The Secret to a Strong Mental Fortitude

As I was fiddling with my cell phone on the plane from Tokushima back to Haneda, I suddenly saw the “distance traveled ranking” displayed by YAMAP on the screen. I found myself surprised by the contents.

The third place was “Running Pilgrimage Day 15, 70 km from Ozu to Iwayadera Temple (45), the Most Difficult Part” and the second place was “Running Pilgrimage Day 18, from Iyo Miyoshi to the Seto Inland Sea via Mt. Ishizuchi! The distance is 76.8 km. And first place goes to “Running Pilgrimage Day 11, from Iwamotoji (No. 37) to Kongofukuji (No. 38) Cape Ashizurimisaki...” 85.5 kilometers. Yup, it brought back memories of last year's grueling pilgrimage, when I ran 80 kilometers in a single day and completed the 1,200-kilometer journey in 22 days.

That's not all. Thankfully, YAMAP provided me with a detailed report of my mountaineering records as “Activity Data for 2024,” and I was even more astonished to find that the total distance of mountain climbing and pilgrimage in 2024 was 950 km. That's almost 1,000 kilometers! And the altitude climbed was 23 kilometers, meaning I had climbed 23,000 meters. That means I have climbed 23,000 meters. I am still amazed that I made it that far, and I can't say enough about it. As Chairman of Sound House, I have a mountain of work to do every day. In addition to this, I have a lot of work to do for the foundation and its subsidiaries, and I also have to write articles for historyjp.com, which is my life's work. Time is obviously in short supply. Therefore, to make the impossible possible, I always carry my laptop in my backpack while climbing mountains and on pilgrimages, and I open it at every break to check and respond to e-mails, and I not only try to keep the instructions flowing in a timely manner, but I also continue writing. This is not an easy task, but once I decided to do it, I had to do it.

Where did I get the mental strength to challenge a distance of 80 km, a distance I had never run before, to endure pain and suffering? Where was it going to come within me to run a 1200 km road within 22 days? Could it be in my DNA? I don't know exactly why. All I know is that I also have a strong mind once I decide to do something. I will work hard until I accomplish my goal no matter what. I find it almost strange that I have the grit to not give up.

Of course, that is not to say that there have not been times when these aspirations have not borne fruit. One example is running a full marathon: at the age of 43, an employee invited me to participate in the Honolulu Marathon, and I ran 20 full marathons over the next seven years. During that time, I trained by running about 300 to 400 km every month. It was not an easy task for me, as I had many hard times and injuries, and I had to run in between work. Even so, I did my best to run from Ginza to Ikebukuro without taking the train, something I took for granted. I wanted to run three times, or under three hours, at any cost. Every time I participated in international competitions, my record was broken every time, and finally I reached the three-hour mark.

Since then, however, I had made three three attempts, but all have ended up on the skipping board. There were many reasons. I was in less than perfect physical condition, the weather was not ideal, I was not getting enough sleep, etc. But I had no excuses. I had made up my mind that I would definitely achieve a sub-three finish, and yet I was feeling disappointed that I had failed to do so. Moreover, I trained too much in the middle of winter in extremely cold weather, which cooled my body down too much and caused me to suffer from extreme autonomic imbalance and my body wasn’t regulating its temperature correctly. It is nothing short of regrettable that my body collapsed without achieving my goal.

However, one should not be discouraged by such things. Still, my strong will, which is my strength, has been restored. I will not be discouraged by anything and I will keep thinking positively about everything and continue to take on challenges. And, I always believe that the goal will come in sight. I believe that it is this kind of belief that allows me to persevere and continue running Sound House, which is a really tough business. If I can do it, I can make it work! If you keep going forward with a positive attitude, you will see results. Perhaps it is my strength to think positively. Even if it is a false belief, the secret to success is to have a strong passion for what you believe in.