Great Construction

Proposal for the Japanese-style Way to Health (1)

     What does it show that the number of invalids and those suffering from various ailments are increasing inversely in spite of the fact that medical science and the practice of hygiene has made considerable advances? That society does not heed this discrepancy can only be said to be truly regrettable. The newly-arisen Japan, which is now embarking upon the world stage, cannot neglect first of all the health issues of the Japanese people. The greater the number of sick people and criminals, the greater the impediment to the advancing armies of the nation state. I have started the Kannon movement with the desire to make Japan a nation without sick and without criminals. Such also is the great desire of the Boddhisattva Regarder of the Cries of the World.
     Originally, I was that rare type of person with a weak physical constitution, but I have come to be also the rare type of healthy individual. I have become so because I became aware of the great fallacy of Western hygiene nowadays, then created, and started to practice Japanese-style hygiene. Based on this experience, I formed a method for health based on the truth of the Boddhisattva Regarder of Cries of the World, and I hereby proclaim my discovery to society under the name Japanese-style Method of Health.

Differences Between Japanese and Caucasians

     Medical science and hygiene at present have come to be studied using the physical body of the Caucasian as a standard. It should be understood, however, that Japanese greatly differ physically in fundamentals from Caucasians. For countless generations, Caucasians have mainly eaten wheat and the meat of beasts, while our ancestors have primarily consumed vegetables and rice.
     Caucasians excel physically and we Japanese, mentally. To compare our diets to those of small birds, for example, like the canary and the nightingale, the canary eats greens and decomposed grass to maintain health and the nightingale keeps healthy by consuming food composed chiefly of fish and insects. In the case of beasts, the truth is that horses cannot live without eating straw and beans, and tigers and wolves live on meat.
     Let me give another comparison. Let’s suppose a carp is living in rather muddied water. Someone who sees this may think that such dirty water is bad for the carp and puts it in clean water, but contrary to expectations, the carp weakens and dies. Human beings are the same, keeping healthy and living long by living on the same land, breathing the same air, and consuming cereals, fish, vegetables from that land, so is it really necessary now to start to prefer and eat French oatmeal, Norwegian sardines, or Canadian canned meat? As deep thought is given to this, I think it is about time that people opened their eyes. In other words, human beings are like the insects that spring from the earth. In a country such as ours, surrounded by the seas with scant level ground, it has been designated by God that we can live by eating rice, fish, and vegetables. It is the same reasoning that nature provides the natural conditions for those living on continental land masses to eat meat.
     Some decades ago when I realized these principles, I had been a great meat eater, but as a result of converting to vegetarianism, I regained my health, put on about nine pounds of weight, my head became clearer, I could work energetically, and did not fatigue easily. Another surprising fact is I was able to sleep at night without the hot water bottles as I had required when I had been eating primarily a meat diet. I was able to sleep well after getting into a cooler bed, a very unexpected change that must be mentioned. Next I will discuss each topic in nutrition in detail. 

    Light from the East, Issue 5, April 8, 1935
translated by cynndd