasa, Hodaka, Yakushi,  J'Onen,
 Mitsumatarenge--and far, far away, the
  beautiful shape of Mt. Fuji on a very
  clear day. Whatever mountain we
  climbed, we never failed to try to find
  the isolated, graceful shape of Mt. Fuji,
  as if that had been the purpose of our
  hard  mountaineering.
     I thought Mt. Fuji was really the
  mountain to be viewed, and in fact, it
  can be seen from as many as 21 (or 19)
  prefectures in this country. I also
  thought that this highest mountain was
  open to family members from young  chil-
  dren to old grandfathers or grandmoth-
  ers. And I hoped the day would come
  soon when I could enjoy climbing this
  beautiful mountain with family members
  and not in a group of mountain climbers.
 (K  IKUK  0  KUUIHRIIII,Nakagawa,Nagoya)
     No other mountain in Japan is higher
  than Mt. Fuji. No other mountain in Japan
  is more beautiful than Mt. Fuji. To de-
  scribe it, we are prompted to make use
  of the  superlatives of all modifiers. Mt.
  Fuji is the most magnificent mountain in
  Japan.  Mt. Fuji furnishes the most sub-
  lime, the most exquisite, the most  splen-
  did view. I cannot find a suitable modi-
  fier to describe that greatest of all
 mountains.
"DAILY WORD" ECHOES
   Mt. Fuji has held a prominent place
in Japanese traditional thought. Why?
This is a very difficult question. I only
can point  out two things. Rather, two
things combined in the course of history.
One is the tremendously wild force it
manifested when it erupted centuries
ago. The other is its elegant shape. Ac-
cording to one theory, the name Fuji
comes from an Ainu word meaning a
violent mountain erupting fire. This
suggests ancient people had a great fear
of the volcano which has been dormant
since then. On the other hand, Mt. Fuji
has such a fine symmetric shape that  it
has aroused the public's admiration.
Thus, it stands to reason that Mt.  F  uj  i
has enjoyed a kind of breathless adora-
tion for a long time.
 (SHOJI  SUGIMOTO, Suginami, Tokyo)
   I once lived on the skirts of Mt. Fuji
with my husband for ten months. It was
in Fuji City. As soon as I got up in the
morning, I made it a rule to go out of our
apartment and look at towering Mt. Fuji
just in front of me. Its firm and digni-
fied appearance with its long skirts ex-
uded nobility. Its entire shape was rare-
ly seen for  it was surrounded by clouds
which changed minute by minute. Some-
times, only the top of the mountain was
seen and at other times only the lower
half, but I was really attracted by it and
became an admirer of Mt. Fuji.
   I think the shape of Mt. Fuji is very
simple but beautiful. Everyone who sees
it easily remembers its shape and since
it can be seen from Japan's  capital and
from the main road called  TOkaidO, it is
familiar to many Japanese. It is loved by
many Japanese as reflected in the chil-
dren's song, Fuji wa Nippon ichi no  yama,
which' means "Mt. Fuji is the highest and
most wonderful mountain in Japan".
 (MICHIKO  NIWR,  ShOwa, Nagoya)
   The beautiful shape and the tall
height of Mt. Fuji are attractive to us
---------------------[End of Page 10]---------------------
MARCH 29,  1998
and for a long time it was  considered' a
symbol of the land of Japan. It frequent-
ly appears in songs, poems and pictures.
   In  1997, Yamaichi Securities Com-
pany issued a special calendar to  com-
memorate its hundredth anniversary.
The calendar, from January to December,
included pictures of Mt. Fuji painted by
Yokoyama Taikan, one of the most  fa-
mous Japanese painters who specializes
in painting Mt. Fuji. At that time, I am
sure, they did not expect to discontinue
their business as they did at the end of
the year. If my memory is correct, one
of the founders had a name related to
yama, or mountain. Their name may im-
ply that they had confidence in being like
Mt. Fuji in their business.
   The fact that nothing is certain and
nothing remains the same forever re-
minds me of the story of a rich man's
worries about his possessions in the
New Testament.
 (MI00111  KODEIMA, Midori, Nagoya)
 How long has it been since I saw Mt.
Fuji? Probably it was a few years ago
that I last saw the mountain. One day in
the fall, we went on a trip to Shizuoka.
Unfortunately, it rained hard when we
left Tokyo, but as we approached Shizuo-
ka, it gradually cleared up and when we
reached Hamamatsu, the elegantly sym-
metrical mountain, covered with white
snow against a clear blue sky, appeared
brightly in front of us. How thrilled and
thankful we were to see that magnifi-
cent sight.
   These days in Tokyo, it may be very
difficult to get a view of Mt. Fuji from
the urban area, hindered by tall build-
ings. Even though I understand the situ-
ation quite well, I still miss those days
when people could enjoy the wonderful
sight more easily and feel better ac-
quainted with it. In Tokyo, some areas
were named for Mt. Fuji, including Fuji-
mi-dai and  Fujimi-chO. Both names indi-
cate that they are good places for view-
         "DAILY WORD" ECHOES  11
ing Mt. Fuji. In the precincts of some
shrines, it used to be common to have a
miniature Mt. Fuji for climbing. It was
regarded as a religious activity instead
of climbing the real mountain.
   More than half a century ago, when I
was a child, the house in which I lived
was located about a mile west of Shin-
juku. Even then, Shinjuku was a bustling
center, but the area I lived in was quiet,
though quite close. I lived there  until
my family was evacuated to the country
during the war. While I was there, I had
a good view of Mt. Fuji, though distant
and small, from the second floor window
of a room on the west side of the house.
In those days, most Japanese houses
were made of wood and had one or two
stories, so we could enjoy a panoramic
view even from the second floor window.
Beyond the rows of houses in the resi-
dential area, we could see the Tanzawa
Mountain Range from right to left like a
thick, dark blue belt and behind the left
hand corner, Mt. Fuji could be seen when
the weather was fine. The elegantly sym-
metrical shape made even an ordinary
view quite picturesque. I could enjoy
various changes in its appearance, de-
pending on the season, weather, and time
of day. Especially I was impressed with
the wonderful view in the evening. The
setting sun gave various glorious colors
to the earth, transforming solemn Mt.
Fuji into a dark, triangular silhouette.
In late fall and winter, a chilly wind of-
ten blew in Tokyo in those days. It raged
over the earth like a witch rioting. I
was very scared.but I was relieved to
see the figure of the mountain solemnly
standing still. I miss those days when
children had more free time and were
not so pressed as today.
   When I was a senior high school stu-
dent, I volunteered to join a group in my
high school to climb Mt. Fuji one sum-
mer. Even then, climbing Mt. Fuji was
regarded as a profound spiritual experi-
ence and many pilgrims tried to arrive at
---------------------[End of Page 11]---------------------
12  MARCH  29, 1998
a shrine at the top of the mountain, but
climbing mountains was not so popular
as today. In late July, our group, led by a
gymnastics teacher, tried to climb the
mountain. In those days, sportswear
was not so common as today and we
were told to make our leggings by our-
selves. Fortunately, the weather was
fine on that day and we went to Fujino-
miya by train. Then we visited the Fuji
Sengen Shrine to pray for a safe climb.
That was regarded as a base camp for
climbing pilgrims. I am not so sure, but
I think we went halfway up the timber
area by car, not by bus, for busses were
not so common as today. Then we began
climbing along the road in the timber
area and then on the naked slope of lava,
which looked like small brown stones, to
the top, panting due to a lack of oxygen.
