To my young friends

“That person seems to be

  enjoying life

    yet is just and correct.”

Thus I would like to be spoken of—

  as a person enjoying the unrestrained

    trust of others

      a uniquely magnanimous person

  as I bring this life

    to a close.

The blossoming cherry

  the rustling bamboo.

The faces of people

  the voices of youth…

Loving all these things

  I tread the path

     of happiness.

I don’t much desire

  the ordinary forms

    of happiness.

I want rather

  the magnificent light

    that arises from a lifetime

      culminating in

    the fulfillment of mission.

I have graduated

  the age that dreams

    of a rose-tinted future.

  I have learned

    that the energy of happiness

  exists in the process of living today

    roots sunk firmly

       in reality’s soil.

In order to spread my wings

  and soar through life

    true to myself

  I want to avoid

    self-pity and complaint

      even on the saddest days.

A life without laughter

  is like a flower that refuses

    to burst open in bloom.

However intense the conflicts

  of society

    I want to maintain

      my ability to laugh.

With a sense of determination

  and setting forth

    seeing today as a time

      for new endeavors

  I open and delve into

    the book of life.

They say there is much

  fraudulence in the world

    masquerading as wisdom.

  I wish to live my life

    with integrity and grace

      abiding by the principles

      of humanity

    in pleasant conversation

      and meaningful labor.

No matter how long it may take

  to bring the grand enterprise of

    my life to fruition

  I will continue without cease

    and with undiminished passion.

It is fine to doubt

  to struggle in earnest anguish.

But do you end up a mere

  captive of the darkness?

Or do you charge into the dark

  making it the impetus

    for your own construction

      and transformation?

  It is the final outcome

    that matters.

I have just one thing

  I’d like to say:

  To give up

    is to be defeated by oneself.

  Knowing this, I continue to take

    small but significant steps

      advancing single-mindedly

      toward the fulfillment

        of my destiny.

I hear people say

  they don’t fear death.

    I don’t want to become

      such a person.

For it is the fear of death

  that deepens our joy in living

    and demarcates civilization

      from barbarity.

I will live out my life

  as a human being

  who struggles and is true

    to myself.

I have no wish to become

  a person famed

    for character or action

  to whom the epithet

    “hypocrite” attaches.

I have absolutely no desire

  to be a hero or a genius.

For I believe that

  the most valid way of life

    is one that is steadfast and

      beautifully balanced.

Rather than live as a

  brief and high-minded flower,

    I want to live

      a weed-like life

        of tenacious vitality.

The end point of his success:

  a sense of emptiness.

The ultimate goal of my life:

  a friend’s high flight.

Today once more

  I will continue

      the victorious

        procession of life

  sharing the anger and laughter

    of my fellow citizens.

I will become someone

  who has deeply experienced

    the pains of the world

      and knows its ways.

  For only from this arise

    words and actions

      that are valuable

        incisive and just.

The dawning sky

  a pure white rose

    a fairytale princess…

Strive never to forget these things

  even in an era

    of disordered humanity.

To challenge others,

  to confront oneself…

We do this because we know

  it is the obvious means

    of clarifying the realities of

      right and wrong

      noble and base.

I will not apologize

  or attempt to justify myself.

  Because I am confident

    that I am energetically opening

      my path in life

    faithful to my own sound judgment

      and belief.

There is no dreariness

  in my environs.

There are at all times

  vigorous and lively exchanges—

    the seeking spirit of youth.

Even if my dearest friend

  gave up on revolution

I will continue to advance

  transcending all limitations

    together with the winds of spring

    the winds of autumn

  rooted in the view

    of society and the cosmos

    to which I hold true

  maintaining at all times

    the magnanimous stance

      of a pioneer.

I have no interest

  in passing my golden years

    in some splendid fashion.

  So long as I can anticipate

    with a smile

      the completion of my purpose

    the human revolution that is

      the theme and subject

        of my life

  I will see that as a

    magnificent, glorious

      use of my remaining time.

