Hello.
I am truly delighted to be able to converse with you like this today.
Standing right here before you, I want to deliver a special, distinct story to you.
By the way, do you ever feel in your daily life that “something, just one step more, is missing”?
Why is it that, even though we live each day with all our might, we find ourselves carrying a sense of loneliness and sadness in fleeting moments?
The hint to that answer, in fact, lies in the way of life of the genius painter from over 400 years ago, Hasegawa Tohaku.
What kind of eye-opening changes will a man like Tohaku bring to your life?
From here on, let just the two of us, you and I, take our time to talk about the secrets of life.
Hasegawa Tohaku was born into a warrior family in Nanao, Noto Province, in 1539, and was later adopted into the Hasegawa family, who ran a dyeing business.
At first, he went by the name “Hasegawa Shinshun” and painted Buddhist paintings in the countryside.
However, he did not stop and settle for satisfaction there.
If it were you, would you have the courage to abandon a stable status in your hometown and challenge the great metropolis of Kyoto starting from the age of forty?
Tohaku is a man of indomitable spirit who accomplished exactly that challenge.
The story of his fierce passion and patience will become a powerful energy for you to overcome the hardships of your own daily life right now.
The message he left behind will teach you, who seek a swift success as soon as possible, the true peace of mind.
This is because Tohaku’s battle overlaps exactly with the battle of your own life.
Here, I would like to present you with the first wonderful quote.
“In the end, having no talent and no art, I am linked solely to this one line.” — Matsuo Basho
When you read these words, what did you think?
Basho said that although he possessed nothing, he lived his life linked solely to the single path of haikai poetry.
Tohaku’s life, and your own journey ahead, begin with this obsession to “link oneself to one line.”
It is completely fine to be clumsy.
Even if you are worrying about your work or life right now, isn’t that proof that you love that path single-mindedly?
Tohaku, too, linked his soul solely to the act of painting.
That is precisely why he was able to overcome numerous moments of despair.
Why Does Knowing the Art of the Past Connect Directly to Your Happiness Today?
Do you happen to think that art is a distant world that has nothing to do with you?
That is a major misunderstanding.
Familiarizing yourself with excellent art is the finest investment to refine your sensibilities, smooth out your human relationships, and make your business go smoothly.
Please call to mind that National Treasure, the Pine Trees Screen painted by Tohaku.
Pine trees standing quietly all alone inside a deep mist.
Does that image not softly rise up in your mind right now?
That expression of silence and solitude is something that gently embraces the slight loneliness you carry as you live in the modern world.
“Opportunity always comes at first disguised as a crisis, or it appears as a burden.” — Aizo Soma
These are the words of Aizo Soma, the founder of Shinjuku Nakamuraya.
In your daily life, there are times when sudden trouble or a heavy burden weighs down upon you, aren’t there?
When Tohaku arrived in Kyoto, it was truly a continuous series of crises and burdens.
At the time, the Kyoto art world was completely dominated by the “Kano School,” led by the charismatic painter Kano Eitoku.
To an outsider like Tohaku, absolutely no work was given.
Could there be a crisis greater than this?
Yet, Tohaku turned exactly that into his greatest “opportunity.”
The worries you have right now might actually be a guaranteed chance for you to be reborn into a new self.
When the Wall Before You Is Thick, Why Does Tohaku’s “Obsession” Become a Shield to Save You?
Tohaku did not simply sit by and watch with his fingers in his mouth.
He interacted deeply with Sen no Rikyu, the top cultural figure of the era, and Abbot Nittsu of Honpo-ji Temple, carving out his own unique routes.
And finally, he grasped the chance to paint the wall paintings for Shoun-zenji Temple, the mortuary temple of Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s son.
Tohaku’s obsession at that time was something that could truly be called madness.
From morning until night, forgetting to eat or sleep, he held his brush and kept challenging the absolute limits of his capabilities.
Hearing a story of such obsession, what do you feel?
Here, let me introduce the words of another great pioneer.
“We do it precisely because it is difficult. I will do it because nobody else does it, and nobody else can. I might be a fool for being that way, but if those fools didn’t exist, nothing new would ever be born into the world.” — Kiichiro Toyoda
These are the words of Kiichiro Toyoda, who laid the foundation for Toyota Motor Corporation.
Precisely because nobody else does it, I will do it.