Though we were young, we were tired
out when we reached the top. We wanted
to get a good view from that spot, but
the lowlands were all covered with thick
clouds. We stayed overnight at a frugal
stone cottage there. The next morning,
we were able to enjoy a magnificent
view of the sunrise. After visiting the
shrine at the summit, we went down the
mountain by way of Subashiri, running
down the sandy slope. Once we began
running, we could not stop running all
the way to the foot of the mountain.
Maybe it took about an hour, while
climbing took more than six hours! We
went to Gotenba, southeast of Mt. Fuji,
and took a train to Tokyo.
   Certainly, Mt. Fuji is the highest
mountain in Japan and its magnificent,
graceful figure is loved by the Japanese
and is famous around the world as a
symbol of  Japan. I miss Mt. Fuji these
days in Tokyo.
 (N1  CH  I  K  0  Knanimunn, Meguro, Tokyo)
   With its elegantly symmetrical pro-
file, Japan's most famous and highest
mountain, Mt. Fuji, has for a long time
been a symbol of Japan, towering up to
              "DAILY WORD" ECHOES
3776 meters (12,390 feet). Most foreign-
ers, whether in Japan or abroad, have
identified Japan with Fujiyama, Geisha
girls and ukiyo-e. These three features
may be more familiar in foreign coun-
tries than in Japan. With the passing of
time, it must be acknowledged that both
ukiyo-e and Geisha girls have undergone
enormous changes, but Mt. Fuji, although
it rears its sky-high peak over a changed
region, remains unchanged itself. The
familiar symmetrical cone shape is the
same as that seen in ancient times.
   A careful look at the majestic moun-
tain strikes us emotionally with wonder
as we view its perfect form piercing a
sea of clouds no matter how many times
we have seen Mt. Fuji and whether we
see it through the windows of a shinkan-
sen train speeding along the Tokaido Line
or from a 747 jet carrier flying even
higher than the peak itself. Mt. Fuji is
especially beautiful in the morning and
evening. Before the sun comes up, it
changes from indigo to scarlet. When
the scarlet becomes deeper, the moun-
tain seems to rise yet higher,  evincin_g   ,a-
strong masculine impression. After the
scarlet changes to indigo in the evening,
it no longer appears so high. As its soft
outline seems to melt back into the sky,
there is something, inexpressible i n
words, very feminine about it. The art-
ist, Hokusai, expressed his wonder and
surprise at the different aspects in  h  is
Fugaku  Sanja-rokkei, (36 views of Mt.
Fuji) and showed the beauty of the moun-
tain when viewed from different angles.
Mt. Fuji is deeply embedded in Japanese
tradition from the poems of the  Manyo-
silt) and the wood block prints of  Hokusai.
There is a famous verse of Buson: "Only
Mt.  Fuji/ Remains  unburied/ The young
leaves!" This verse emphasizes that the
height and sublimity of Mt. Fuji cannot
be obscured by the young leaves on it.
White snow glittering in the sunlight,
new green leaves, a blue sky and the
pleasing touch of a soft breeze.
---------------------[End of Page 12]---------------------
MARCH 29,  1998
   Although Mt. Fuji is classified as an
active volcano, during July and August,
the climbing season, hundreds and thou-
sands of people make the trek to the sum-
mit in an endless stream, spending five
hours or more to arrive there. The crat-
er (3.5 kilometers in circumference) is
rimmed with  immacula_te_ white snow in
winter,  which'makes us feel strikingly
magnificent.1,n\-t-a\\\01\cm
   Nonetheless, an adverse influence is
beginning to be evident on Mt. Fuji as a
result of carbon and nitrogen dioxides
and other  detrimental  substances which
are being  produced by people in the
world, resulting in global warming. In
fact, recently there was no snow inside
or outside the crater. Never before have
we witnessed this miserable sight.  If
we leave this problem unresolved, the
average temperature of the world will
rise two degrees by the end of the 21st
century causing the sea level to rise 50
centimeters because of melted glaciers,
resulting in a threefold increase in the
area below sea level. As a result, the
area of the sea will greatly expand.
When this occurs, countries along the
rim of the Pacific and  Indiav9ceans will
suffer serious damage from  _t_emp_ests
and high tides. Countries like Japan
with long coastlines will suffer from
abnormal weather, harmful influences on
animals and plants spreading  :contagio_us
diseases which should cause us anxiety.
   My information comes from the
"Zoom-Up '98 Crisis of Global Warming"
TV program broadcast on Channel 11 at
 10:30 a.m.  on January  12,  1998 and the
editorial in the  ChOnichi newspaper on
December  11,1997. Global warming is
not only a problem for the distant future.
It is a present problem for the Fijians.
A number of villages  , in the  littoral zone
have already been submerged and resi-
dents have been forced to move to the
hummocks. Typhoons have increased
fourfold. A man working for a non-gov-
ernment organization who came to Kyoto
         "DAILY WORD" ECHOES 13
from Fiji expressed his fears pertaining ---
to the global warming crisis.
   I wonder if the United Nations Frame
work Convention on Climate Change held
in Kyoto, December 1-10, was success-
ful? Regarding the controversial targets
on carbon dioxide emissions which are
blamed for causing global warming, lead-
ers only set  2010 as the target year. The
world is moving steadily toward cultural
destruction, mass starvation and eco-
catastrophe. Nonetheless, the Japanese
seem to have adopted a throw away
principle. It is difficult for me to be-
lieve that many Japanese discard innum-
erable quantities of unsold personal  com-
puters because newer models have been
produced, five-year-old cars and unsold
lunches from convenience stores. Unsold
products along with refuse from fast
food shops are discarded like garbage
and much electricity is wasted. The
throw away principle seems to be ap-
proved by both suppliers and consumers.
   What should be done about this?
Since I drive a car, use a refrigerator
and watch television, I must be a small
destroyer of the environment. A running
car emits 1000 times as much carbon  d
oxide as a human being. Because a small
car produces less pollution, Toyota fac-
tories in Europe are now planning to pro-
duce smaller cars. "Small is beautiful!"
If possible, let us take us bus or go on
foot instead of using a personal car. It
is important for us to think of ways to
 conserve energy. When washing our face
 or brushing our teeth, do not let the wa-
ter run excessively. Use stairs instead
of an elevator when going up only one or
two floors. Before using a vacuum clean-
er, arrange things so as to shorten the
time electricity is used. Power plants
emit carbon dioxide to produce the elec-
tricity we use. Keep in mind the result
of a two-degree rise in temperature on
our planet and remember that small
power is beautiful.
 ((MIME  1WRI, Owariasahi)
---------------------[End of Page 13]---------------------
14 MARCH 29, 1998
 ***********************
 Decemberl  6  Message (Theme  #340)
   The short English word spelled I-o-t
has a of of different meanings. A
pieceof land may be called a "lot". An-
other meaning  of"lot" is a large number.
A third meaning of "lot" is an object
used in deciding a matter or choosing a
person by chance. According to the 1st
chapter of the New Testament book of
Acts, lots were cast to choose a replace-.
ment for Judas Iscariot, the man who be-
trayed Jesus. A game of chance in which
the winner is chosen by lot is  called a
lottery. A number of companies, private
and public organizations conduct lotter-
ies to attract customers, to raise money
or to  encourage dreams of riches at lit-
tle cost. What do you think about lotter-
ies? Have you often participated in
them? Have  you ever won prizes or oth-
er benefits as the result of a lottery?
What do  ycu think is the most popular
lottery in Japan? Do you think lotteries
conducted by public organizations or gov-
ernment bodies are good or inappropri-
ate? Why do you think so?
