People ask why I am so kind. Well, you see, I hardly attended school. I didn’t like studying; I just didn’t like school. So my mother always told me, ‘You’re not suited for school, but you’ll succeed in society when you’re out there.’ Usually, it’s the other way around, right? You’re told that if you don’t study, you’ll struggle in society. But my mother was different. She said, ‘people have a knack for either school or society. God doesn’t create people who aren’t suited for anything. So if you’re not inclined towards school, you’ll do well when you step into the real world.’
So, in the end, I think my mother encouraged me. And since then, whenever someone came to me for advice, I’d think, ‘What would my mother say?’ I’d try my best to answer. So, even though I get a lot of parenting advice, to be honest, I’ve never really changed a single diaper, so I can’t really advise on parenting. But I think about how my mother would respond and answer as best as I can.
So when Emiko-san asks me for advice, I tell her, ‘Maybe you should do this,’ but when it’s someone who’s more quiet and reserved, I tell them, ‘You can’t be like that; you need to step forward in life.’ On the contrary, some people, after taking a step or two, keep getting into conflicts because they’re overly assertive. In those cases, I advise them to live humbly, to take a step back. Both approaches are correct, but I’m not talking to everyone in general.
So there’s a way for the rabbit to defeat the tiger. Strong people have their own ways of succeeding, and I believe weak people have their own ways too. So, what I’m most careful about is not trying to change others but figuring out how the person as they are can succeed. My mother said to me, ‘Even if you don’t go to school, have confidence that you’re suited for society.’ Her words still resonate with me today.
I still believe I’m suited for society because I trust my parents. So today, I’ll talk about the way to succeed, and it’s really simple. There are no difficult Chinese letters in my book because I can’t read them. I’ve summarized what I know. So my talk is simple. The way to succeed is like this: when you put your right foot forward, the next step is with the left. You keep going left and right, and that’s the correct way to walk. With just this knowledge, life is fine.
I only talk about being a merchant because I’m a merchant. Being a merchant is great. If you do something wrong, your sales won’t increase. So when someone asks, ‘Have you ever failed in your work?’ I can say, ‘Not much.’
But there is a way not to fail. What is it? For ordinary people, it doesn’t matter what business they start, whether it’s a ramen shop or anything else. Before starting, they make a lot of efforts. They think about the menu and the flavors. But the real test begins after starting the business. However, even ten years later, some places still have the same menu, the same flavors. You see, when you start the business, you shouldn’t run. You should keep walking.
You start in this state, wondering if the menu is okay. Should I introduce a new menu? So, you put your right foot forward and say, ‘Maybe this new menu is good.’ But if you rely on the new menu for long and satisfied, you keep putting your right foot forward all the time, you’ll fall down. So, you keep doing the next thing and the next. That’s how you teach it.
When Sanzo Hoshi was in India receiving the sutras, he walked all the way there. He didn’t run. You can’t run to India. The stories about monks riding horses are lies. He walked all the way. How did he do it? If you alternate your right and left feet, you can even walk from China to India.
If you want to go to the happier side, you have to do something new. You have to take a step forward and do something new. Anything will do. Even if you run a liquor store, and it’s not making much money, you can start a cleaning service or a delivery service. It’s all part of being a merchant.
You have to keep adding new things, one by one. You don’t need to be too smart in business; you just need to keep moving forward. If you don’t put your foot forward, you won’t progress. That’s obvious. God is telling you to do what you can do right now. My mother built nine houses in Tokyo during the ten years after the war. There were seven children, and I never saw my father work. He was always traveling or singing because he had a beautiful voice. He sang, played the shamisen, and the violin. He played the piano too. He never worked.
During that time, my mother worked tirelessly to feed us children, and what she said was, ‘Being a merchant is great.’ She said, ‘A merchant builds one house a year.’ So she told me to become a merchant. Being a merchant is excellent. You think hard, for example, if you start a cleaning service, no matter what you do, you can make 10,000 yen. It takes a salaryman a year to get a 10,000 yen raise.
Merchants can come up with ideas every month. That’s the good thing about being a merchant. If you don’t do this, there’s nothing harder than being a merchant. People think they can do business without getting tired, but that’s not true. It’s the customers who get tired. You might not be tired, but the customers get tired, so they won’t come to your store.
So, how can we keep the customers engaged, you ask? Well, take a look at this – right now, rich and creamy ramen is all the rage. You see the lines in front of the ramen restaurant, and everyone’s into rich ramen.
Now, if you prefer something lighter, you can always eat at home. The point is, as a merchant, you should never expect your customers to adapt to you; it’s about giving them what they want. That’s the trick.
When you’re serious about being a merchant, your ego takes a backseat. People who don’t succeed often have big egos. They think, “I’m doing just fine.” But you have to adapt to your customers. You have to keep up with the times. The way with ego that worked well in the past was just luck.
You have to adapt to your customers. You have to adapt to the times because they’re always changing. That’s what being a merchant is about. And when you hit the mark, you’ll see – oh, business is booming.
What’s the most enjoyable thing about being a merchant, you ask? It’s like fishing. You keep at it, and if you don’t catch anything for a while, it can be frustrating. But then, when your customers are happy, and your business is thriving, that’s when you realize, “Yeah, this is great!”
So, you have to adjust to your customers. What makes them happy? Empty shops collect dust, you know. And when you point it out to those people, they say, “I’m too busy.” But really, they’re just idling.
They blame it on the big chains opening up, but even if the big chains didn’t exist, who would want to buy from a dusty store like theirs? Also, you can’t wear a gloomy face. You should bring up cheerful topics. Merchants need to do more and more.
Yes, it can be challenging, but that’s what makes being a merchant so rewarding.
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