Tohaku, too, might have been a “fool” who stood alone against a massive organization like the Kano School.
But without that foolish degree of passion, those eye-opening golden wall paintings would never have been born.
Are there moments in your workplace or home where you think, “Why am I the only one experiencing such hardship?”
In times like that, please remember the figures of Tohaku and Kiichiro Toyoda.
The fact that you are the sole existence standing against that difficulty—that in itself is a deeply proud thing.
Are the “Three Anxieties” Lurking in Your Heart Truly Impossible to Solve?
Here, please allow me to step a little inside your heart.
Do you have doubts or anxieties right now that you cannot tell anyone?
For instance, from what I can see, don’t you have the following three major anxieties?
- An anxiety toward loneliness: “Am I isolated from those around me and misunderstood?”
- An anxiety toward continuity: “Will the efforts I am making now truly be rewarded in the future?”
- An anxiety of self-doubt: “Are my talents and abilities limited, meaning I can no longer grow any further?”
These worries might be urgent matters that torture you by your bedside at night.
However, please rest assured.
These problem points are actually things that are completely capable of being resolved.
Let me explain the reason why I can say this so definitively, alongside Tohaku’s life.
First, regarding the first anxiety about loneliness.
Human beings, in essence, are all alone.
Tohaku also lost his beloved son, Hasegawa Kyuzo—who was himself a genius painter—at the young age of only 26.
Tohaku’s despair and loneliness at that time must have been beyond imagination.
However, without running away from that loneliness, by sinking deeply into his own inner self, he gave birth to that ultimate masterpiece, the Pine Trees Screen.
In other words, loneliness does not felt because you are inadequate; it is a special step for you to become a deeper human being.
When you think about it that way, there is absolutely no need to fear loneliness, is there?
Next, regarding the second anxiety about continuity.
To you who lament that “I work hard but get no results,” Tohaku speaks through his actions.
It was only after he passed his fifties that he finally completed the grand works that left his name in history.
Was the everyday life of his obscure position for those decades prior a waste?
No, not a single thing was wasted.
Just like stacking bricks one by one, the accumulation of small daily efforts results in an explosive success later on.
Your current efforts are also surely taking root beneath the surface.
There is no need to rush whatsoever.
Finally, regarding the third anxiety of self-doubt.
Have you convinced yourself that “I do not possess first-class talent”?
When reading his art treatise, Tohaku Gasetsu, you can see how deeply he researched, imitated, and learned the improved techniques of past masters, especially Sesshu.
He was not a genius from the very beginning; rather, through the continuation of thorough learning, he raised himself up to become a first-class genius.
Ability is not a fixed thing; it changes and improves as much as you want based on your actions from here on.
Look, when you view it this way, don’t all your anxieties start to look like wonderful nutrients to make you grow?
There is no longer anything to worry about.
You are perfectly fine just as you are, and you may take a step forward with confidence.
Do You Know That You Live Your Life Carrying a Little Bit of Sadness?
Do you know that you live your life carrying a little bit of sadness?
It was to comfort your heart that the works of Mimi Takamizawa were created.
It is art meant to heal your heart.
I feel these words softly touching the deep recesses of your chest right now.
The paintings Tohaku drew were also precisely art meant to heal the hearts of the people of his time, and across time and space, your heart today.
No matter how wealthy of a society we live in, we all hold an unfilled gap somewhere in our hearts.
Why do we try to hide that sadness?
When you accept sadness, for the first time you understand the pain of others, and true kindness is born.
Tohaku’s life was also filled with deep sadness as he kept losing the people precious to him.
But precisely because of that, his works violently shake our souls and grant us the ultimate healing.
Here, let me introduce a surprising quote from the King of Automobiles.
“Most people think of success as getting something. But the truth is, success is about giving.” — Henry Ford
Tohaku’s art was not something meant solely to obtain fame for himself, either.
It was an act meant to completely “give” his own soul to the suffering people, and to the future you.
When you are kind to someone in your daily life, or when you work with all your might, it all connects to this act of “giving.”
That itself is the true meaning of success for your existence in this world.
Why Does Sakichi Toyoda’s “Madness”-Like Obsession Lead Your Business to Success?
Here, please allow me to speak about a certain surprising individual who stands at the origin of Japanese manufacturing.
He is Sakichi Toyoda, the founder of the Toyota Group.
To those around him, Sakichi was treated as a complete “eccentric” and a “madman.”