I know clearly

  how fine it is

    to spread one’s wings

  and sail into worlds

    of human happiness,

  how superior this is

    to the desperate, bloodshot eyes

      of the arrogant inhabitants

        of society’s upper crust

      as they seek after status.

Even in this humble structure

  I stand on my own stage

    reciting poetry

      in the palace

        of my heart.

Anyone can repeat slogans

  about the dignity of life.

But what degree of humility

  and joy do you find

    in the fated existence

      of your self

  solemnly alive on this Earth

    in one small

      corner of the cosmos?

  That will determine

    whether your life is one

      of imitation or of creation.

Life is a succession

  of painful realities.

But I have built a golden life of the spirit

    beyond the power of

      anyone to destroy.

While his way of life may be affluent,

  there is much wasted effort

    and needless consumption.

My daily life

  abounds with joys

    and my heart is never

      without employment.

I am not obsessed

  with the fast flight of time.

Yet in order to construct

  a lifetime of glory,

    pursuing the path of humanity,

  I deliberately focus

    on the fleeting span

      of each passing day.

Your anguish, I believe,

  is of a still shallow nature.

Read history!

    Placing yourself at the

    juncture of centuries,

  ponder the future direction

    of your life!

I will live out my life

  with courage to the end,

because I know

  the mistaken fears

    so common to

  a life of theorizing

    and formality.

Someday

  death will visit

    and the time of parting

      will come.

But the bonds I share

  extend eternally

    and I therefore feel

      no deep or bitter

        remorse.

Today has its terminus

  but I will never disembark

    before arriving in grand style

  at a death that culminates a life

    free from regret.

There is no need for

  each little action

    to be analyzed.

I take pleasure in my work

  and invite others to consider

    the entirety of my life.

Nameless and unknown

  I will not be recalled

    by later ages.

Yet I perceive

  that my lights will shine

    brilliant and eternal

  in the causal history

    of my inner being.

  And so I have chosen to be

    a person of faith

      living boldly, generously.

Nothing is more foolish

  than to weep for one’s fate

    and be swept away by it.

Only by maintaining

  an attitude of joyfully

    challenging destiny

      can we transform

    the fundamental orientation

      of life.

With this one day

  that is today

    as my touchstone,

  singing a primordial song,

    I initiate action

      that is pure and exuberant

        despite the pain.

I want to urge you

  in the midst of days

    of turmoil and sweeping change

  to live out your incomparably

    valuable life

      always finding some time

        each day

      to squarely confront

        your inner being.

I didn’t choose a quiet path

  lined with flower beds,

    but advance instead

    along this thorny way

  because I wished to create

    a life eternally marked

      by hot, impassioned tears.

The sun rises.

  Today once more

    to author a new page

      of my own history

  I set out from home

    silent in thought.

What is success,

  or its lack?

I have come to see it

  as the degree to which

    the development of one’s

      standing in society

    is accompanied

      by the cultivation of

    the inner life.

Even if I am called

  uncompromising

    that doesn’t bother me

      in the least.

  Everything hinges on how

    I can manifest in society

      not some minor talent,

    but the resilient power

      of my inner determination.

People often say that I am earnest

  and given to taking on

      unnecessary burdens.

To which I reply:

  No need for worry.

    I have my own plan and

      order of construction.

Skepticism—

  knowing that it was

    the first step ushering in

      the dawning of modernity,

  I do not deny the heart

    its full range of motion.

It is only after experiencing

  doubtful weeding and selection

      that we can be fully grounded,

    sublimely confident

      in our humanity.

A life of simple honesty

  is good, I think.

But foolishness

  is detestable.

Never forget the simple honesty

  of a tree that rises

    into the sky

  silent and uncomplaining

    in the scorching heat.

I don’t want to lose myself

  in the world of abstract thought.

