Dear readers, I hope you are all doing well.
It has suddenly turned cold lately.
Autumn has deepened, and we are now entering the season when the first signs of winter can be felt.

As I have written before, this is the season for saury (sanma).
When you light a charcoal fire in a shichirin brazier and grill a plump saury, the fat catches fire and the skin chars black.
We eat it with soy sauce and grated daikon radish, but we do not remove the innards; instead, we eat them just as they are, together with the grated daikon.
The slightly bitter innards, the grated daikon, and the flesh all blend together in the mouth, and it is truly delicious.

As autumn deepens, I am reminded of the rakugo story “Meguro no Sanma” (The Saury of Meguro).
A lord and his retinue, out on a falconry excursion, happened to pass by around noon when a wonderful aroma came drifting from a farmhouse.
The farmer was grilling saury for his meal.
Drawn by the aroma, the lord ordered his retainers to let him taste the fish.
The retainers protested, “This is a lowly fish, my lord, unfit for your palate,” but the lord said, “I do not mind. Bring it to me,” so they reluctantly asked the farmer to share some.
Grilled over charcoal, the saury had turned completely black, but unable to bear his hunger, the lord took a bite and, exclaiming “Delicious, delicious!”, devoured about four of them.
In the depths of autumn, the taste of a plump saury is something one never forgets.

Some days later, when the lord requested saury at his castle, his retainers feared that something might happen to his health.
So they steamed the fish to remove all of its fat and carefully took out the bones and innards before serving it.
As a result, only a faint trace of the saury’s aroma remained.
After tasting it, the lord uttered his famous final line: “Saury is best from Meguro.”
I first heard this story on the radio when I was in elementary school.

It is truly delicious, so I hope you will all try saury grilled over a shichirin.
The innards are best eaten with grated daikon and a drizzle of soy sauce.

During the Edo period, Russia, the United States, and European countries pressed toward Japan with the aim of colonizing it.
Many Asian countries succumbed to that force and became colonies.
However, Thailand and Japan did not yield and escaped colonization.
Why was Japan not colonized?

In the Edo period, many daimyo (feudal lords) retained samurai.
Much like company employees, the samurai commuted almost daily from their homes to the castle, wearing their long and short swords at their waists.
When firearms arrived on Tanegashima, the Japanese were astonished by the power of a single gun.
They immediately began producing them, and through repeated improvements, they ended up making guns superior to those of foreign countries.
Seppuku, in which a samurai cuts open his own belly upon orders, must have astonished foreigners, but in Japan it was carried out as a matter of course.
I believe foreigners observed this behavior and mindset of the Japanese, and also understood that the Japanese were literate and skilled with their hands.

In the Meiji era, Japan began building warships, and in the Taisho and Showa eras, it came to build many ships.
In other words, I believe it was because Japan kept working hard without giving its opponents any opening.
The Forty-seven Ronin of Ako, who spent more than a year preparing and risked their lives to carry out their raid for the sake of their lord, must also have astonished foreigners.
The ronin accepted their punishment without a single complaint and honorably ended their lives by seppuku.
Seeing the Japanese people like this, I believe the foreign powers gave up on colonizing Japan.

The largest war Japan fought against Russia was the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905.
Most of the land battles took place in Manchuria (present-day Northeast China), which was effectively controlled by Russia at the time.
Among them, Port Arthur (Lushun), home to Russia’s formidable fortress and fleet base, was the fiercest battleground of the war.
In particular, the battle for “Hill 203,” which stands 203 meters high, resulted in enormous numbers of deaths on both the Japanese and Russian sides.
Mukden (present-day Shenyang) was the stage for the Battle of Mukden, the greatest land battle of the war, in which forces totaling some 600,000 men clashed.
Fierce ground battles were also fought around major cities and rivers in southern Manchuria on the way to Port Arthur and Mukden.

The naval battles were fought mainly in nearby waters such as the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea.
The waters off Tsushima were the stage for the Battle of Tsushima (the Battle of the Sea of Japan).
There, the Combined Fleet led by Togo Heihachiro intercepted Russia’s enormous Baltic Fleet, which had sailed for more than half a year from Europe.
In this battle, nearly all of the Russian ships were sunk or captured, and the fleet was annihilated.

The war between Russia and Ukraine continues to this day.
Japan is surrounded by China, North Korea, and Russia, and a war could break out at any time.
Since the end of the war, Japan has placed complete trust in the United States.
Now, having been told by President Trump that “a country should defend itself,” Japan is astonished by his capricious behavior.
At present, Japan is at a loss as to how it should confront these challenges going forward.

Currently, the world’s populations are as follows: India over 1.47 billion, China 1.413 billion, the United States 350 million, Indonesia 280 million, Pakistan 240 million, and Russia about 140 million.
Russia’s population continues to decline rapidly.
Moreover, because its territory is so vast, holding that population together is extremely difficult.
Meanwhile, Ukraine, with a population of only about 30 to 40 million, is fighting on equal terms with mighty Russia.

Japan’s population is about 122.68 million, of whom about 4.28 million are foreign residents.
The Japanese population has declined considerably, and aging has advanced significantly.
If we do not start saving systematically now, we will face dire consequences.

In the future, the world will face various problems.
Far-left and far-right forces are rising in France, Germany, and Italy, and problems surrounding AI are emerging as well.
In other words, we have entered an era in which humans are no longer needed.
An acquaintance of mine employed 100 people abroad (in Vietnam), but by using AI, he let 50 of them go.
It is certainly an effective approach, but the 50 people who lost their jobs must now look for new work.
How to handle AI has become a major issue.
We are entering an era in which cars can drive themselves without a driver, and large trucks are also becoming driverless.
I hear that self-driving works well even on Japan’s crowded, cluttered roads, so these vehicles will probably run without any problem.
As long as they are refueled, they can operate all day long, which is very efficient.
They never complain, and labor laws, wages, and bonuses mean nothing to them.
However, using fewer and fewer people in this way seems likely to create major problems in the future.

Food prices are currently soaring.
Rising building prices also seem likely to become a problem in the near future.
In Tokyo, housing prices have risen to anywhere from 100 million to nearly 500 million yen.
Given current salary levels, it seems impossible for ordinary people to buy a home.
On top of that, the problem of a declining birthrate and an aging population has emerged.
The population aged 65 and over has reached 36.24 million (of whom 21.68 million are 75 or older).
Japanese wages are considerably lower than those in South Korea, and unless we have truly brilliant members of the Diet, we will not see good results.
Unless the number of Diet members is reduced and their salaries are cut, the people will eventually rise up in riots, mark my words.
I am not joking.

I often say, “Work hard and sweat while you are young.”
If you do, you will become patient and resilient as you grow older.
It is a simple thing, but it is only natural.
Among the people who visit my shop, there are some who still do sword polishing or make sword fittings (kodogu).
They became devoted to this work through some small chance, improved their skills as they continued, and are now highly accomplished craftsmen.
I believe they gain far more from it than they would by simply working at a company until retirement.

Grandfathers and grandmothers, how are you doing?
I am now past 86 years of age, but I am living in good health.
My wife is well, and my daughter is also working hard.
To all of you wives and husbands, please live in harmony and enjoy a pleasant autumn.
As for your children, please encourage them to be kind, cheerful, and frugal, and to become close to nature.
I am sure good things will come your way.

Don Quixote — The Society for Improving Japanese Politics
Chairman Kazushige Tsuruta