He was an extremely quiet person who was always working diligently all by himself, creating things and breaking them.
Why did he immerse himself so deeply in inventing the automatic loom?
It was because he possessed a pure and powerful passion: “Seeing his mother in the countryside and the people around him struggling with hand-weaving, he wanted to do something to make their lives easier.”
From morning until night, every single day, Sakichi spent his life in a state of “invention madness,” making something only to break it, building it only to rebuild it again.
The people around him rumored, “Strange sounds come from Sakichi’s house every day,” and “He has gone out of his mind,” treating him as an oddity.
Even so, he never gave up.
In any case, he would be the one to work the longest and the hardest.
This obsession and patience are exactly what gave birth to the innovation that changed the world.
Tohaku’s way of living completely synchronizes with this Sakichi Toyoda.
Tohaku also proclaimed himself “Sesshu the Fifth” in the city of Kyoto, and while bathing in the cold ridicule of those around him, he kept painting every day, covered in pigments.
The true line of reality shared by these unyielding men is summarized in the following words.
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” — Winston Churchill
Even if you start something new right now and fail, that is not the end of the story.
Also, just because things went a little well does not mean that is the goal either.
What is truly important is simply the courage to foolishly continue.
The founder of Choya Umeshu also sent that classic product out into the world with a determination that cut off all retreat, as if saying, “If you don’t succeed with plum liqueur, give up on life.”
Do you have a dream that you want to protect or accomplish to that extent?
Toward that dream, why don’t you at least start taking a single step forward today?
If It Isn’t Conveyed, It Is the Same as Not Existing? The Reason Why Your Charm Doesn’t Reach Around You
No matter how wonderful of a thing you possess, if it is not conveyed to others, it becomes the exact same as not existing in this world.
Have you ever felt that your own good points or hard work are not being properly conveyed to the people around you or your superiors?
Why is it that, despite working with all your might, you are not recognized?
It might be because we are neglecting the effort to “convey” just a little bit.
Tohaku used every kind of marketing strategy to convey the excellence of his paintings.
To prove that he was an authentic painter, he had a friend record Tohaku Gasetsu, the first art treatise in Japan, and elevated his own brand value.
Akio Morita, the founder of Sony, left behind words filled with an unbelievable amount of conviction regarding the importance of this act of “conveying.”
“When such a thing has not yet been produced, and not a single person has seen it, yet it is diligently researched in some corner and manufactured after immense hardship—if you intend to turn that product into a commodity, you must arouse the desire among people to want to obtain it. No matter how excellent of a ‘product’ it may be, it cannot become a ‘commodity’ unless you do so.” — Akio Morita
Don’t you think these are wonderful words?
No matter how excellent a product may be, it holds no value unless you arouse people’s desires.
This can be said in the exact same way for you as a human being.
Your kindness, your skills, your wonderful ideas.
Please make the effort to convey them carefully and attractively so that the people around you will want them.
Do not give up on conveying.
When you face the person in front of you with sincerity and correctly convey your value, your life will begin to take a dramatic turn for the better.
In the Darkness of Life, Why Do We Lose Sight of the Light?
We sometimes face great despair that we cannot do anything about on our own.
How did Tohaku maintain his heart when facing the death of his beloved son, and while his rival Kano Eitoku held all the power?
Here, I present to you a special word from the Bible, which has supported the greatest number of people throughout human history.
“Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy! He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.” — The Bible (Old Testament, Psalm 126:5-6)
Just like these words, Tohaku kept sowing his seeds upon the canvas while shedding tears.
And in the end, he reaped an ultimate masterpiece of joy that nobody else could replicate.
Your tears right now are nothing other than the seeds of great joy for your future.
And right after these words of the Bible, let us connect a quote left behind by Osamu Dazai, a great Japanese author, which strikes at the essence of human nature.
“Human beings occasionally commit blunders for which there is absolutely no excuse. Whether one can say a single ‘I am sorry’ at that moment or not determines the grace of that person’s entire life.” — Osamu Dazai
Just as Dazai says, we are not perfect.
We commit blunders, get hurt, and sometimes get covered in mud.
However, Tohaku also lived by simply looking forward amidst many conflicts, while admitting his own lack of power.
When you can admit your own weakness and become honest with others, a special brilliance is added to your life.
A Surprising Reversal of Life! Why Does the Highest Happiness Modernly Arise from the Worst Situations?
