“Cultivating Humanity”— Education in the Age of AI　

In this issue, I would like to take up the theme shown in the title from the book Nihonjin yo, Hahagokoro ni Kaere (“Japanese People, Return to a Mother’s Heart”) by Master Masando Sasaki,* a great Aikido teacher and chief priest of the Yamakage Shinto tradition.

Words by Mr. Sasaki are quoted in “ ” below.

 

Master Sasaki introduces an anecdote from his writings.

He notes that the Japanese people of the Russo-Japanese War era and the Japanese military leaders of the Greater East Asia War were fundamentally different. The Japanese of the latter period, he says, were no longer people of true human dignity—individuals who lived by a sense of shame and reverence.

When General Douglas MacArthur asked why this transformation had occurred, then–Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida sought an answer from the philosopher Tetsuro Watsuji. According to the story, Dr. Watsuji replied as follows:

“The military leaders of the Meiji era were men shaped in the final years of the Tokugawa period. From early childhood, they were raised by mothers who embodied the ideal of Yamato Nadeshiko, ideal Japanese mothers. They were taught classical reading, writing, arithmetic, and strict etiquette, as well as the disciplines of martial arts and the tea ceremony.

As they matured, they studied at temple schools, private academies, and domain schools, where they learned not only the Four Books—The Great Learning, The Doctrine of the Mean, The Analects, and Mencius—but also the Five Classics: The Book of Documents, The Book of Changes, The Book of Poetry, The Spring and Autumn Annals, and The Book of Rites. They also studied historical works from both East and West, internalizing the moral philosophy of the East, while rigorously training both mind and body through martial practice.

Above all, this was possible because from the most critical stage of prenatal education—the formation of character in the womb—through early childhood discipline, mothers played a firm and central role in their upbringing.

However, after figures such as Iwakura Tomomi and Okubo Toshimichi traveled to your country, the United States, and were astonished by scientific progress, they adopted its educational system. As a result, the heavenly path of benevolence and moral righteousness declined, and society became increasingly colored by a utilitarian and power-centered way of thinking.”

Today, artificial intelligence is penetrating our lives at an astonishing speed.

The question of what kind of education today’s children should receive is one that requires us to pause and reflect seriously.

In this issue, by carefully unpacking Master Sasaki’s teachings, I would like to consider the key points that should guide education going forward.

In particular, I believe the following three points are essential:

 

 

 

Let me explain each one of above in detail.

 

１. Valuing moral character

Words of Master Sasaki

“Looking at the modern world, we see an ever-increasing Americanization and a civilization afflicted by the disease of luxury. Amid material abundance, the human spirit has grown desolate. There is no educational model that encourages reflection upon the eternal soul. Families are collapsing, unimaginable violent crimes are occurring, and individuals with severe mental disturbances are appearing one after another.

Intellectual crimes and environmental destruction are spreading, while society drifts toward selfishness and commercialism, steadily eroding human dignity.

In the postwar era, there have been no classical studies or lifelong education aimed at cultivating moral character, which lies at the essence of humanity. Nor has there been a tradition of disciplined upbringing that draws out true human nature. Instead, education has focused only on fragmentary sciences and practical knowledge such as foreign languages and technical skills.

Knowledge and skills are merely attributes of human nature. When they are not grounded in moral virtue, they produce intellectual criminals and highly skilled offenders.”

 

(My commentary)

This is a difficult passage, but I believe what Master Sasaki is pointing to here is profoundly insightful.

In postwar Japan, there has been a strong tendency to regard Western social systems and ways of thinking as unquestionably good and superior. I believe this mindset continues even today.

I myself grew up and entered society in an environment where it was commonly said, “Japan’s way is outdated—learn from Europe and the United States.” However, after actually seeing Western social systems and cultures with my own eyes, I began to question whether Japan was truly so inferior.

Of course, Japan has many areas that need improvement.

Yet when it comes to the fundamental morality of what it means to be human, I believe it is vital for us to once again reexamine what already existed within Japan itself.

 

２. Receiving a mother’s love

Words of Master Sasaki

“A mother who pours boundless love into her own child, when she returns to her true heart, should never be able to entrust her beloved child entirely to others.

This is not about formal instruction or training, but I sincerely hope that the beautiful virtues once embodied in Japanese life during better times will be passed on to the next generation.”

 

(My commentary)

When examining, through Sanmei-gaku, the destiny of an individual who committed crimes and took many lives, one element that emerges in that destiny is a tendency toward self-destruction when pushed into extreme circumstances.

At the same time, many such individuals share life experiences in which they lost their parents at a young age or were abandoned by them.

There are many roles within motherhood that cannot be replaced by a father.

I hope for a society in which women are able to reclaim their maternal nature, and in which every child born into this world is embraced by a mother’s unreserved and unconditional love.

 

３. Learning the principles and laws of the universe

Words of Master Sasaki

“I would like to help create a Kotodama no Sakiwau Kuni—a ‘land blessed by the spirit of truthful words’—a beautiful Yamato where people do not lie, and where society can exist without the need for locks.”

 

(My commentary)

The scientist Kunihiko Takeda has said that no matter what we do, nature itself cannot be deceived.

The turmoil surrounding nuclear radiation, various forms of corruption entangled with vested interests, document manipulation, and media reports filled with concealment and falsehood—these, I believe, are all matters in which the truth will eventually be brought to light by the power of nature itself.

Human cleverness may succeed in deceiving other humans, but nature cannot be deceived.

Ultimately, this is a fundamental question of how we choose to live: whether we live with an awareness of something vast and magnificent that exists above humanity, or whether we place human beings above all things in the universe.

I myself am not free from arrogance or pride, but I wish to continually discipline and restrain myself whenever such tendencies arise.

 

 

 

 

*Master Masando Sasaki

Born in 1929 in Nagai City, Yamagata Prefecture.

After overcoming many hardships in his youth, he graduated from the Faculty of Economics and the Advanced Course of the Faculty of Law at Chuo University.

After resigning from his post at the Defense Agency, he encountered Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of Aikido, and devoted himself to martial arts and the cultivation of the human spirit, eventually becoming an Aikido instructor.

While seeking the true path of life, he practiced waterfall austerities, zazen, and trained in groups such as “Ichiku-kai” and “Itsui-kai.”

He later met his life mentor, Nakamura Tempu, and studied under him.

Through a fortunate connection, he became associated with Yamakage Motoo and was ordained as a priest of the Yamakage Shinto tradition, serving as the chief priest of Kamifukuoka Nishimiya Shrine.

In 1977, he was invited by the French Ministry of Culture to Paris as a Shinto instructor at the “Dojo for the Restoration of Human Nature,” and he visited France again in 1985.

Alongside teaching Aikido, he traveled throughout Japan delivering “Sasaki Dharma Talks,” expounding on the traditional Japanese cultural arts—such as martial arts, tea ceremony, and flower arrangement—and on the true path of being human.

 

Further queries or doubts, please email to ytomizuka@abrilsjp.com

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