The Words of the Kuboki Family
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The Words of the Kuboki Family |
President
Osami Kuboki
We are indeed grateful to be awarded this wonderful prize. As Father was giving me the prize, he quietly spoke to me, "I have never given a prize in such a way." I felt indeed we should be giving prizes to Father, and I was shaking on the stage. I felt I did not know what to say or do, when suddenly Father's hand appeared in front of me and he said, "Let's shake hands." As I was shaking hands, I remembered in the past there were several times when Father shook hands, but recently only a few occasions. I did not want to release Father's hand, but held on as long as I could.
I was asked to share with you my understandings about why Japan received such a prize at this time. Of course we are the same human beings, eating the same things, doing the same things. We Japanese are not so special. What is unique about Japan is that we are an island nation probably smaller than California. Almost 86% of our land is mountainous, leaving only 14% flat and usable for habitation. We have no significant natural resources. In addition, during WWII the Japanese land was thoroughly bombarded. We lost everything and had to begin from scratch. However, this turned out to be a great blessing for Japan. In America there are big factories equipped with old machines. Japan had to rebuild from nothing. To our great gratitude, when we did not have anything the American government helped with massive financial and material aid to our country.
An American professor from Columbia University came to Japan after WWII to instruct us in production quality control and other economic methods, so that Japan could develop as quickly as possible. As he toured and lectured about his methods and philosophies, the Japanese people listened very intently. He was impressed and predicted that the Japanese economy would become so great in 30 years that it would compete with America.
Without natural resources the Japanese economy is based on production and trade, exporting 1' hat we produce. Thanks to the continuous export drive since WWII, the Japanese economy has been developing. Based on this professor's advice, the Japanese tried to create precise and faultless products. After years of effort the Japanese products have become good quality products, whereas previously Japanese products were considered to be of bad quality. Indeed what we are is really due to American support. This is a brief explanation of Japanese history after WWII.
A Western leader once told me, "I have been wondering why the Japanese movement has been so successful in fundraising and bringing so many people to this movement." His conclusion was that in Western Christian society financial activities are considered to be lower than spiritual matters, and that perhaps that attitude may be hindering Westerners from making their utmost efforts in financial fields. I immediately told this leader, "No, you are wrong. We Japanese are mostly Buddhists. Buddhists have a rather strong concept about financial activities, despising money matters. The Buddhist ideal is to be completely penniless, and living a very humble but spiritual life."
Yesterday Father mentioned that I might have considered leaving the movement because of such poor, miserable situations in the early days of our movement. Yet I can pledge before God and True Parents that I never considered leaving. I was a Buddhist before joining, and had been taught to value a penniless situation. Therefore, I was proud even to be collecting garbage. Thanks to Buddhism and Confucianism, I feel the basic nature of the Japanese may be to offer whatever they have for the public purpose.
At such a moment, the Unification Church of Japan was born. Japanese people were trained in their religious traditions to offer money or materials. In many religious groups it has been customary to offer money, whatever the occasion. For example, when a child went to school, the parents would go to a temple shrine to offer money for the child to study well and receive good grades. Even though it was for a relatively selfish purpose, the Japanese people were trained to offer money and materials to God or to a religious order. Of course, there were people who suspected that offering money for individual or rather egoistic reasons was not proper -- there must be better reasons to make an offering. So when Father's message of Unification ideology was introduced in Japan it strongly impacted on the Japanese society. Divine Principle gave the strong impetus and stimulation the Japanese people needed to go beyond their national boundary to the world.
Those who heard Divine Principle in the early days were well-educated students -- a great blessing from heaven to the Japanese movement. Those who joined in the early days were purely motivated, serious people, willing to work in extremely poor conditions.
Once an elder member and myself went to a coffee shop. He sipped the coffee from a spoon, not from the cup. It was really a surprise to me. This member said that he had never been to a coffee shop in his entire life!
When such pure-minded young people went door-to- door or street witnessing, the Japanese people were moved. In addition to this, the Unification ideology helped the Japanese people to transcend their national boundary and do something for the world. Of course Father's life course was such a striking ex ample that many people considered Father the ideal person, and those from the Christian faith could even consider Father to be the Messiah. As Father was working for the sake of humanity, the Japanese people have gradually become inclined to offer whatever they have for the sake of such global and noble causes. Basically such things are not so different from your own nations, perhaps.
In the last couple of years, I have been touring throughout Japan giving lectures, seldom returning home. In the Japanese movement first young people joined, then housewives. Out of 1,200 Japanese members who attended Father's birthday celebration, almost 90% were housewives. Those housewives were persecuted by their husbands so many times because they joined the Unification Church. A considerable number of women were sent to psychiatric hospitals by their families because of their faith or confined in their houses. Because of such hard experiences, many of those women yesterday, upon seeing Father, could not help crying because their difficult experiences were finally rewarded.
Those women have been trying to bring their husbands to the church, doing 40-day fasts and other serious conditions. The husbands may finally come to a lecture rather reluctantly; then I appear in front of them to speak. From the stage I can instantly recognize those husbands who came reluctantly. It is dreadful to give a lecture to an audience that is hateful or reluctant.
Once, when I was about to give lecture at a large women's association rally, the organizers mistakenly proclaimed that it was over. The ladies immediately rushed to where the lunchboxes were piled, opened them, and began eating. It was so noisy, but I remembered Father's experience somewhere in Michigan during a speaking tour. At that time the rally was held in a hall of 7,000, but only 13 people came. Father had to speak to only 13 people. I remembered this and began to speak to the women. After 10 minutes or so, they started to listen to me carefully.
The housewives would really pray for their husbands to listen. One wife asked her husband after the lecture, "How was the lecture?" The husband replied, "Good." The wife was so pleased, she suggested, "Let's buy a Buddhist statue from the church." The husband replied, "We don't need such a statue." But he then suggested that they offer their savings account to the church. The wife nearly fainted. On another occasion one man offered $3 million after hearing a lecture.
It is unusual that people are willing to offer such large amounts of money to our movement. But the tradition of the Japanese movement is that money dedicated for the sake of God be offered for the world and never used for the Japanese movement. Even on the occasion of this celebration, the 1,200 members came here on their own account -- not supported by the church. We feel that such an attitude is the reason why God can continuously give us blessings.
Because we remember how America was so helpful to the Japanese development, when asked for Japanese support for projects in America, we Japanese members were so grateful to help. If you visit the Japanese church, you will see that we do not have important properties.
At the moment we are quite content with what we call "rabbit houses." As Father indicated several times, because of the Japanese history of occupying the Korean peninsula, we must pay indemnity.
Yesterday Father said the cause of the confusion of the world at this moment is a lack of true masters who can lead the world. Successive Korean rulers from Rhee to Chun were assassinated or kicked out. This is because those who were not true masters tried to 'rule the nation. Father is well aware what President Roh should and should not do; therefore Father is really anxious that he and President Roh be united.
Father is about to begin a nationwide tour of Korea. The Korean members will start street witnessing as they did 20 years ago. Since Korea is in the position of the Adam nation, it must go through such critical moments. Because there is also no real master in Japan, we have had our prime minister replaced every three months. The same thing might be said about the United States if President Bush is not interested in listening to Father because of Danbury.
In an ordinary situation, if one reaches 70-years-old he can retire and enjoy life. But Father never succumbs to such an idea. Instead he urges that centering on this celebration we must make new determination.
Thank you and God bless you.