MY PATH
With Saint Shinran
By Yehan Numata
I consider myself an extremely fortunate person. Every moment of the day I feel grateful from thebottom of my heart for my present blessed situation. Early every morning, I chant Buddhist
sutras in front of our small family altar with my young grandchild, who will soon enter
elementary school. After sutra-chanting, we recite earnestly and with gratitude:“Thanks to the protection of the Lord Buddha and the support of my fellow human beings, I am
blessed have awakened from a peaceful sleep that has given me renewed strength to devote
myself wholeheartedly to my chosen work, and I promise to make up for the Four Gratitudes the
Buddha has shown me.”
These words have been very familiar and popular in the Shin Sect, even from its early days. I am
filled with wonder when I chant this aloud with my total being. Renewed energy is given tome, and I am able to move more actively, even if I had not been feeling well or had been lowspirited up until that moment. It may be some sort of autohypnosis.
I was born in 1897 and am now 78 years old [passed away at the age of 97 in May 1994] andpeople around me are constantly telling me, “You are about 80 so you’d better retire from youractive life and live more leisurely. Take it easy.” Indeed, it’s one way to live and it carries somesignificance. But, I still have too many things to do and accomplish. “Don’t put off till tomorrow
what you can do today, because nobody knows what may happen tomorrow.” As this saying
implies, one cannot possibly know what his condition will be tomorrow, or for that mattereven tonight. I must, therefore, as long as I live, be active so that I may realize the ambitions
that I have had since my younger days.
I have spent much time and energy managing my micrometer company, the Mitutoyo
Corporation, which I started in 1934. However, this company was in fact only a means for
attaining my original objective, which is to enable more people to understand the wonders of
Buddhism; not just the Japanese, but people all over the world. My greatest desire is to share withothers the limitless benefits found in the teachings of the Buddha. Despite the many hardships that
I had to endure in establishing and managing my company, the foundation gradually became
secure. With this accomplished, I started to put forth my entire efforts to realize my deeper
purpose.
During the past ten years, I have, by means of the Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai (Society for the
Promotion of Buddhism), distributed about 300,000 free copies of “The Teaching of Buddha” tohotels throughout the world [as of March 31, 2023, about 9,940,000 copies have been distributed
to hotels, hospitals, etc.]. This is only a trifling number, when you count the total number of rooms
in all the hotels of the world.
This is just one of the many ways to introduce Buddhism to others. Nevertheless, I fear that Ihave not done enough. From now on, I must make greater efforts, as there are still various things
I wish to do.
Perhaps you wonder how I came to have such hopes and ambitions. To have you understand, it isnecessary to tell you some experiences I had in my younger days. To tell you the truth, I ought tohave been a priest and not a businessman. I was born the third son in a Jodo Shin Sect temple
family living in the mountains in Hiroshima Prefecture. The Jodo Shin Sect has many followers
and every person in my family was a very devoted follower. Everyone around me recommended
that I become a priest. In fact, I myself believed that I would do so. My mother was especially a
devoted follower. She taught me that it was a natural duty to thank and serve the Buddha because
we were living due to his charity. After attending an elementary school in my village, I entered ajunior high school belonging to the Hongwanji of the Jodo Shin faction. Of course, I wanted to
go to a senior high school, but there were too many children in my family and we were not richenough for all of us to get a higher education. I understood perfectly well where I stood andplanned on living independently and working my way through school. It was at this time that
fortunately and quite suddenly I was given a chance to go to the United States after graduatingfrom junior high school.
I decided to go abroad then and to study on my own in the United States. In those days, there were
no commercial airplanes, so I made the 17-day journey across the Pacific Ocean by ship. It was atime when an anti-Japanese sentiment prevailed in America; and so many Japanese were despised
and ill-treated.
I went to Los Angeles, California and stayed with a family living in the city of Hollywood. In themornings, I had to cook and wash the dishes before going to school. When I returned at night, I
had to help prepare dinner and again do the dishes. After these chores were done, I was free tostudy and do as I liked. On Saturdays and Sundays, I had to help with the housekeeping the wholeday. For my work, I was able to earn 2 dollars a week, which just barely covered all of myexpenses.
I worked extremely hard for two years. But, due to my very tight schedule I soon became ill. When I
consulted a doctor, he said, “You seem to have tuberculosis.” I was thrown into despair; for inthose days, consumption was considered a fatal disease. In a foreign country with no friends ormoney, living poorly as an animal, I imagined that if I should die of consumption that nobody
would pay attention to me, and my body would be left lying in the fields somewhere.
