Yoshida Shoin's 'Three Words'

Kanazawa during Golden Week.

I was listening to a lecture by bestselling author Yasushi Kitagawa.

Every word resonated with me.

But—

What stayed with me the most right now were the three simple words left behind by the late Edo period patriot, Yoshida Shoin.

What Yoshida Shoin left behind

What was introduced were very simple words.

Risshi (setting an ambition), Takuko (choosing the people you associate with), Dokusho (nurturing yourself through books).

Because they are simple, they are essential.

'Perhaps this alone is enough to change a person.'

My experience as an emergency physician, standing on the boundary between life and death, quietly overlapped with these words.

Risshi — Where are you heading?

If a person does not decide where they are heading, they will eventually be swallowed up by the flow of daily life.

'You are alive until you die.'

It sounds obvious, but in the emergency room, that meaning looks completely different.

You can only make your life shine while you are alive. There is only 'now' to actively enjoy your life.

An ambition does not have to be something grand.

'This is how I want to live.'

Just having that small sense of direction changes how you spend your time.

I believe that from the moment a person decides where they are heading, they begin to walk their own life.

Choosing Associates — Who will you live with 'by choice'?

Humans are creatures influenced by their environment.

This is something I have felt both in emergency medical settings and in daily life.

Often, there is someone supporting those who are recovering.
There is often someone there to support them.

Having someone to cheer you on —
that alone makes a person surprisingly strong.

I have the impression that even the speed of recovery changes.

Conversely —
there are also people who quietly weaken in loneliness.

Loneliness affects not only the mind but also the body.

That is precisely why the word 'Choosing Associates' carries such weight.

Instead of drifting into relationships,
choose for yourself who you associate with, by your own will.

Choose what kind of words you live among.

The accumulation of those choices
quietly, yet surely, shapes who you are.

Though it may seem strict,
I think it is a very realistic and kind teaching.

Reading — Support that transcends time and space

That said, we are not always blessed with good encounters.

I was like that in the past, too.

I had few friends,
and partly due to my father's influence, I spent a lot of time reading books alone.

Even in the emergency room,
I would open a book during the brief intervals.

There was a time when I was desperate to save the lives in front of me,
and I put my own dreams on the back burner.

Even so —

I have been saved many times by the words in books.

When faced with unreasonable reality,
a person cannot endure it alone.

But when you have words, you can hold your ground.

I believe the words of people from the past
are "invisible hands" extended across time.

People can change, no matter how many times.

As an emergency physician, I have witnessed many final moments.

In those moments, there is something I have felt time and time again.

"Could people have done more?"

That is the regret.

But—

As long as you are alive now, it is not too late.

You can set your ambitions.
You can choose your relationships again.
You can pick up a new book.

People are always in the middle of their journey.

That is precisely why you can change, no matter how many times.

Finally

Yoshida Shoin's words are extremely simple.

But—
within them, the essence of life is packed.

Having an ambition.
Choosing who to associate with.
Nurturing yourself with words.

Even today,
it will change depending on who you spend it with and what words you encounter.

Who will you live with?
What kind of words will you live among?

My life, and your life—
from this moment on, should be able to be renewed as many times as we wish.