             ***********************
   According to a dictionary at hand, a
"lot" is "one of a set of objects used to
decide something by chance" and is also
"such a method of deciding". One's fate
or  'fortune is also meant by this word.
The Oxford Dictionary states that "lot-
tery" is a "gamble in which part of the
money paid for entrance-tickets is dis-
tributed by lot among some of the hold-
ers". (I think this explanation is not
especially suitable.) I have played rou-
lette, shot craps and tried other gam-
bling games for entertainment at casi-
nos in Las Vegas and Macao. When I vis-
ited Europe, I was surprised to find a
casino at Amsterdam Airport. We have
"DAILY WORD" ECHOES
no casinos in Japan because most gam-
bling is illegal here. However, there is
some legalized gambling sponsored or
sanctioned by local governments, includ-
ing racing (horses, bicycles, motorboats,
 etc.) and lotteries.
   Public lotteries (takara-kuji) start-
ed immediately after the war to deal
with the depressed economic conditions
and to give an additional source of in-
come to both national and local govern-
ments. Today, the result of the nation's
most popular New Year lottery is usually
announced on December 31, now a tradi-
tional event of the New Year's holidays.
Under the Tokugawa shogunate, lotteries
called  tomi-kuji"  were just as popular as
takara-kuji are now. Mentioning the
year-end, fukubiki (lotteries) issued in
bargain sales in shopping districts are
also popular among people. When some-
one wins a big prize, they give the bell a
ring and thus brighten the atmosphere of
the year-end.
   I have never bought takara-kuji, but
my wife has sometimes. The reason is
quite simple: I believe the law of proba-
bility. For the same reason, I never play
pachinko nor engage in other forms of  I  e-
galized gambling such as horse or bicy-
cle racing. In the case of pachinko, there
is a little chance for the player to demon-
strate some ability in propelling a small
ball. Although, strictly speaking, not a
form of gambling, pachinko has eclipsed
many kinds of gambling in popularity.
The secret of this popularity is, I think,
maybe the player's tiny hope of showing
his ability. But, concerning horse or bi-
cycle racing, it is the racer who must
show his ability; the spectators' lot is
completely controlled by the racers.
   All kinds of gambling are accompa-
nied by a bookmaker or promoter, who is
the one that makes a profit. For this
purpose alone, national and local govern-
ments promote the above-mentioned
gambling. Luckily, people tend to forget
a time of loss and remember only a time
---------------------[End of Page 14]---------------------
MARCH 29,  1998
of profit. When they compare their wins
and losses, most people must have lost
money in total, but still they continue to
dream about the next time. This is the
reason why the promoters can well man-
age the operation. What most complete-
ly depends on fortune is takara-kuji.  In
this case, a winning number is decided
just by a singular chance. There is no
room at all for the buyer to display his
ability. When I tell my wife this obvious
truth, she always criticizes me, saying
yume-no-kibo-no-nai (having no dream
nor hope). But still I have no thought of
giving up my principle of believing the
law of probability.
 (NlIKIHIKO  YOSHIMOTO, Gifu)
   I am basically not interested in
gambling. I have never made bets on
horse races, not to mention boat or bi-
cycle races. Therefore, I can proudly say
that I have never lost money on the rac-
es. But I do participate in a lottery once
or twice a year. It is the only time  I
gamble to test my luck.
 "If you don't buy a lottery ticket, you
don't have a chance to win at all." What
an enticing catch phrase this is! I think
it is true. It has a strong attraction for
me. Then I buy a minimum package of ten
tickets. While I say to myself that I have
bought a dream, the dream gets bigger
and bigger until the day of the announce-
ment of winners. I have never won more
than 3000 yen in the lottery.  I know that
we cannot get money so easily. That is
life. But it is also true that many people
have already won immense sums of
money. How did they win? Why not me?
   Well, I should be cool. Before buying
lottery tickets, I should take the proba-
bility of winning into account. I surely
learned how to calculate probability at
school. I know it is as small as a chance
of finding a diamond that has been lost
in a sandbox. But for some reason, I for-
get that figure and remember only the
number of winners when I buy tickets.
         "DAILY WORD" ECHOES  15
   This time of  the_year, I usually get
tickets of the Year-End's Jumbo Lottery,
but I have still not decided whether to
buy any this year. My sense of  righteous-
ness deters me from making a purchase
for I just don't want to do anything bene-
ficial to the antisocial bank that gave
rogues  ofsOkaiya a lot of money.
 (TOSHIRKI Tsuzuki,Yokohama)
   I can hardly ever remember winning
a lottery in my life. From my childhood
until now, I have had almost no luck in
becoming a winner as a result of "proba-
bility". When I was in primary school,
because there was a serious shortage of
such school supplies as stationery,  some
articles were allocated to schools from
local governments. Such articles were  of-
ten distributed in classrooms by means
of lottery because there were too few to
be given to all the pupils, but I have no
memory of getting anything in those lot-
teries. Since that time, I have had con-
tact with many lotteries from fukubiki
lotteries at seasonal sales to the New
Year's card lotteries, but  I have  always
been very unlucky in such lotteries and
as for takara-kuji, it is far beyond my
reach.
   The outcome of a lottery is based on
probability, so each person should have
an equal chance to win, but in fact,  i  n-
equality seems to be evident. Some per-
sons are very fortunate and win prizes,
while others (including me) do not. The
person who won in fukubiki also wins  i  n
takara-kuji. I have never had such an
experience. What an unequal world we
are living in! It seems life does not con-
form to mathematics. But is that so?
   The law of probability in mathema-
tics is very curious and incomprehensi-
ble, I think. Suppose you participate in a
lottery which is set to have ten percent
of winning numbers. If you buy ten tic-
kets, you should have one winning num-
ber among them. But if you have no win-
ning number, you can't blame the law of
^^•^^14
---------------------[End of Page 15]---------------------
16 MARCH 29, 1998
probability. You may be more likely to ___
find ten winning numbers if you buy
ninety more tickets, but you must be
aware that even if you bought a hundred
tickets and found no winning number, you
still could not blame the law of proba-
bility. You are more likely to find a win-
ning number if you buy more tickets, but
again, even if you bought ten thousand
tickets and found no winning number, you
still could not deny the law. That is be-
cause the law applies only in the case  of
a "large number".
   How strange this law is. It is called
"the law of the large number". What  i s
the large number? It is only said to be a
large number and mathematics does not
specify  how large  it is, but it is not an
infinite number. To be honest, I cannot
think clearly about such a thing. It is so
incomprehensible that I even perceive an
aspect of divinity whenever I think about
it. There are so many things that are
beyond our comprehension in the world.
"Lot" has the meaning of a large number.
It seems that "lottery" also implies a
large number. Don't you think there may
be some unrevealed secret in this coin-
cidence?
   According to mathematical law, if I
continue participating in lotteries, I
should eventually improve my chances of
winning, but at the same time, there is
the possibility that I will never win.
That is why I don't buy  lottery  tickets.
   There is an English saying that  "mar-
riage is a lottery". As  I have mentioned,
I am unlucky in material lotteries. On
the other hand, I consider myself a very
lucky person in regard to the "marriage
lottery". But what does my wife think?
 (NOBUYOSHI  TAKAGI, Midori, Nagoya)
   When I was working in a company
about twenty years ago, there was a com-
pany savings account which had a higher
rate of interest than that of ordinary
commercial banks, which could be used
by company employees. Once a year, on
              "DAILY WORD" ECHOES
the anniversary of the company's estab-
lishment, a lottery without any precon-
ditions was held as a special entertain-
ment for the depositors, sponsored by
the company. The company received no
benefit from the lottery but used it to
express its gratitude to its employees.
