The tagline says 'The Japanese Art of Always Moving Forward'. It is just that. I like the idea of saying ganbatte instead o fgood luck because ganbatte talks of effort, of standing firm. In simple ways it is about doing your best and not giving up. Or as the Japanese say - fall down seven, get up eight times.
To illustrate this spirit the author takes us through some wonderful Japanese practices, art, philosophies. The book starts with this painting 'The Great Wave of Kanagawa' by Katsushita Hokusai. It is this great tidal wave that is at its top and a fishing boat caught in it - and all the fishermen have to do is ganbatte. So we realise that life is not just about starting things but about finishing them. That we do not shy away from the difficult - like the US Army Coprs says - the difficult we do immediately, the impossible takes longer.
There is this story of the archer who seeks a guru to teach him to be the best archer. The guru tells him to shoot at the moon and come back. The archer tries his best to shoot at the moon and returns after a few years and says that try as he did, he could not shoot the moon and that he is a failure. This is when the guru says that just by shooting thousands of arrows at the moon in these years the archer has already become a master. He says 'the archer aims at himself'.
Stories of how the longest journeys begin with a single step. The one about Jiro Ono, the legendary sushi maker on whom there is a documentary called Jiro Dreams - and his obsession with improvement. Jiro's secret - do the same thing over and over again, improving bit by bit. Immerse yourself, fall in love with your work.
Kibo is the word for hope and the author switches to the story of Pandora who opens the dreaded box full of evils (a set up for no fault of hers) and what remains last is Hope. That is why they say that after everything 'there is always hope'. The author also directs us to a film of 'The Man Who Planted Trees'.
The concept of Wabi Sabi seeks beauty in imperfection, says that nothing is perfect. Da Vinci apparently said this ' a work of art is never finished, it is only abandoned.' I love it.
In the same vein their is the Japanese practice of Kintsugi where they repair broken things with gold - saying that which is broken is more meaningful. It is a huge thing and must be taken into cognisance. And then there is Kaizen - which is change to improve. Today better than yesterday, tomorrow better than today.
Picasso said - Inspiration exists but it must find you at work.
Katana swords are now works of beauty, rare pieces. The author dwells on what cannot be seen but can be felt - and cites the example of how director Akira Kurosawa filled medicine chests with medicines because the actors would feel more authentic while performing the role of doctors even if there were no scenes where they opened the draawers.
More examples of people like Dick Hoyt who ran for his son who had cerebral palsy - in fact Dick ran with his son Rick on his back - a 1000 competitions, 250 marathons, 6 Iron Man competitions (a marathon+112 miles of cycling+2.4 miles of swimming - without a break).
Get rid of the second arrow because that will make you take the first one lightly. The example of Joseph Merrick 'The Elephant Man'. There is reference to the koans (this is the sound of clapping your hands, but what is the sound made by a single hand?')
One interesting thing I found was the reference to Japanese exercise- apparently most Japanese do this form of exercise (its on YouTube) called Radio Taiso, which is a 5 minute guide to fitness. I like it.
So, he says, try, give your best and don't give up. You will fall as you go forward but that's OK, even as you fall, fall forward. I finally understood what fall forward means!
Interesting book.
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