こばし鍼灸(掃骨)院 | 日記 | 55.【いのちをいただく】　 英語版／再掲済み

　Receiving Life　Facebookより　
　　（Translator:Hitomi Nakao）

I hear “Itadakimasu [literally: (I) will receive]”
is an expression unique to Japan.
People who do not speak Japanese
may ask, “What is Itadakimasu?”
“Is it a prayer to the gods?”
If children were to ask you,
“Why do we have to say
‘Itadakimasu’ before we eat?”
How would you answer?
You may respond with something like this:
“It is to express thanks to the life
we are receiving,
to thank the people who grew the food,
and to thank the person
who prepared the meal.”
Yet, when children hear this answer,
how many of them
will truly take these words to heart?
If we stop and think carefully about it,
children are bound to have heard
something like this many times before.
Isn’t it an unfortunate reality that this idea
has failed to resonate in the hearts
of most children?
I've heard other teachers say
to students at lunchtime,
“Say ‘Itadakimasu’ properly.”
“What about ‘Gochisosama
[literally: thank you for the meal]’?”
“Not everyone had their hands
together in prayer.
Let’s all try again!”
In Science class for 8th graders,
there is a unit called
“The Types and Lives of Different Animals.”
In it, one thing students learn is
the difference between animals and plants.
The greatest difference
between animals and plants is,
“animals must move
- take action -
to feed themselves.
Plants do not need to eat
and do not need to move.”
It is not that plants cannot move.
They do not HAVE to move.
Plants have the ability to create
the nutrients they need to live.
We animals do not have that ability
and we have no choice
but to “eat” other living things.
Whether it be animal or plant,
I think any living organism lives
with the instinctive desire
to live as long as it can.
We animals are creatures
with the sad burden
of being unable to survive
– even for a short period of time –
without taking the “life”
of such other beings.
To think about food, then,
is to think about life.
I think the job of an educator
is to instigate awareness
and let this idea resonate
in the hearts of children.
There are two stories
that are deeply ingrained in my heart,
and I’d like to share them with you here.
One is a story written by
Professor Goshi Sato
of the Graduate School
of Kyushu University.
It is a story in “Jisui danshi – 'Stories to find
the Important Things in Life’.”
--------------------------------
Do you know why we must say,
“Itadakimasu and Gochisosama?”
One meaning of “Itadakimasu” is,
“to receive the life of the person
who prepared the meal.”
In this case, life means time.
Let’s say a person passed away
at the age of 80.
This means,
the time of 80 years
comprised that person’s life.
This morning,
your mother spent 30 minutes
making breakfast.
This evening,
your mother will spend an hour
cooking dinner.
In that breakfast,
your mother invested 30 minutes of her life;
in that dinner, an hour’s worth of life.
From the day you were born until today,
your mother and your father used the time
in their lives to feed you.
And until you all become independent,
you will continue to consume the life
time of your parents.
Thus, one meaning of “Itadakimasu” is,
"to receive the life of the people
who provided the meal for you.”
Wasting food means you are wasting the life
of the person who prepared your meal.
So let us not forget to say
“Itadakimasu” and “Gochisoma”
with sincerity.
Let us not forget to thank the people
who provide us our meals.
----------------------------------
Another story I’d like to share is a story
that became the basis of the picture book
written by Doctor Michiko Uchida of the
Uchida Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinic
called, “Receiving Life.
I’d like to introduce this story to you,
in hope that you will read
this picture book aloud
to your students and to your own children.
Sakamoto-san works
at a meat processing factory.
His work is to kill cows
and to pack the meat.
Sakamoto-san never liked his job.
If no one killed cows,
there will be no meat for people to eat.
That is why he understood
his job was important.
But every time he looked into
the eyes of the cows he had to kill,
he disliked his job even more.
“Someday I will quit. Someday I will quit..”
That’s all he thought as he worked.
Sakamoto-san’s child is in third grade.
His name is Shinobu-kun.
One day, there was a notice
from the boy’s Elementary school
about Parents’ Day.
Up until then,
Shinobu-kun’s mother always attended
the event, but this year,
she was busy and could not go.