   The lottery related to New Year's
postcards has a similar character. I t
gives dreams and pleasure to the receiv-
ers without any special expenditure on
their part. Such lotteries are acceptable
to me. However, I am against those lot-
teries, such as raffles, which are char-
acterized by speculation. I believe real
riches should be gained as the result of
effort. Even if great wealth were gained
by chance,  it would be far from real suc-
cess and will disappear in due course.
Thus, I have no interest in any specula-
tive lottery.
   If such kinds of lotteries are intro-
duced into banks, it would be a problem.
I hope that banks  will not become in-
volved in offering speculative lotteries
to depositors for the purpose of gaining
more money without examining how to
realize a higher interest on deposits
which must be the primary duty of banks.
 (MUM  FUKUMI, Minami, Nagoya)
   It is difficult for me to write on
this theme because I am not interested
in lotteries. Tomi-kuji in the old days,
Edo Era, was administered by the Toku-
gawa bakufu and now there are many lot-
teries sponsred by prefectures or other
groups which are recognized by the gov-
ernment. What we call takara-kuji in
Japanese is the biggest one. Its prize
becomes bigger year by year. I wonder
why so many people participate since
the chance of winning is so small.
   I have been opposed to this lottery,
but recently my thinking has changed a
 little because I realize it is a state  un-
dertaking which brings in important  i n-
come and the present financial state of
the Japanese government is bad. I hope
---------------------[End of Page 16]---------------------
  MARCH 29, 1998
  it will stop raising taxes. But I have a
  suggestion about the lottery.  It is bet-
  ter that many people win small prizes
  rather than one getting a big prize.
 (MICHIKO  Sr!,R:) Minami, Nagoya)
      Government bodies hold lotteries to
   raise money. Conducting lotteries is a
  very effective way to raise money be-
  cause I understand that a bookmaker can
  usually keep at least forty percent of
  the sales after deducting the various
  costs involved. Government bodies which
  hold lotteries are supposed to use the
  money raised to build public structures
  or facilities such as highways, bridges,
   educational institutions, etc.
      I have occasionally bought lottery
  tickets, but have yet to win a big prize.
  Each time I draw a blank, I always con-
  sole myself with the thought that I have
  made a small contribution to a public
  fund. That is a kind of sour grapes atti-
  tude, indeed. To tell the truth, I hope to
   be a winner some day.
 (SHOJI  SUGIMOTO, Suginami, Tokyo)
01_ /Vat
A,4.4  ***********************
December 23  Message (Theme#341
   Today is the birthday of the present
Emperor,  Akihito. It is also the birthday
of Joseph Smith, founder of the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints,
whose adherents are known as Mormons.
Celebrations are being held these days
by both Christians and non-Christians to
celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, tra-
ditionally commemorated on December
25th. In the United States, it is custom-
ary to celebrate birthdays of family
members, friends or respected persons
by having parties and giving gifts. What
about the customs of your community
and of your family? Do you have thoughts
memories or any comments to make on
the subject  of: Birthday  Celebrations?
 "DAILY WORD" ECHOES  17
***********************
   On the birthday of someone in my
family, the whole family celebrates. Or-
dinarily, neither champagne nor wine i s
put on the dinner table, but they are
there on birthdays. In my childhood, I
often visited my friend on his birthday
and he was invited to my house on my
birthday, but the custom gradually dis-
appeared as the war became severe.
   After I entered my company, my
birthday was celebrated more simply
with no one from outside joining in the
celebration. However, after my retire-
ment, the situation has become quite
different. Three women who were my
coworkers are accustomed to sending me
a birthday present. On my last birthday,
they sent me two kinds of gorgeous cy-
clamen accompanied by a greeting. They
call themselves "three innocent girls"
but I wonder if it is true because some
of their  children are already university
students. Anyway, it is true that they
have never forgotten me even now that
ten years have passed since my retire-
ment from the company. I deeply appre-
ciate their warm consideration extended
to me and, besides, I am happy to have an
opportunity to meet them and express
my hearty thanks.
   I am sure that my birthdays of late
are more enjoyable than those of my
childhood.
 (HARM FUKUMI, Minami, Nagoya)
   Yes, we  do- celebrate birthdays in
our family. January  13th is my birthday,
so I expect other members of my family
to give me a card and presents. My
friends abroad also send me cards and
gifts. We used to have a little party at
home, but these days, since Yoko, my
wife, is busy with her own work at NHK
Culture Center, we go to a Skylark Fami-
ly Restaurant or a little more luxurious
restaurant at Sakae. The best part of
---------------------[End of Page 17]---------------------
18 MARCH 29, 1998
our birthday parties is the recognition
that we are loved by our family.
 (TOMOYHSU  KINILT11.1, Nishi, Nagoya)
   It is fresh in our memories that the
hostage incident in Peru occurred in  con-
nection with the birthday party for the
Emperor at this season last year. I hear
that it is customary for the embassy of
each country to hold such a celebration
on their sovereign's birthday.  Tencho-
setsu was a national holiday before the
war and the custom continues to be ob-
served even today under the new Consti-
tution. But, if my memory is correct, i t
was not so common in prewar days for
ordinary people to celebrate their own
birthdays as they do today. The reason
is, I think, because of the different way
of reckoning one's age. Counting a per-
son's full age, which is common in the
West, was introduced after the war un-
der the influence of the occupation forc-
es. Before that, everyone was consid-
ered a year older on New Year's Day, re-
gardless of the actual date of one's birth.
A baby born on Christmas became two
years old a week later. Under this sys-
tem, it was on New Year's Day, not on
one's birthday, that one could actually
feel getting older.
   In prewar days, we had other oppor-
tunities to celebrate children's growth
besides their birthdays. May 5th, Tango-
no-sekku, was Boys' Festival. Families
with small boys started preparing for
the festival about a month before. They
displayed a miniature warrior's helmet,
swords and a warrior doll in the house
and prayed for their boy's good health.
 Hina-matsuri (Momo-no-sekku), held on
March 3rd, was a festival for girls. It
was a traditional custom to display cer-
emonial dolls on tiers. Girls invited
their friends to a party and enjoyed them-
selves drinking shiro-zake and eating  h
shi-mochi. On Shichi-go-san, November
 15th, another ritual was held as a cele-
bration for children who had reached the
              "DAILY  WORD" ECHOES
ages of seven, five and three. For this
celebration, the children were dressed  i  n
their best clothes.
   These days, we celebrate children's
birthdays following the Western custom,
especially when they are small. We give
them a gift and prepare a cake for the
celebration. Once they are grown up,
however, birthday celebrations become
very simple. In my family, which ordinar-
ily consists of my wife and me, birth-
days are celebrated only by going to a fa-
vorite restaurant (Western dishes on my
wife's birthday and sushi on mine) and
just making a toast. We do not give  pres-
ents to each other. My wife often buys
something she likes on her birthday and
just tells me about it, saying it  .is for
her birthday. so I need not be troubled at
all to choose something for her.
   We Japanese have a custom of cele-
brating koki (70th birthday) or kiju
(77th birthday) and other special  birth
days in commemoration of our longevity.
Even if these specified ages are consid-
ered especially auspicious, we should
enjoy our ordinary birthdays more, con-
sidering it fortunate to have advanced to
another age because we can never avoid
getting older regardless of our own will.
 (MIKIH1K  VOSHIMOTO, Gifu)
   I remember that when I was young, I
was given a birthday present and had a
special dinner. It was the same for all
our family members, but it was discon-
tinued during the Second World War when
we could not think of birthdays of others
in our family.