It grieved me deeply to think of this. But, the words of Saint Shinran saved me when I was insuch a miserable and sad state.
“When you are one, think that you are two. When you are two, remember that you are reallythree. For Shinran is always with you.”
When I was a child, I often heard my mother say these words. Driven to the verge ofdesperation, I happened to recall my mother’s words. When I left Japan for the U.S., my motherhad given me a book of Shin Sect sutras and prayer beads; my father gave me a sheet of paper onwhich he had written the words “Namu Amida Butsu.” I decided to recite this every day, beads
in hand, sitting in front of my father’s handwritten scroll, which hung on the wall of my dimly lit
basement room. This became my new task and also my only mental support. I thought that even
if I should drop dead here, I would never really be alone. The thought that Saint Shinran would
surely watch over me gave me the greatest consolation.
To my surprise, my health began to improve as I continued this daily routine of reciting the
Nembutsu. My doctor tells me that even now there is a trace of consumption in my lungs. There is
no doubt in my mind that I would have ended my life there if I did not have the support of Saint
Shinran.
I miraculously recovered my health and worked my way through college and graduated when I was
29 years old, one year earlier than I had expected. I had been saved from death solely because of
the doctrine of the Shin Sect. I believe that I would have never made it if I had never heard theteachings of the Buddha. To repay what had been given to me, I wanted to do some service forsociety as a whole.
At the time it occurred to me that I could introduce this wonderful Buddhism to the American
people. I couldn’t materially repay the kindness I had received but I could repay spiritually in thisway, which I felt was the best way. However, the anti-Japanese sentiment was growing stronger,
and it was almost impossible to teach Buddhism directly. So, at first, I tried to introduce Oriental
culture in general. I took the lead in publishing an English magazine called, “The Pacific World,”
in collaboration with some students from Stanford University and the University of California.
Oriental culture, such as the tea ceremony and the martial arts, has been greatly influenced by
Buddhism. In giving the outline of Oriental culture, I meant to propagate Buddhism indirectly. I
decided to publish about 4,000 copies of this periodical bimonthly, sending it to all of the major
universities and libraries in the United States. We started our project in June 1925.
We were able to continue for two years with the support of some professors andoccasional donations made by a few bankers. But, at the end of the second year, we were facedwith financial difficulties. These copies were mostly distributed free of charge, and certainly
were not best sellers. I returned to Japan with some friends, hoping to find some solution. We
were fortunate enough to receive a large contribution and encouragement from Mr. Eiichi
Shibusawa, a grand old man in the financial world in those days and a strong supporter of the
Hongwanji Temple. At the same time, we heard of Professor Junjiro Takakusu of Tokyo University,
who was publishing a Buddhist mission magazine but was also plagued with lack of funds. His
purpose was the same as ours, so we got together and began to publish the same periodical, using
both magazine covers, “The Young East” and “The Pacific World” respectively.
I went back to the United States and did the best that I could for two more years. But again, thelack of sufficient and regular funds put the project to an end. What a pity that I had to fail after all
the effort I put into my work. I was already 33 years old. Thinking over the various reasons I cameto the realization that in this economic world one had to have money to accomplish anything. I
made a firm decision that I would not depend on others’ funds, but only on my own income. I
would never again annoy anyone financially. I returned to Japan firm in my determination. Thiswas in the year 1930.

When I returned to Japan this time, I found the Japanese financial world in the depths of adepression caused by the lifting of the gold embargo by the Hamaguchi Cabinet. Though it wasdifficult finding employment, I was fortunate enough to find a job in a public office, theResources Agency of the Cabinet, as I had studied the statistics of economic fluctuations while I
was in the United States. This job enabled me to live independently.
But I couldn’t bear to be a civil servant all my life. I couldn’t fit myself into a salaried man’sl i f e s t y l e p attern, even though I knew that it would be a stable job with perhaps even a bright
future. Nevertheless, in order to start over again and do what I had failed at before, I had to earnmoney. I had no savings; but I certainly didn’t want to earn money by worrying or troubling others.
Such an income wouldn’t have true value, even if it were used for a good cause. After a while,
however, I came to feel that I had to serve society more directly at the same time as I was
earning money. But how? This problem weighed heavily on me. Then, by luck, I happened to hit
upon the idea of manufacturing something which had never been produced in Japan before,
something which hitherto had to be imported at great costs. It had to be something that people
would be glad to have and would market well. It took a lot of time for me to arrive at the
final concept of my idea.