For I know that

  when conceptual abstraction

    goes bad

      the treasure of lived reality

        —that which should be truth—

        gets pared away

          and discarded.

In a dissembling society

  the presence of

      masked persons

  does not frighten me.

I know that because

  I uphold the highest

    and greatest law,

I cannot be caught

  in the snares

    of power and crowns.

The famous

  are not necessarily assured

    a peaceful death.

The people we are most deeply moved by

  are those who can point

    to the deepest roots

      of both life and death.

I wish to be someone

  capable of concentrating

    the energies of the spirit.

  But I do not want

    to be stubborn,

      for obstinacy

    shuts out the breezes

      of new awareness.

If you wish to rebel

  go ahead and rebel.

The question is:

  To what degree will that rebellion

    serve as the rule and rhythm

      of your growth?

Come what may

  I will burn the flame of life

    singing with the sun

      through the daylight hours.

  And on a still and moonlit way

    pausing for a friend to rest,

      I will ponder my meaning

        as a human being.

I have no time

  for world-weariness, nor for flight.

Each day I proudly continue

  my efforts to bring

    the work of self-transformation

      to crystalline completion.

There are times when I am obedient,

  times when I rebel.

There are times of gentle waves,

  times of fierce tempests.

The special gift of youth

  lies in responding to contradiction

    with keen perceptiveness.

People laugh, calling youth

  who sharply challenge

    falseness and hypocrisy

      naïve, “green.”

   All the more reason young people

     should charge ahead

       filled with even deeper

        inner struggle and outrage.

Reading your letter

  I was deeply moved, in tears.

  There I found the sparkling light

    of human truth.

Let me also send a letter

  to a friend.

However poorly written

  I will entrust my very being

    to penning a letter

      at once anonymous and historic.

To you I wish to say:

  Live out your life

    with the undefiled purity

      of youth.

  Be someone who

    when commanded to flee

      responds with utter firmness:

        “I will not.”

I read books

  and I write.

I happily engage

  in discussion and debate.

I choose not to reject

  even the harshest criticism.

I want to maintain

  a spirit of passionate seeking,

    the ability to respect those

      who forthrightly point out

        my failings.

Self-respect informs me

  there is no need

    to bow before any person.

And yet my head lowers

  in heartfelt gratitude

    for the unchanging wellsprings

      of your friendship.

More than anywhere

  it is in the earnest exchanges

    of struggling friends

  watched over beautifully by the moon

    that our lives flower

      eternally fragrant.

While seeking a way of life

  as a woman of the new era,

I wish to live to the very fullest,

  youthful and true

    to my core convictions.

Even if you are considered

  an ordinary woman

    in your gentleness and beauty

      that should not bother you.

  For you know

    better than anyone

    the ideals and courage

      that lie within.

Looking out

  at the falling snow,

befriended by the plum tree

  in the garden,

    today once more

  I set out to work

    for the sake of

      the vulnerable.

For my own sake

  I wish to bloom

    strongly, beautifully.

  Therefore I strive

    to elevate the scale and scope

      of my being.

The sun is obscured

  by clouds,

    the wind has risen.

But I have

  the promised safety

    and comfort

      of tomorrow.

Always breathing

  new life

    into the home,

  fulfilling my responsibilities

    as its master,

  never falling behind

    the greater movements

      of society,

  I turn with daily certainty

    along the orbit of the sun.

When a ship moves

  there is the churning sound

    of the propeller,

  waves rise against the bow.

If we remain inert

  we will not meet with criticism.

But having set out on the fated ship

  of religious revolution,

     I will continue to advance

  considering it an honor

     to be washed over

       by waves of slanderous abuse.

You dance

  on a stage lit

    by brilliant lights.

I run

  in the struggling shadows

    of that stage.

---

These short poems, written in 1970 and 1971, were addressed to various individuals as the author’s personal encouragement to them. They are selected from Wakaki tomo e okuru (To My Young Friends), published in 1971.