   I give birthday presents to my hus-
band and grandson. My husband's office
has a small birthday celebration, taking
cake and tea together the month of his
birthday.  I decide about my birthday cel-
ebration  myself. My husband and I have a
special dinner. It is a very happy time
for me. I call my brothers to say  omede-
tei by telephone on their birthdays. It i s
only a verbal celebration, but we take a
---------------------[End of Page 18]---------------------
MARCH 29, 1998
trip with them at a mutually  convenient_
time instead of a birthday celebration.
 (MICHIKO  SONO, Minami, Nagoya)
   My first child was born nine years
after I got married, following two  mis7
carriages. When she was born normally
after long labor pains, I truly realized
that her birth was much more signifi-
cant and memorable than any other im-
portant incident I had experienced in my
life. It was not until I had a child that I
understood that to a mother, her child's
birthday was actually more meaningful
than her own birthday.
   At my second miscarriage, seven
years after my marriage, I was very dis-
couraged, plunging from the apex of joy
at becoming pregnant to the depths of
grief at losing a baby. In my hospital
bed, I could not help hearing the faint
cries of babies in other rooms. When I
was gazing at the ceiling at night, the
woman in the other bed in the room
talked to me, also gazing at the ceiling.
She told me about her sorrowful experi-
ence of losing her baby during the birth
process a few years before. The next
morning when I went out of the room, an
old woman cleaning the corridor stopped
to move the mop and said to me, "I lost
my son when he was three due to leuke-
mia". Walking along the long corridor to
the doctor's room, I deeply realized
there were very many sorrows relating
to a new life whether before or after the
birth.
   I will never forget that long period
before my daughter was born as well as
the greatest  joy at her birth. I'm sure I
was given that period from Heaven to
gain a deeper understanding of the im-
portance of life. Whenever I face com-
plicated problems in raising  .my children
who are approaching the difficult ages, I
think of the period when I had eagerly
hoped to become a mother and of many
women who have difficulties in having
their own children despite their hopes.
         "DAILY WORD" ECHOES 19
   When my daughter became one year
old, many of my relatives gathered to
celebrate her birthday. During the party,
I felt very faint movements of new life
in my body and secretly thought that no
one at the party was more precious than
my second child. Occasionally, not only
on their birthdays, I tell my daughter and
son that both of them are presents from
Heaven, by far the greatest presents re-
ceived throughout my life.
 (KIKUKO  KUIDIIFIFIFILI,Nakagawa,Nagoya)
   When I was a small boy, I used to
look forward to my birthday. On that
day, my mother prepared a special small
feast for me and my family to celebrate
my birthday by ourselves. In those days,
it was customary for each family to cel-
ebrate a family member's birthday with
a private feast. It was not customary to
invite people from outside to attend the
celebration.
   After a generation passed, however,
customs seemed to change a little. I re-
member when my sons were  small, they
invited some of their good friends to a
party so that their classmates could  join
in the celebration. Those invited were
expected to bring gifts for them. Here
we can see the cultural influence from
America.
   What makes people want to cele-
brate their birthdays? Why do they  feel
happy on their birthdays? In my view,
the affirmation of human, life makes
people happy. Happiness comes from
life. It is truly a good custom for a com-
munity to celebrate their members' birth-
days. Each one of us naturally celebrate
our birthdays. We cannot pass our birth-
day without thinking of our birth and
subsequent life or something about our
future life. Here lies one meaning of
"Happy Birthday to you."
 (SHOJI  SUGIMOTO, Suginami, Tokyo)
   Except for our grandchildren, it is
not our custom to celebrate birthdays,
---------------------[End of Page 19]---------------------
20 MARCH 29, 1998
but last summer on my birthday, I got a
very special, unexpected present. It was
from my grandchildren. They handed me
an envelope, saying, "Happy Birthday,
Grandma". It was wrapped very careful-
ly. After I unwrapped several pieces of
wrapping paper, I found five shoulder-
pounding tickets with an expiration date.
Their message was as follows: "This is a
very splendid  (chO-goka) gift so please
make use of the tickets while they are
effective." I couldn't help laughing but
at the same time, I felt they were dar-
ling, even though they are always noisy
and mischievous. Their priceless gift
was truly priceless for me.
 (MIMI  KOMAR, Midori, Nagoya)
   I don't clearly remember when it
was that my parents began to celebrate
their children's birthdays. It might have
been a few years after the end of World
War II. We children were allowed to re-
quest our favorite dishes for dinner on
our birthdays. It was a special dinner
for all family members because we were
still suffering from a food shortage. But
my birthday is January the 3rd, which
means it is still during the New Year's
holidays. As most Japanese celebrated
the New Year for three days at that time,
my parents did the same. But it was a
very busy time, making visits and  receiv-
ing visits from their relatives and cus-
tomers, so my birthday celebration was
usually forgotten. I complained to my
mother, but her answer was like this:
Your birthday was celebrated all over
Japan and our dishes were more special
than those of other children. And she
never made any special dishes for me. I
reluctantly agreed that she need not
make special dishes for me.
   Many years have passed since then. I
now have two daughters. Since they got
married, they always come to my house
during the New Year's holidays with
their husbands and children. They cele-
brate my birthday together every year,
- -
             "DAILY WORD" ECHOES
presenting me with some gifts. So now I
am very thankful that my birthday is
January the 3rd.
 (vIICH170  NIWA,  ShOwa, Nagoya)
            ***********************
December 30 Messaae  (Theme#342)
   The suggested theme for those who
wish to write an essay is: important
events of  7997 from your perspective.
You may write about events related to
your personal experience or events of
national or international  significance.
To you, what were the memorable
 events of the past year?
             ***********************
   Mother Teresa's death. I had never
met or conversed with her, but  I was
shocked to learn that she had died. She
had only a small bag even when she went
abroad. I saw her picture carrying her
bag when she came to Japan. A commen-
tator also spoke of it on television. It
left a strong impression on me. She said
that when God's love is in one's heart, it
is materialized by deeds.
   I remember the book entitled "Deep
River", Fukai Kawa, in Japanese. The au-
thor is Shusaku Endo. In the last part,
someone asked Mother Teresa's group
why they did what they did. They an-
swered that they could not help but do
so. The group manifested the love of God
which Jesus taught in the Bible: Love
your neighbor as you love yourself. God's
love is the most important thing for us.
I must reflect upon this matter again
and again. This theme prompted me to
engage in some self-examination.
 (MICHIKO  SANG, Minami, Nagoya)
   In recent years it has become cus-
tomary at the end of the year to choose
---------------------[End of Page 20]---------------------
MARCH 29, 1998
one Chinese character to symbolize the
events of the past year. The character
chosen for this year means "to fall". I
think this is choice is quite natural con-
sidering that there have been many
events which can be described by using
this word.
   The first "fall" this year was the
hostage crisis in Peru. Though Japanese
hostages were all liberated safely,  17
people "fell" after being shot. The next
"fall" was the cruel murder committed
by a middle-school boy in Kobe which
shook all parents throughout the country.
This incident should stimulate thought
about how to educate children. Next, the
"fall" which is closely connected with
our social life was the bankruptcy of
some banking institutions, including a
famous bank and a securities company.
Following an amendment to the Foreign
Exchange Law, the money market will be
greatly liberalized from next April. For-
eign banking concerns will advance into
Japan and the so-called "big-bang" will
shake up our banking market.
   The death of three people known
throughout the world are included in the
"fall" category. Teng Hsiao-Ping, the
most influential person in China, died i n
February at the age of 92. Diana, the ex-
Princess of Wales, died in a  miserable
traffic accident in August at the age of
 36.  And Mother Theresa, the Nobel Prize-
winning sister, died in September at the
age of 87.
