I was concerned about the economic situation in Japan.

I have been reading articles and other information regarding the accelerating depreciation of the yen.

Currently, the value of the Japanese yen is about US$1 = ¥146.

I thought that the yen started from 360 yen, but I learned for the first time that there was a time when 1 yen = 1 dollar in the 4th year of Meiji (around 1871).

The yen began to be issued in 1871.

Around 1945 (just after the end of World War II), the yen was 1 dollar = 15 yen.

In 1947, it was 1 dollar = 50 yen.

In 1949, it was a whopping 1 dollar = 360 yen. The value of the yen changed considerably over the years.

The value of the yen began to change little by little from 360 yen around 1971.

In 1989, the value of the yen to 1 dollar = 125 yen.

In 2011, the yen appreciated to 1 dollar = 76 yen. I remember that I felt like I had gained a lot since I had just arrived in the U.S. at that time.

Thus, the value of paper money changes.

So, what you were able to buy before may not be able to buy in the future.

If now the value of the yen was 360 yen to one dollar, I would no longer want to buy American products.

I am not a critic, but I wonder how concerned or anxious the Japanese people are about the weak yen and the current Japanese society.

When I come overseas, I often hear from people from various countries about the achievements that Japan has made in the past. And I often hear how wonderful the people of Japan are.

The value of paper money changes, but the value of the nation’s character does not.

However, when I was in Japan,

I could not know such an outside opinion. Moreover, I did not even care much about Japan. Since I lived in Japan, I only thought about my work, family, friends, hobbies, and so on, and never thought about the country or its people.

But now, when I realized that even though I was living in Japan, I was completely indifferent to the affairs of my own country, I felt as if all my ambitions actually came from the old Japan and my ancestors were telling me to do something about it.

I felt that it was too easy to get extra information and pleasure (drugs, alcohol, and other things to reduce human pleasure and anxiety), and that there were fewer and fewer people who could accomplish something passionate with a strong heart while enduring pain.

I feel this with the depreciation of the yen.

I don’t know much about politics.

But I feel that it is time to get into serious mode.

Serious mode means realizing that each one of us, including myself, has been given a role to play and acting accordingly.

What do you mean by that? You may be thinking,

It means to really do what you want to do.

Many young people who work for companies and who really have their own goals in mind, but who cannot make a living if they leave the company, stay in a department they don’t like, and so on.

For example, do you really like your job as an office worker?

If there are those who go to work no matter what and just sit at their desks and wait for the time to pass, isn’t it time to get into serious mode and explode your power by doing what you love?

In Japan, there is a tendency for many people to stay in such an environment.

Everyone is expected to be employed full-time as a matter of course, or else they are bitter smile.

This is because society as a whole thinks this way, even if there are people who don’t think so, so part-time workers are worth less than full-time employees, or that they are great because they work for a good company and receive a good salary, rather than people who do what they like to do.

This is called “Japan Disease” in other countries.

The whole country will beat you up if you start doing or saying something that differs from the standards. The pressure to conform is unbearable.

They will not stop their horizontal standardization. If everyone is not together, it is wrong.

In a sense, it is a dictatorship. If the top management just doesn’t decide and the nail that sticks out gets hammered down, it’s no different from socialism.

We follow such social standards that have been established in the last 30 years or so.

I felt that our ancestors were telling us to stop this.

When I was little, I used to have a lot of moments when I thought I was having fun.

I was honest with myself and did things without worrying too much about what others thought of me.

When I grew up, I was invaded by a mysterious stereotype. Maybe it is all Japanese people. First of all, I have to fight this disease.

So, I realized that it is time to change to a serious mode.

I have to fight it.

I have spent a lot of time doing things that I didn’t want to do in the past, but now I know that it was necessary, but I can’t do that for the rest of my life until I die.

Yes, that is what I wanted to say this time.

You are a very wonderful Japanese citizen who works long hours every day at your company in full-time employment.

In order to regain your zest for life, why don’t you be more honest with yourself and do what you want to do? Even if you can’t do it right now because of money, even if it’s a small side business, or even if it doesn’t involve money at first, why don’t you start doing what you really want to do?

From there, you can create something wonderful in your own way.

The power of concentration in what you love is truly amazing.

You may think that you cannot live by doing what you love, but if you are not doing what you love, you are already dead.

I do not think that the reason why Japan’s economy has become so bad and why the yen is so weak is because of the restraints that have been placed on the people by certain notions of society.

When I was working for a company, I was a store manager, and although it was worthwhile, in the end I just wanted to come to work on time and get paid. There was no risk, my employment was protected, and I would not be fired.

It could be an hour or two, eight hours, sometimes 15 hours. I didn’t realize that I was wasting more and more of my life to get a paycheck.

Money is important.

We need it.

But you can create money anyhow.

If you are going to make money, don’t you want to spend your time working yourself to death, enjoying your life and working gracefully, rather than wasting your time doing something you don’t want to do?

I am the latter.

I want to do what burns my heart and live my life with it.

I want to increase the number of people like that.

That is what I really want to do. I feel that the current depreciation of the yen will change things just by increasing the number of players who are in that serious mode.

A country changes more with its people than with political measures.

After all, Japan is a country where each and every citizen has value.

You might say that only politicians and entrepreneurs can change things.

Do you realize that your salary is not getting better, your job is not enjoyable, and in fact, you have given up on yourself? The reason why you are not doing anything even if you are aware is because you are not talking to your heart.

You can start realizing this now.

Which is a better way to live your life, to spend your time doing what you love or to spend your time doing what you don’t want to do for money? Maybe you can think about it once again now.

Maybe.

You will find yourself forcing yourself to do a lot of things, such as the train commute and mysterious meetings that used to be hard for you. This is what is causing you to feel like giving up, and what is reducing your motivation.

What is the point of all this? to something that moves you, and spend your time on it. By doing so, you will begin to change what you had given up on, what you thought you could no longer do anything about, and what you thought you could not change.

Finally, how to do it.

At first when you think about this, you may think that you are too lazy to change because it has already invaded you and you really would rather just die like this.

If you don’t find those things inspiring, if you’re in a situation where you’re constantly uninteresting and dull.

Start moving your body once.
A walk is the best thing you can do, a half hour walk every day or go to the gym and do some exercises.

Just do whatever you can to get your body moving.

This will raise your testosterone levels and reduce your laziness a little bit.

If you don’t overcome laziness and get motivated, nothing will start.

At first, many people give up and say, ‘I’m just going to keep going,’ and you have to come out of that state to experience the best of yourself.

If you are too tired from work to do anything else, then as I said before, skip work.

The company won’t fire you anyway (probably not yet), so skip more and more things you don’t need to do, meetings you really don’t need to go to, and other times you don’t feel like you need to be there.

Use that time to exercise and rest your brain.

I am sure that by doing so, your brain will be a little more free from the disease and you will find something fun to do, something that makes your heart dance.

I have finally found something that burns my heart and keeps me going for hours at a time.

Life is your life.

If all of you could reevaluate your day once again, and let the fire burn in what you really want to do, Japan will surely improve. That is the message that our ancestors have been sending to us for generations.

In the old days, Japan was poor, but it surely looks more burning and happy than it does now.

After all, work and love are all things on this earth with passion, confidence, that’s all there is in this world.

Thank you for reading.

ZenJin