Chapter Summary
Illustration courtesy of Seikyo Press.
A poem by Shin’ichi titled “On Our Departure Toward a Glorious Future” set the tone for 1968, the Soka Gakkai’s Year of Victory.
On April 8, the long-anticipated first entrance ceremony for Soka Junior High School and Soka High School was held at its campus in Kodaira, Tokyo. Preceding its opening, Shin’ichi, as the school’s founder, presented five guidelines, including “Become people who seek the truth, create value and possess wisdom and enthusiasm.” First Soka Gakkai President Tsunesaburo Makiguchi entrusted his disciple, Josei Toda, with the idea for founding a school for value-creating education, and Mr. Toda went on to entrust Shin’ichi with this mission.
After the entrance ceremony had concluded, he visited the school and participated in the ceremony to unveil a monument with the mottoes “Wisdom, Glory, Passion.” And together with the students, he crossed “Glory Bridge” and took photos with them.
Thereafter, he visited the school frequently, often engaging in conversations with students who lived in the school dormitory far from their families, and encouraging them as if they were his own children. Embraced by Shin’ichi’s love for them, the students developed greatly as individuals.
In time, a university, a kindergarten and an elementary school were established, completing the Soka schools system that promotes value-creating education.
Moreover, Soka education has expanded internationally with the founding of Soka University of America and other Soka schools. Graduates have been demonstrating their abilities through their contributions to society on the world stage.
Unforgettable Scene
Illustration courtesy of Seikyo Press.
Let Us Take Flight Into the Future
In 1968, Soka Junior High and Soka High Schools were opened. The campus’ Glory Dormitory residents composed a dormitory song. In July, the residents sent a recording of the song to Shin’ichi Yamamoto.
Listening to the song with his wife, Mineko, Shin’ichi remarked: “It’s very good, isn’t it? It’s refreshing and powerful and it brims with the students’ spirit as they prepare for their advance into the next century. They’ve created a real masterpiece.” He played the tape every day, thinking about the students’ futures and praying for their growth …
As Shin’ichi Yamamoto listened to the high school division members singing the Soka schools dormitory song, he felt the desire to respond in some way to their innovative spirit. He thus decided to compose a fifth stanza for them.
The annual summer training course ended on August 23. As the central figure of the course, Shin’ichi was extremely busy, but he still managed to find time to compose the additional stanza. After deeply pondering the first four, he concluded that “friendship” should be the theme of the fifth.
When he picked up his pen, words came rushing forth. He went over them carefully again and again, polishing them until he felt the stanza was complete:
We can see Mount Fuji from Musashino
Where pure streams flow.
For what purpose
Do we young phoenixes work for peace?
To open a path for wonderful friends.
You and I, together,
Let us take flight into the future.
The line, To open a path for wonderful friends, expressed Shin’ichi’s own determination to devote his life to paving the way for the Soka schools students.
■ ■ ■
The students found dual meaning in the phrase You and I, together. One was that “you” meant their friends, while “I” referred to themselves. And the other was that “you” referred to themselves and “I” was Shin’ichi Yamamoto, their schools’ founder. As they sang, the students felt extremely close to Shin’ichi, as if they were engaged in a joint struggle of parent and child advancing together toward the future. (The New Human Revolution, vol. 12, pp. 308–10)
The chapter summaries were originally published in the October 2, 2019, Seikyo Shimbun, while the “Unforgettable Scenes” were originally published in the October 9, 2019, issue.
Key Passage
The most important thing in your youth is to challenge yourself and not be held back or defeated by your own weaknesses. Please don’t forget that self-control and winning over yourself are the key to all victory. (NHR-12, 295)
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