   "Falls" at the very end of the year in-
cluded those related to the Pocket Mon-
ster and the New Frontier Party. In the
case of the Pocket Monster, children
watching television fell one after anoth-
er and about one thousand of them re-
ceived medical treatment at hospitals.
Recently, producers use too many tech-
niques of strong beams or blinking lights
in TV movies. They should carefully con-
sider how to improve the situation, re-
ferring also to foreign standards. The
New Frontier Party "fell" three years
"DAILY WORD" ECHOES 21
after its formation and was fragmented
into six parties. We cannot easily re-
member their names, which will surely
change again in the coming year.
   Lastly, mentioning my own family,
my wife fell down in April due to a
slight brain blockage. Doctors said it
may have been caused by overwork.
These words reminded me of her endeav-
or to accomplish the publication of her
book. Happily, she has recovered from
the illness and has almost no after-ef-
fects. Now, she is back to her former
life, holding posts at some schools and
giving lectures at various places. I  sin-
cerely hope she will never fall down
again for the same reason.
   Now, the year 1998 is at hand. In
the early part of the year, we will host
the Olympic Games in Nagano. If Japa-
nese athletes take an active part in the
Olympics, we can expect a lucky start in
the new year. We do not want to see
 -,gs "fall" in the new year, whether in
the skiing or  skating matches of the
Olympics or in any area of our society.
 (MIKIHIKO  YOSHIMOTO, Gifu)
   These days, when I wake up in the
morning and find myself as safe and
sound as ever, I often give a sigh of re-
lief because the night has passed with-
out an incident. Indeed, we live in such a
turbulent  and terrible society. It is not
unusual for ordinary people to be hurt or
even killed by familiar neighbors. Little
girls in Wakayama and Nara prefectures
are examples. Both of them were killed
last year by neighbors who they knew.
These were really frightening incidents
in that ordinary people suddenly commit-
ted murders without any reasonable mo-
tives. Similar  • cruelties followed one
after another. I cannot help recognizing
that we live in a society rife with vio-
lent and terrible crimes.
   Nothing was as stunning, however,
as the heinous crime committed by a  14-
year-old junior high school student in
---------------------[End of Page 21]---------------------
22 MARCH 29, 1998
Kobe last May. Of all people in the world,
he chose one of his junior friends as his
poor victim, decapitated him and put his
severed head in front of the main gate
of his school with a statement that he
had committed that murder to exact re-
venge against compulsory education and
the society that created it. The killer
also said that he was an invisible person
who held a grudge against his teacher.
   Parents throughout the country fell
into a stunned silence at the callous dis-
regard for human life. That unheard-of
event put the educational system and its
environment on trial. A newspaper edi-
torial stated that the Kobe case must
prompt a review of education. But I
would like to suggest otherwise. This
case was an unprecedented crime com-
mitted by a psychopath as a certain psy-
chologist noted. Any presumptions that
pays no attention to psychopathy will
make little sense. What an extraordi-
nary incident to happen! And  it remains
very important in that people must keep
tackling the problem no matter how long
it takes.
 (SHOJI  SUGIMOTO, Suginami, Tokyo)
   I remember two outstanding person-
al events during the past year. First, my
essays in Japanese were published in a
monthly magazine six times in a row.
Second, a male singing group to which  I
belong, performed in front of an audience
of about eight hundred for the first time
in Nagoya.
   I am a reader of a monthly magazine
for people 60 years old and over related
to the JR and traveling. It has a column
called "Readers' Plaza" which welcomed
contributions about popular songs in the
old days. I sent in my essay and, luckily
enough, it was printed early in the  .year.
Then I wrote an essay on another topic
and it also was accepted. I continued to
send in my essays and six different es-
says were printed during the whole year.
Furthermore, some people, known and
"DAILY WORD" ECHOES
unknown, telephoned, sent letters and --
postcards to me after reading my essays.
   Moreover, when the performance by
our singing group was held last fall,
1,200 tickets were issued and about 800
people gathered in the hall. In my par-
ticular case, I offered 30 tickets to ac-
quaintances and friends and all of them
attended the concert. I appreciated their
warm consideration.
   I am now very happy that my contri-
butions to the magazine have never been
omitted for over one year and that our
vocal concert was quite successful. But
what I feel more thankful for is that I
was acquainted with more people and en-
couraged by them beyond my expectation.
 (MUM  FUKUMI, Minami,  Nagoya)
   There are two things I would like to
write about with respect to the impor-
tant events of 1997.
   The first one is about my daughter,
Megumi. She is now in the second year
of junior high school and a year from
now she will be busy preparing for the
entrance examinations for senior high
school.
   It was early in February that my
wife and I had to make an important de-
cision about our daughter's future. Right
after we came back from Britain, we
were aware of our inability to help her
with her mathematics and science stud-
ies so we asked a  man who used to be a
judge and was very fond of teaching
children math and science to teach her.
That was about three years ago and as
Megumi did not do well in those sub-
jects, we began to worry about her. We
had tried to cancel the former judge's
teaching but failed to talk him out of
these "private" lessons. His favorite
hobby was photography and since he took
many pictures, we began to wonder if  his
photographing was related to the unsuc-
cessful performance of our daughter. In
order to persuade me to let him continue
his lessons, he eloquently told me how
---------------------[End of Page 22]---------------------
MARCH 29, 1998
difficult it would be for  Megumi_to study
math and science by herself, but we de-
cided Megumi should no longer go to see
him for help.
   When Megumi became a second year
student of junior high school and had no
one to ask for help in math and science,
she did a lot of studying herself. Now
she has gained confidence as she has
seen her math and science ability great-
ly improve. We are proud of our daughter
and hope she will become more and more
independent as a learner.
   The second event is about myself. I
am now 45 years old and think of this
age as an important phase of my life.
   Hoping to make this year a turning
point, I tried to get a new job, but failed
to do so. I was shocked, but now I see
that "failure" as a blessing in disguise.
The disappointment made me realize
what I should do. Teaching English is my
lifelong career and in order to find the
greatest joy in it, I need a variety of
teaching experiences. In order to make
my teaching as effective as possible, I
need to do much research. With this in
mind, I feel I am well on the way toward
my goal. I am teaching different kinds
of students at different classes and am
doing some research by myself and other
research with eight scholars. So all I
have to do is to trust in the Lord, my
Guide in life.
 (TOMOYFISU  K  I  MURA, Nishi, Nagoya)
***********************
January 6  Messaae (Theme #343
   Today  I will suggest two different
themes; you may choose which one ap-
peals to you. Since this is the Year of
the Tiger in Japan, the first theme sug-
gested is: Tiger, Tigers or the Year of
the Tiger. What do you associate with
tigers? Have you ever seen a tiger? If
you have, what was your  impression?
         "DAILY WORD" ECHOES 23
What kind of person is called a  "tiger"?
Why is this year the Year of the Tiger?
Do you have any special hopes or  expec-
tations for this year The second theme
is about the peculiar Japanese food made
from soybean curd called  tofu. Tofu has
become popular among some Americans
because of its exotic, yet healthful, char-
acter. Do you like  tofu? Do you eat it
often? Do you like it plain or with other
foods? How is it made and why is it con-
sidered good for the health?
             ***********************
   Have you ever heard that tigers can
travel a thousand miles a day? This year
is the year of the Tiger. The tiger is the
only carnivorous animal in the twelve
zodiacal signs, or  j0-ni-shi.