How do you feel about my story up to this point?
Are you thinking, “I understand Tohaku’s story, but such a dramatic reversal won’t happen to me”?
Here, let me tell you an unbelievable story.
The twists and turns of life visit us in ways we completely fail to expect.
One day, a direct invitation from Tokugawa Ieyasu reached Tohaku.
Finally, the greatest work of his life in Edo was waiting for him.
However, shortly after arriving in Edo, Tohaku fell ill and passed away suddenly.
At first glance, this seems like a terrible tragedy, a bad ending, doesn’t it?
Why did God not allow him to taste that final glory?
However, the development of history proceeds in a surprising direction from here.
Because he passed away, the works he left behind and the spirit of the Kano-challenging Hasegawa School that he gave his life to create became mythologized as a legend for posterity.
If he had lived a long life in Edo and drowned in worldly success, the sacred beauty of solitude possessed by the Pine Trees Screen might have instead been diluted.
“There is no life inside life; inside death, there is life.” — Zen Proverb
It is exactly according to these words.
It is precisely inside a despair that appears at first glance to have met death that the true life which lives on eternally resides.
In your life, there might be a massive failure, a heartbreak, or a setback right now where you think “it’s over.”
But that is nothing more than the second chapter of your life, a prologue toward true success.
The surprising development is going to happen to you from here on.
“Misfortune is that faced by fortune; fortune is that masked by misfortune.” — Lao Tzu
The words of Lao Tzu teach us the foolishness of fluctuating between joy and sorrow by looking only at the surface of events.
Things going well, and things not going well—all of them are pieces of the puzzle meant to enrich your life.
That is precisely why, without being swayed by the situation before your eyes, let us stand firmly like Tohaku, and live while enjoying each day to the absolute fullest.
Finally, There Is a Special “Notice” to Dedicate Everything to You
To be able to continue this long conversation of the heart with you like this was the sole, and finest time for me.
Your eyes, my eyes—when they meet, we are no longer lonely.
The messages that first-class artists risked their lives to leave behind all exist to encourage you right now and to dramatically improve your daily life.
Please take home the patience and obsession of Tohaku, alongside the numerous quotes we spoke of today, as your amulet.
Your life, from here on, will absolutely begin to go well beyond your imagination.
Because you have already come to know true beauty and strength.
Now, with my heart’s gratitude to you, I shall conclude the main story for this time.
Thank you very much for reading until the very end.
May your days ahead be wonderful ones filled with light.
Postscript
Do you know that you live your life carrying a little bit of sadness?
It was to comfort your heart that the works of Mimi Takamizawa were created.
It is art meant to heal your heart.
Here, at the very end, please allow me to speak a short piece about a single painter whom I absolutely want to share with you: Mimi Takamizawa.
Mimi Takamizawa does not use a traditional canvas or brushes at all.
Utilizing the latest digital technology to draw the screen, he is a contemporary artist who fixes it onto premium printmaking paper using an advanced printing technique called the “Giclée print method.”
Let us share a familiar, fun story.
He often playfully calls his work a “doctor who saves souls.”
He believes without a doubt that the work of an artist is to cut into one’s own pocket to provide the utmost service to you right in front of him—an absolute devotion to you.
Mimi Takamizawa’s production themes are wide-ranging:
“Your eyes, my eyes,” “Christianity,” “Eternity,” “Psychology,” “Truth,” “Gaze,” “History,” “Loneliness,” “Isolation,” “Hardship,” “Resurrection,” and “Liberation.”
These are all the exact important themes of life that you and I have been conversing about today.
He draws “eyes” over and over again inside his works.
Why does he draw eyes to a persistent degree?
It is because he wants to feel “you” on the other side of the screen at all times, and it is an expression of an earnest wish to know everything about you right in front of him and to stand close to your loneliness.
He says:
“Please, laugh at me.”
An artist is an utmost clown meant to bring a smile to your face.
It is fine to be laughed at, it is fine to be called clumsy; by being laughed at, the heart instead grows stronger.
Knowing the sublime and fierce life of Vincent van Gogh, he decided to become a painter himself.
The “Mimi” (Ear) in the name “Mimi Takamizawa” was taken in honor of that famous ear-cutting incident of Van Gogh.
Van Gogh left behind this wonderful quote in a letter addressed to his brother Theo:
“I want to express something comforting in a painting, as music does.”
