Youth

2024/05/29

Nobuhiro Doi

President of Gashin-en Co., Ltd., Secretary General of Numazu Mita-kai, 1984 Faculty of Law

Ano Zenjo (childhood name: Imawakamaru) was the paternal half-brother of Minamoto no Yoritomo, and Yoshitsune was his younger brother. After the Heiji Rebellion, he was forced to enter the priesthood at Daigo-ji Temple, but when Yoritomo raised an army, he escaped the temple to join him.

He married Awa no Tsubone, the younger sister of Hojo Masako, and was granted the Ano-no-sho estate in Suruga Province (an area spanning from present-day western Numazu City to Fuji City) for his service in assisting Yoritomo. He took the surname Ano and built a residence there. He established Daizen-ji Temple on that site to pray for his ancestors, a temple that still stands today. Legend also says that Yoshitsune stopped by there while fleeing to Oshu.

At Zenjo's grave in Daizen-ji Temple, only his head is buried. He was exiled to Hitachi Province on suspicion of rebelling against the Shogunate and was beheaded in Shimotsuke Province. There is a legend of the "Head-Hanging Pine," which says that his head flew back in a single night to Daizen-ji Temple, where his son Tokimoto was, and caught on a pine branch. Later, Tokimoto also rebelled and was defeated by the Hojo family, leading to the destruction of the clan.

The Negata Road at the foot of Mount Ashitaka, which Daizen-ji Temple faces, was a major highway until the Tokaido Road was developed. Nearby is Kokokuji Castle, the starting point for Hojo Soun (though he never actually used the name Hojo), who paved the way for the Sengoku period.

Masanori Odani

Professor, Faculty of Letters, Hosei University, 1996 Faculty of Letters

Having passed the age of 40 (the age of 'no delusions'), I have now reached 50, the age of 'knowing one's destiny.' I am a full-fledged middle-aged man. Recently, when I introduced myself as a researcher of youth slang, a senior colleague told me, "Young people these days use strange words. As a scholar, you should tell them off and make them use proper Japanese." This disappointed me. I thought, "You were young once too."

The world is built on supply and demand, and language is no exception. New words are born among the youth surely because there is a demand for them. To feel disgust simply because something is different from oneself, rather than calmly analyzing that demand, is evidence of losing the spirit and curiosity to create new things.

According to the Analects, age 60 is called 'Ershun' (the age of the obedient ear), a state where one can listen to others' opinions honestly without feeling resistance. I hope to become a 60-year-old who can listen to youth slang and calmly analyze the motivation for its use while remembering that I, too, had such a youthful era.

Kaori Hosono

Assistant Professor, Faculty of Letters, Keio University

Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women" (1868) is a semi-autobiographical work based on the author's girlhood spent with her sisters in New England. The original title, Little Women, comes from the name used by Louisa's father, Amos Bronson Alcott—a progressive educator—for his daughters to signify that he viewed them as individuals equal to himself. When it was first introduced to Japan in 1906 through a partial translation by Shuho Kitada, it was titled "Sho-fujin" (Little Women), faithful to the original. The title "Wakakusa Monogatari" (The Tale of Young Grass) was first used in Tsuyoko Yada's 1934 translation, and a popular theory suggests it was devised by Nobuko Yoshiya, who supervised the film version released in Japan around the same time. Since then, this Japanese title, which vividly captures the freshness of a work depicting a girl's growth, has become established. The word "Wakakusa" (young grass), which had no connection to the original title, eventually became a magic word that, on its own, is etched in the hearts of some readers and immediately evokes a longing for the world of Alcott's work. I am one of those who had this longing for "Wakakusa" planted in me during my girlhood.

Kazuo Kishi

Professor, Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Keio University School of Medicine

Eternal youth and immortality are dreams of mankind. In recent years, papers showing that old mice have been rejuvenated have appeared in top-tier journals, and the momentum of rejuvenation research is incredible. The keyword is a phenomenon called SASP, where aged cells do not die but remain in the tissue, causing persistent inflammation; one theory posits this as the cause of aging. Technology aiming for rejuvenation by removing SASP-state cells is already being handled by many venture companies, mainly in the US, with large sums of money being invested, so it is not entirely far-fetched. Many researchers at this Juku are also involved. However, there are still no reports of an immortal mouse, and it remains in the "dream" stage. To make aged skin look rejuvenated, there are methods to tighten the sagging and wrinkles of the dermis and underlying fibrous tissue, and methods to improve epidermal features such as spots and dullness. Various treatments using surgery and medical devices are already being performed. Since it is difficult to judge which method is safe and superior based on internet information alone, one should consult a reliable plastic surgeon or dermatologist.