   In Chinese thought, tigers are sym-
bols of power and nimbleness, so  i  t
might be well to borrow the power or
strength of tigers in order to get out of
this stagnant state of the Japanese
economy. Moreover, it is a pity that  i  n
the world of politics and bureaucracy,
there remains a strong power structure
that hinders the accomplishment of ad-
ministrative reform.
   The Japanese lunar calendar is bor-
rowed from Chinese astrology. What we
call jikkan, or ten celestial stems, is a
series obtained by dividing each of the
five elements of ki (wood), hi (fire), tsu-
chi (earth), ka (metal) and mizu (water)
into two parts, called e (elder brother)
and to  (younger, brother). Thus we ob-
tain such combinations as ki no e (wood-
elder brother) and ki no to (wood-young-
er brother).
   The combination of the two series
(ten celestial stems and twelve zodiacal
signs) produces the cycle of sixty days
or sixty years as  sixty is the first num-
ber divisible by both ten and twelve. So
if one starts with ki-no-e, ne (wood-el-
der brother, rat), one ends after sixty
^11,
---------------------[End of Page 23]---------------------
24 MARCH 29,  1998
years with mizu-no-to, i (water-younger
brother, boar) and the cycle is complet-
ed. From sixty-one, a new cycle begins.
That is why we use the word kanreki i n
relation to a man who has reached sixty,
literally meaning the circle of the calen-
dar. The twelve zodiacal signs  were
combined with Chinese Yin-Yang theory
in the 7th century and various fortune-
telling concepts related to one's fate or
good or bad luck were included.
   The twelve zodiacal signs are help-
ful to learn in what year someone was
born, but it is groundless to suppose that
a person who was born in the year of the
Tiger has a violent temper or that one
born in the year of the Ox is patient or
enduring.
   My mother, who is now 84, was born
in the third year of  Taish6, which fell on
the special year of the Tiger called Go-
oh. She is always proud of her birth year
as though that gave her an advantage.
She doesn't know why that year is so
special, but she believes that a person
born in that year has good fortune even
though he or she has a rather violent  tem-
per. She had an experience which proves
that she was born under the luckiest
star. When she was in her forties, she
became seriously ill due to a stomach
ulcer. She repeatedly vomited blood and
her condition became critical. But
thanks to  my.father's diligent care along
with blood donations from several peo-
ple, she miraculously recovered after  s  ix
months. Fortunately, from then on, she
had never contracted a serious illness. I
believe this is all attributed to the mag-
ical  power resulting from her birth in
the year of the Tiger Go-oh.
           (SHOJI  BOWIE, Kasugai)
   Tigers are animals as big as lions
and are of the cat family. They live in a
wide area from Siberia to  Pakistn. Due
to the development of forest lands, the
numbers of tigers are decreasing great-
ly. Now an organization with its head
             "DAILY WORD" ECHOES
office in the Swiss Confederation is col-
lecting funds to save the tigers.
            (YRSUKO  HUM', Seto)
   Tigers are valuable and beautiful
animals  compared,  with other animals.
They live in North China,  India,  Thailand
and Indonesia. Tigers are an endangered
species, protected by the Washington
Treaty. However, there are now 5,000 of
them. Their fur was used as a carpet  i n
ancient times, but it is forbidden to do
so nowadays.
 (MIRK°  MORIHOTO, Tsuyama)
   There is a small shop that makes
tofu  near my house. It is operated by an
aged couple, so-called bean curd makers.
I like tofu very much, especially that
made by hand. Whenever I want to eat
tofu, I go to that shop to buy newly-made
tofu early in the morning. It is still
warm in my hand when I receive it. It is
really delicious with a faint odor of soy-
beans and a subtle taste when I eat it
while it is still warm. Its taste is quite
different from that sold in supermarkets
at a low price. The latter is watery and
inferior with less bean content. I think
the handmade tofu has the original taste.
I often introduce the shop to my friends
and I hope these small producers will
continue to make their products, not
succumbing to Japan's severe recession.
 (MICHIKO  Id  I  W  R,  ShOwa, Nagoya)
   Recently restaurants specializing i n
tofu cuisine have become very popular.
In Kyoto, there are a number of famous
tofu restaurants. In such restaurants,
courses from beginning to end, including
the dessert, are made of tofu.
   Last spring, I went to Kyoto with a
friend and was invited to a fine tofu res-
taurant. We enjoyed the beautiful form
as well as the flavor of the food. I like
almost all products made of soybeans,
but I especially like tofu. The elaborate
tofu dishes in a restaurant are all right,
---------------------[End of Page 24]---------------------
MARCH 29,  1998
but I prefer it in its simple form. In the
summer time when I have a poor appe-
tite, a piece of cool tofu is very smooth
on my tongue and in the winter, the
steam from the pan of boiling tofu
makes us warm both physically and
spiritually.
   We eat tofu quite often throughout
the year. It is an ideal food because it  i s
tasty, healthy and inexpensive. While
writing this essay, I remembered that I
have not eaten  kOya-dOfu for a long time.
I suddenly missed that taste.
 (1%117071  KODRNIfl, Midori, Nagoya)
   For my breakfast, I usually eat a
few pieces of plain soybean curds about
four centimeters square and one centi-
meter high. They are said to be very
healthful because they contain much
protein and are easily digestible. They
are also indispensable for the famous
Japanese food, sukiyaki, and are used as
good additions to  miso soup.
   Among Chinese dishes, there is a
tasty one called  mabo-tofu in which
tofu is mingled with minced meat, red
pepper and some vegetables and boiled in
sesame oil. It is a favorite food of Japa-
nese people. Tofu is so soft and digesti-
ble that it is suitable for aged people
and women.
   I attend a monthly haiku poetry
meeting which has four men 87 years
old. Last December, these aged men held
a  beinenkai luncheon in another place pri-
or to the regular haiku meeting which
was to start at 2:00 p. m. They informed
us in advance that they would have their
 beinenkai at lunchtime and after that
they would attend the regular haiku
meeting. But they did not appear even
after 3 o'clock. Getting impatient, we
inquired about where they were holding
their party and found out it was at  Ume-
noki ("Plum Tree"), the famous Japanese
restaurant for tofu dishes. Responding
to our call, they arrived at our meeting
around 4:00 p. m., apologizing for being
"DAILY WORD" ECHOES 25
so late. I presume  they  _so enjoyed eat-
ing the tasty tofu that they forgot the
time of the haiku meeting.
   I hear there are various grades of
tofu dishes at different prices. Now
that I will attain the age of koku (70
years old), I hope I will have a chance to
eat at such a high-class restaurant that
specializes in tofu dishes.
 (HARM  [MOM!, Minami, Nagoya)
   Tofu is my favorite food. Have you
ever heard a tofu vendor's horn in the
evening? It is a very nostalgic sound for
me, even today, because it reminds me of
my childhood when there were no super-
markets. Nowadays, it is common to buy
packaged tofu at a supermarket, but
fresh tofu floating in a vendor's bucket
of water tastes much better than the
packaged one.
   Many years go when I heard a tofu
vendor's horn in my neighborhood, I ran
after the vehicle and asked the vendor to
stop in front of my house. Since then,
fortunately, I have been able to buy very
fresh tofu every Friday evening. I can
describe the difference between fresh
and packaged tofu. The "real" tofu has a
good odor and taste of soybeans. If you
eat plain tofu, you can tell the differ-
ence. It is very nutritious and healthful.
If you have any health problems, tofu is
the best food for you.
