The Importance of Ambition Learned from the Man Who Built Osaka: Tomoatsu Godai - After Watching the Movie 'Tengaramon'
I'm Koki Hanzawa, and I think if I had been born in the Sengoku or Edo periods, where people fought with swords, I would have been done for immediately.
Do you all know a person named Tomoatsu Godai?
I am embarrassed to say that I only learned about him after watching the movie 'Tengaramon'.
It is said that 'Tengaramon' is a dialect from Satsuma (Kagoshima) that means a gift from heaven.
In this movie, it is used to mean someone who has been gifted extraordinary talent from heaven.
The tagline, 'From the turbulent end of the Edo period to the early Meiji era, there was a man who ran for the future of Japan,' is enough to make my heart race.
I would like to introduce Tomoatsu Godai, who is depicted in the movie 'Tengaramon'.
Who was Tomoatsu Godai?
He was born in 1836 and passed away in 1885 at the age of 49.
Ryoma Sakamoto, he was born in the same year, and he lived in the same era as Yataro Iwasaki, the founder of the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, and Hirobumi Ito, the first Prime Minister of Japan.
Alongside Eiichi Shibusawa, who will be featured on the new 10,000 yen banknote starting in 2024, he is a businessman so renowned that he is called 'Godai of the West, Shibusawa of the East', and he is also known as the 'Father of Osaka'.
Even just looking at the major companies he was involved in establishing, his achievements are incredible.
Major companies Godai was involved in establishing
1869 (Meiji 2): Established Osaka Tsusho Company and Osaka Trading Company. Established the Gold and Silver Analysis Office.
1870 (Meiji 3): Established Osaka Type-setting Office (the first in Osaka for letterpress printing). Ordered by the Satsuma Domain to be in charge of the Sakai Spinning Mill (the first mechanical spinning mill in Osaka).
1873 (Meiji 6): Established Koseikan (a supervisory organization for mine management).
1876 (Meiji 9): Opened Dojima Rice Exchange. Established Choyokan (an indigo manufacturing plant).
1878 (Meiji 11): Established Osaka Stock Exchange. Established Osaka Chamber of Commerce (first chairman of the Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry).
1880 (Meiji 13): Established Osaka Commercial Training Institute (Osaka City University).
1881 (Meiji 14): Established Osaka Copper Manufacturing Company. Established Kansai Trading Company.
1882 (Meiji 15): Established Kobe Pier Company.
Source:
The Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry
It is said that there was no business in Osaka at the time that Godai was not involved in, but despite leaving behind such achievements and contributions, it is said that his business ventures were not for personal gain but were all focused on the national interest.
Therefore, Godai did not enrich himself, and it was even discovered after his death that he had debts.
I think it can truly be said that he was a person who dedicated his life to Osaka and to the country.
After watching the movie 'Tengaramon'
The movie depicts what the driving force was for Godai, who left behind so many achievements and contributions.
What kind of experiences did he have when he was young, and what did he aim for as he lived his life?
Since it is a movie, I think there are parts that are historical facts and parts that are dramatized, but it was a movie overflowing with passion and thoughts that moved my heart.
(Haruma Miura's passionate performance was also wonderful.)
Although Godai serves his country while looking ahead to the future with knowledge, an international perspective, and foresight, he faces total backlash from those around him, including his family and local community.
Misunderstandings and misconceptions pile up, leading to an outrageous situation.
Killing people with a sword will not change the world.
Godai acts with conviction toward the future, but naturally, he is hated by the samurai and his life is even threatened by those who claim he sold his soul to foreign lands.
Even in such circumstances, what Godai aimed for was
A country where everyone can dream.
This was his ambition.
Looking back at history, when times change, misunderstanding, misconception, and prejudice are inevitable.
Let the world say what it will of me; only I know what I am doing.
These are the words of Ryoma Sakamoto, who was the same age as Godai. When I think that today's Japan exists thanks to those predecessors who lived through such turbulent times, the word 'gratitude' is truly not enough to express it.
Summary
I chose to aim for entrepreneurship when I was 25.
At that time, almost no one, including my family, company colleagues, and friends, agreed with me, but I decided to take the step and challenge myself because you only live once.
I feel truly happy that we live in a world where we can take on such challenges.
In this way, today's Japan, where anyone can have dreams and goals and choose how and where they work, can be called the country where everyone can dream that Tomoatsu Godai aimed for.
When I think about whether I am living every day in a way that is worthy of the thoughts and efforts of those predecessors, it makes me want to straighten my posture.
In terms of anxiety and chaos, today's world has commonalities with the end of the Edo period and the beginning of the Meiji period when Godai lived, and we tend to focus on what is lacking or what we can no longer do.
However, it was a movie that made me feel as if Tomoatsu Godai was telling us that precisely because it is such an era, it is important to focus on what we have become able to do and what is changing.
I want to live every day in a way that I can be proud of before the predecessors of history who built the current era.
Thank you for reading.
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Status, honor, or money? No, what is important is the purpose.
Tomoatsu Godai
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