Sakamoto-san decided to go in her place.
The day for parents to visit
their children’s classrooms arrived.
“Will Shinobu be able to raise his hand
and answer properly?”
Sakamoto-san entered the school gate
with a mixture
of anticipation and nervousness.
The class was learning about
“Different Professions” that day.
The teacher asked each student in the class,
“Do you know your father’s
- or your mother’s -profession?”
“What kind of work
does that profession involve?”
As Shinobu-kun’s turn approached,
Sakamoto-san realized he had never
explained his work in detail to his son.
He worried about how his son
would answer the question.
Shinobu-kun replied in a small voice,
“A meat shop. Just an ordinary meat shop.”
Sakamoto-san whispered
quietly to himself, “Oh.”
When Shinobu-kun returned home
from school that day,
Sakamoto-san was reading the newspaper.
“If you didn’t do what you do, Daddy,
there wouldn’t be any meat
for people to eat, right?”
Sakamoto-san wondered why
his son was asking such a thing
and just repeated the question.
Shinobu-kun explained that his teacher
had called him aside at the end of class
and asked him,
“Sakamoto, why did you say your father
ran an ordinary meat shop?”
“Because, it’s embarrassing.
I saw him once...all covered in blood.
It's embarrassing.”
“Sakamoto,
if your father didn’t do what he does,
nobody would be able to eat meat.
Not me, not you, not the school master,
and not the company CEO,
no matter how big the company is.
Your father has an admirable job.”
Shinobu-kun explained all this
rather quickly to his father and added,
“Your job is admirable!”
When Sakamoto-san heard these words,
he thought to himself that perhaps
he should continue his job a little longer.
One day,
Sakamoto-san was taking a break
in the factory office after a long day.
A truck entered the gates of the factory.
The truck carried cows
that were going to be killed the next day.
As Sakamoto-san gazed at the truck
and thought of the cows dying tomorrow,
a girl of about ten came out
from the passenger seat.
She immediately ran back to the cows.
“Isn’t that dangerous?”
thought Sakamoto-san.
He kept on watching the truck
but since the girl did not reappear,
he became worried
and walked out to the truck.
That was when he heard the girl
talking to a cow.
“Mii-chan, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.
Grandpa says the new year won’t come
unless you become meat.
He says our family can’t live if we don’t sell you off.
I’m sorry, Mii-chan. I’m so sorry.”
The girl gently rubbed the cow’s stomach
as she explained this to the cow.
Sakamoto-san thought to himself,
“Oh dear, I didn’t want to see that.”
The girl's grandfather climbed out
from the driver’s seat
and bowed to Sakamoto-san.
“Sakamoto-san,
Mii-chan and this girl grew up together.
That is why we wanted to keep Mii-chan.
But unless we sell Mii-chan,
we can’t buy this girl her Christmas present,
and we certainly cannot give her money
for the new year.
So please, take care of Mii-chan tomorrow.”
Sakamoto-san thought to himself,
“I must quit this job.
I cannot do it any longer.”
And he thought of taking the day off
the next day.
Sakamoto-san returned home
and told Shinobu-kun
about Mii-chan and the little girl.
“I can’t kill Mii-chan,
so I’m thinking of taking the day off tomorrow.”
Shinobu-kun acknowledged this
with a “Hm.”
and returned to watching TV.
That night, Sakamoto-san was taking a bath
with Shinobu-kun as he always did.
As Shinobu-kun washed his father’s back,
he said, “Dad, I think you should do it.
If somebody else
- someone who didn’t care -
killed Mii-chan, the cow will suffer.
You should do it for Mii-chan.”
Sakamoto-san listened intently,
but his decision remained unchanged.
The next morning,
Sakamoto-san waited for Shinobu-kun
to go to school.
“I’m off!”
Sakamoto-san heard
his son’s cheerful voice
and the sound of the door shutting.
Suddenly, the door opened again
and Shinobu-kun shouted,
“Dad, you have to go today. OK?”
Sakamoto-san replied with an OK
before he even had time to think about it.
Having heard his father’s response,
Shinobu-kun ran off to school.
“Uh-oh, you promised the boy.