 (MICHIKO  MUMMA, Kasugai)
   Tofu has a high nutritional value
because it is made from soybeans. It is
also very convenient for us. It does not
have a peculiar taste, so we can use it in
many different ways. We can eat it in
all seasons, making it hot or cold. We
can eat it by itself or with other foods,
such as meat, fish or vegetables. It is
indispensable for nabemono (a meal
boiled in a pan). Tofu can be combined
with many other tastes. We can also
change its size and shape. It is very
good for people of all ages, from babies
---------------------[End of Page 25]---------------------
26 MARCH 29,  1998
to the  elderly. One reason we use it so
often is because it is so convenient.
   I watched a man making age, fried
tofu, when I was a child. As if he was a
magician, his hand changed the tofu to
age. Age is also used in cooking and is
convenient like tofu.
 (MICHIKO  SRNO, Minami, Nagoya)
   I have special memories of tofu
from my boyhood days. As I have often
mentioned in previous essays, I was evac-
uated from Tokyo to Hiroshima during
the war. My mother's parents, with whom
we lived, were tofu makers. I woke up
very early in the morning at their home
because of the noise of a mill grinding
soybeans. Sometimes I helped my grand-
parents make tofu so I am familiar with
the manufacturing process. To make to-
fu, soybeans are first soaked in water
for from 10 to 24 hours. Then they are
ground into a milk-like liquid. With the
addition of a specified amount of calci-
um sulfate (which we call nigari), the
curdy liquid congeals into a very soft,
custard-like substance. The mixture is
poured into a square frame over the bot-
tom of which a straining cloth has been
spread. Gentle pressure is applied to
squeeze out the excess liquid until the
custard is about half of its original size.
The remaining curd is tofu; the squeezed
out lees or sediment is called o-kara.
   Tofu was first made in China over
2000 years ago and soon spread  through-'
out  the Far East. In Japan,  it came into
wide use from the middle ages. By the
way, the Chinese characters for tofu i n
China are the same as in Japan and are
pronounced similarly. In the early days,
tofu was homemade and sold only in spe-
cial shops, but now it is made in facto-
ries and sold in supermarkets. In my boy-
hood, even in Tokyo, tofu was usually
sold by vendors who carried tofu in a box
on a bicycle or hanging from a pole.
   Tofu has become very popular in Eu-
rope and America as a health food. Soy-
             "DAILY WORD" ECHOES
beans contain high quality vegetable pro-
tein and are called "meat of the farm".
Tofu also has a high nutritive value con-
taining protein and calcium, but it is  I  o  w
in calories. During the war, all of us
Japanese ran short of provisions, but my
family members could get quite enough
food as we lived in a rural district. Tofu,
especially, which was produced by my
grandparents, helped to alleviate our
food situation. 0-kara, the squeezed out
lees, also was an important food for us.
We could eat as much of it as we wanted
because it was going to be thrown away.
   Tofu is one of my favorite foods.
There will never be a day when I do not
eat tofu. (By the way, it is the same
with  natto, fermented soybeans, which I
eat every morning.) Tofu can be eaten in
various ways. I like hiya-yakko, cold
soybean curd, most. We eat it with soy
sauce, minced negi (green onions) and
grated shoga (ginger). In winter,  yu-dofu
is very good. It is cooked in hot water
and served with seasonings. Tofu is also
one of the most popular ingredients for
sukiyaki. Every morning, I take tradi-
tional Japanese food for breakfast: nat-
to,  laver and  miso soup. Ingredients of
the  miso soup may be a potato, a radish
or something else, but mostly tofu. I
think tofu is one of the most nutritious,
cheap and convenient foods for us Japa-
nese.  (MIKIHIKO YOSHIMOTO, Gifu)
   Most Japanese eat rice every day.
What other foods do we eat daily other
than rice and seasonings? In my home,
bean curd (tofu) is one of them. I buy
tofu at supermarkets and also from a
tofu vendor who drives around the town.
Her car, which broadcasts lovely music
like Aka-tonbo, or "Red Dragonfly",comes
in the evenings of Monday, Wednesday
and Friday.
   Now, in winter, we love food served
in a pot, which  'we call nabemono, of
which there are many kinds: sukiyaki,
mizutaki, misonabe,  yuciffu and a special
---------------------[End of Page 26]---------------------
MARCH 29, 1998
nabemono with no name. All of them  re-
quire tofu. As the weather gets warmer,
we will eat  hiya-yakko, cool bean curd
seasoned with soy sauce, pieces of green
Japanese onion, dried bonito and ginger.
All the year round, I have miso soup with
bean curd and other different ingredients
every morning. I think bean curd is deli-
cious, nutritious, easily digestible and
easily cooked. We can call tofu one of
the masterpieces of Japanese cuisine
 (YOSHIKO TOYOTA, Kanie, Aichi)
   I like tofu so much that it has been
my custom for a long time to enjoy tofu
dishes almost every day. Tofu is, indeed,
one of my favorite foods.
   I like tofu better than any other food
because it leaves a good taste in the
mouth, but I would be at a loss if asked
to explain how it tastes. It tastes quite
plain and simple, full of delicate savors,
but very good.
   The above is just part of the story.
Not only does tofu taste good, it is ex-
tremely nutritious as well. It's great
merit as a food is that it is full of a  var-
iety of nutrients. Moreover, it is very in-
expensive. I know nothing more nutri-
tious and inexpensive than tofu. It
stands to reason that tofu has enjoyed
great popularity among people since  its
introduction from China more than a
thousand years ago.
  (SHOJI  SUGIMOTO, Suginami, Tokyo)
   Tofu is a food that the common peo-
ple in Japan have loved for many years
after it was introduced by Buddhist
priests who  hk1 studied in China. I hear
that during the Tokugawa Shogunate, in
 1780, a cookbook entitled "One Hundred
Kinds of Tofu Delicacies" was published
in wood block print.
   When I learned the Chinese charac-
ters for tofu (meaning rotten soybeans)
for the first time, I wondered why tofu
was a good food. Later, I learned that
the character for "rotten" may also  de-
         "DAILY WORD" ECHOES 27
note liquid matter that becomes solid
after being condensed.
   I enjoy eating tofu delicacies, roast-
ed tofu or fried tofu almost every day.
Above all, I like eating cold, diced tofu
flavored with soy sauce and dried and
scraped bonito, called  hiya-yakko. I also
like boiled tofu cooked with meat or
codfish and some vegetables, such as
Chinese cabbage and stone leeks. Every
dish I mentioned tastes very good. I un-
derstand well why Americans also like
tofu. Not only in America, it will be
popular soon all over the world because
it goes well with foods of any flavor.
   Tofu is made from soybeans. They
contain much protein. Also, they become
light and aid digestion. Where there is
tofu, there is a way to become a good
cook. That is why tofu is called a healthy
food and is loved by all people who have
tried it. I am thankful to God for being a
Japanese for I have been enjoying tofu
from my childhood.
 (KRZUKO Fukushima)
 *************************
   Among the 21 contributors to this
59th issue of "Daily Word" Echoes,
there is one first-timer, who has been
a listener to the spoken messages for
many years. We welcome her to these
pages.  If my calculations are correct,
she is the 104th person who has  con-
tributed an essay over the past 16
years and the 53 essays included in
this issue bring the total number of
essays printed to 3047.
   Since the  newt issue will be #60,
since my age has reached 70 and since
I am about to retire as pastor of the
church in Takahama, that may be a  pm-
pitious time to discontinue this publi-
cation. Although that is not definite
at this time, I do recall the words of
Ecclesiastes 7:8: "Better is the end of
a thing than its beginning." (C.0.)
  0\k'
---------------------[End of Page 27]---------------------