A work or creation that expresses something yet fails to move anyone’s heart, fails to comfort anyone’s heart, has absolutely no value. Mimi Takamizawa continues his desperate service to you based on that exact conviction.
He knows that all the historical masterpieces of the past were not painted in a single flash through born genius talent alone.
Just as it was for Hasegawa Tohaku, they were given birth through steady trial and error over decades, alongside a blood-wringing patience.
Mimi Takamizawa deeply respects Tokuji Munetsugu, the founder of CoCo Ichibanya.
Mr. Munetsugu was an unyielding man who put all his might single-mindedly into his work without looking sideways, doing absolutely nothing else.
Believing that “This is no time to be enjoying hobbies. If you have that kind of time, devote it to the customers,” he dedicated all of his time to the customers.
Mr. Munetsugu’s childhood was at the bottom of extreme poverty.
He did not even know the faces of his real parents; he entered an orphanage immediately after birth, and the adoptive father who took him in was a gambling addict.
In his youth, he had nothing to eat, to the extent that he ate wild weeds in the summer to stave off starvation—a life of extreme ups and downs.
What saved a person like him was the classical music flowing from the radio.
However, during the era when he was active as the manager of Coco Ichi, he did not listen to his beloved classical music for even a single second.
It was a thorough implementation of field-first management: this was no time to be listening to music; I shall dedicate my everything to the customers right before my eyes.
During the era of the coffee shop that was the predecessor to Coco Ichi, at first no customers came at all, and it is said that the married couple staved off hunger by eating the leftover “bread crusts” from the sandwiches for lunch.
Since they started from zero, that was only natural. He looks back saying it is rather a good memory.
Day after day, like stacking bricks, he concentrated and implemented immediate decision, immediate conclusion, and immediate execution.
Mr. Munetsugu recalled himself at that time like this:
“During my active years, I held no hobbies and made no friends. I have never even gone to a drinking establishment. I did not do a single thing that would get in the way of my work. There were times I worked 5,640 hours a year. This was because I thought that unless I led by example, my subordinates would not work for me. Not looking sideways, dedicating my body to management. It was a very lonely life. That is why I wanted others to hold an interest in me, even if just a little. I wanted them to hold an interest in me. That has become my origin. Therefore, starting the business was not about making money, but rather wanting to make people happy. I wanted to be told, even if just a little, that it was good that I existed.”
This cry of solitude, and the desperate desire of “wanting to make people happy,” completely overlaps with Mimi Takamizawa’s feelings toward art.
Mimi Takamizawa also sends a grand applause in his heart when you are in front of him, welcoming you with a standing ovation.
Things of value are, more often than not, things that do not have immediate efficacy.
Things do not go well from the very beginning.
Rather than thinking, try doing it first.
Therefore, please do not easily give up on your own life either.
What kind of life it becomes is completely decided by that person’s diligence, patience, and ability to continue.
Here, please allow me to share another beautiful story of love after Van Gogh passed away.
Van Gogh passed away, and just half a year later, his brother Theo, who had continued to support him, passed away as if following after him.
Left behind was Theo’s wife, Jo, and a still-infant baby.
In the depths of absolute despair, Jo looked upon the mountain of vast masterpieces left behind by Van Gogh, and pledged to her heart like this:
“In addition to the child, Theo left me another mission──to have Vincent’s work seen by many people and to have its true value recognized.” — Jo van Gogh-Bonger
Precisely because she did not give up and continued to introduce Van Gogh’s paintings to the world while enduring the cold ridicule of those around her, we are able to be moved by Van Gogh’s paintings today.
If she had given up halfway, Van Gogh’s art would have become the exact same as not existing in this world.
Thomas Edison, the King of Invention, also left behind numerous powerful quotes regarding the importance of not giving up.
“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.”
“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”
“The secret of my success is to continue even after others have given up.” — Thomas Edison
Tohaku, Tokuji Munetsugu, Mimi Takamizawa, and Jo are all owners of unyielding souls who continued to “try just one more time.”
Finally, I present to you the words of Henry Ford, whom I respect the most, which I want you to engrave deeply into your heart.
“Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.” — Henry Ford
Please, do not abandon my works, the stories of their souls.
I am always praying right here that the journey of your life will be something beautiful and shining brilliantly to the absolute ends.
I am truly looking forward to the day we can meet again.