Now you have to go.” said his wife.
Sakamoto-san headed to work
with a heavy heart.
The heaviness did not go way
even after he arrived at work.
Since he was a bit early,
he went to see Mii-chan.
When he entered the cowshed,
Mii-chan lowered her horns
- as all cows do -
as if to intimidate Sakamoto-san.
For a moment,
Sakamoto-san did know what to do,
but he gently raised his hand and
Mii-chan gradually began to sniff it.
Sakamoto-san said, “Miichan, I’m sorry.
If you don’t become meat,
there will be trouble for everyone.
I’m sorry.”
Mii-chan let his head be
grazed by Sakamoto-san’s hand.
Sakamoto-san then rubbed
the cow’s stomach,
as he has seen the girl do, and explained,
“Mii-chan, you’re going to have to be still.
If you move, I’ll miss the fatal spot
and you’ll suffer longer than you have to.
So please, be still.”
The time came to kill the cows
and to pack the meat.
Sakamoto-san said once again,
“Don’t move. Mii-chan, be still.”
Mii-chan remained still.
That was when a tear ran down
from Mii-chan’s large eye.
It was the first time
Sakamoto-san saw a cow cry.
When Sakamoto-san placed a gun-like
instrument to the cow’s head,
Mii-chan fell down and lay still.
In most cases, the cows sense alarm
and move their heads.
When the fatal spot is missed,
they suffer a while even after they fall.
The next day, the grandfather of the girl
came back to the meat processing factory.
“Sakamoto-san, thank you very much.
Yesterday, we received some of the meat,
and ate it together.
My grandchild refused to eat. I told her,
‘It is because of Mii-chan
that we are all able to live on.
Eat. Be grateful to Mii-chan and eat.
That is how we can honor Mii-chan.’
The girl said, ‘Mii-chan, Itadakimasu.
It’s good. It’s good.’
Sakamoto-san, thank you so very much.”
Sakamoto-san thought to himself that
he would continue this job a little longer.
---------------------------
I once heard there was a school
that received complaints
from some parents saying,
“Students should not be required to say
‘Itadakimasu’ at school since the parents
are the ones paying for their lunch fee.”
It is easy to say that these
particular parents failed to see the point.
But if these parent knew the story
I just told you, do you think
they would still have said the same?
Our eating habits today
have grown quite distanced
from the notion of “receiving life”.
As a result, food is being wasted.
They say if a year’s worth
of leftovers in Japan
were collected all together,
it would be enough to feed 33 million people
in developing countries for an entire year.
We eat meat everyday without really thinking
about the lives that were sacrificed.
Most animals hunt for their own food
in order to survive.
We live in a society where we no longer
have to dirty our own hands,
and we certainly do not have to think
about the thoughts of people
like Sakamoto-san,
when we eat meat.
Whether it be animals or plants,
every living organism is living every moment
with the desire to live to the fullest of its life.
There are things we should think about
in receiving life.
Thinking as we eat meat,
“Oh, this is delicious.”
Thinking as we eat vegetables,
“Oh, this is delicious.”
What thoughts can be borne
from this experience?
Thinking as we eat meat,
“Ew, this isn’t very good.”
Thinking as we eat vegetables,
“Ew, this isn’t very good.”
What thoughts can be borne
from this experience?
When we eat, let us not forget
that lives were taken
to enable us to do so.
Let us honor those lives and be grateful.
Let us express thanks today, again,
when we eat, “Thank you. Itadakimasu.”
And while eating, say “It’s delicious.”
When finished, let’s express thanks
for the nourishment by saying,
“Oh, that was good. Thank you.
Goshisosamadeshita.”
And of course, let’s not leave leftovers.
What we consume makes our bodies.
It lives on within, becoming a part
of our body.
And from within,
it will provide the energy to sustain you.
The best you can do to honor the lives
you received and will continue to receive,
is to make sure you live every day
to its fullest.
Spend a life full of happiness.
That is what will make the lives
living with you most happy.
For them, also, make your life shine bright.
...This is the message that I
- as a teacher and a professional -
want to continue to pass on
to my students and parents.