The automobile and airplane industries were not yet overcrowded and too competitive. “A crab
makes his house according to his ability.” As in this saying, I considered myself a crab and I
looked for an industry in which I could start with a small factory and gradually expand its
business.
After much pondering, wavering and questioning, I finally decided to go ahead with my plans to
produce a Japanese made micrometer. My friends tried to stop me by saying, “You have a family
and children, but no money. You are taking a big risk.” They warned me that I would cause myfamily trouble. “Don’t give up your job as a public employee.” The solution to my problem was toprovide the funds for the business somehow, and to employ someone else to do the actual
designing and tooling. In this way, in 1934, I began my business, small-scale as it was. It looked
more like a side job, and actually it was a blind drive in the dark.
I established a small laboratory and employed a few people to do research work for two years. To
my disappointment, we could not obtain any good results. Soon I was falling deeper and deeper
in debt. My seniors and colleagues at the statistics office advised me to stop the business. My
juniors laughed with scorn at me. I was forced to stand at the crossroads of my life and make a very
important decision. Should I continue being a civil servant and clear up my debts or should I
strive to accomplish my purpose?
This period led, so to speak, to my second rebirth. My mind was going around in a circle ofindecision. I often spent hours looking at the stars by a pond near my house. I was only getting
more confused and ended up wishing that I would be fired from my government post so thateveryone would think that I had to begin my private business due to being discharged.
One night, I happened to remember a story from Aesop’s Fables. A farmer who had alwaysemployed a field-hand to harvest his crops once began to work the fields by himself and soon all
the grain-eating birds flew away, abandoning their nests. I interpreted the moral of this story tomean that troubles were in safekeeping when one depends on others to do his work, but they
disappear when he does the work himself. The whole harvest is his. This was the enlightenment I
had wanted. I suddenly felt light at heart. I woke up from my delusional state, and it was not solong after this that I readily resigned from my position disregarding the advice of my friends.
I rented a small barn in Kamata, outside Tokyo, making it into my factory. I devoted myself
wholeheartedly to my new project and I even put a bed in one corner of the factory, where I slept
when I was too busy to return home. During the day, I employed some engineers and guided theirwork. At night, I myself worked on the lathe or operated the drill. I swore that nothing would
hinder me from accomplishing my purpose. I worked for my very life. But again, no good results
could be obtained. Everyone around me called me crazy, but no matter what happened to me, I
always remembered the words of Saint Shinran, realizing that he was always with me. I nevermentioned this to others, however, because of my foolish pride. It was not until four years laterthat I finally produced a workable and reliable micrometer. The next problem, in some ways
greater than the first, was marketing my product.
It was very difficult to find someone who would put their trust into an unknown company when
the familiar, time-tested foreign brands could already be found on the market. In the end,
however, after making harder efforts, I was able to gain not only all the markets in Japan, but also
export my product to compete successfully in other countries. Of course, the period of confusion
after World War II was a time when each day, I had to strive to make a living. I think that it was
my strong will that enabled me to get over such difficulties and being supported by this will, mybusiness as well as myself were saved. I was able to gain enough courage by remembering that I
was working not for my own interests but for everyone in society. I found pride in realizing thatmy money would be for the propagation of Buddhism.
In this way, when I had saved up sufficient funds, I established the Society for the Promotion of
Buddhism, an organization which years ago I had not even imagined. The Society was started in
1965. I now had a new vehicle for promoting Buddhism through the profits of my private
business.
In my company, we have a unique monthly event. It is an ancestral rite and has been carried on
for over 40 years since the establishment of my company. It is a ceremony in which every
worker, assembled in front of the factory altar, thanks his ancestors. This ceremony has been
held without missing a single month. I never force attendance to this rite. All of the employees
attend it with joy, even if they believe in a different religion, doctrine or thought.
The reason why I began this tradition is as follows: When I started my business, Japan was in anacute depression. The world was drifting into the wild tide of eroticism, grotesquery andnonsense. Even the serious young workers from the countryside were tempted to follow easygoing and sometimes foolish ways. They often forgot their parents back home and their original
intentions for coming to the big city. I remembered the peacefulness of mind that I had when I
sat in that basement room facing the paper my father had handwritten for me. I made a place inmy factory where the workers could assemble with the spirits of their ancestors. The workers
could burn incense in memory of a lost one, especially when a worker could not be with his loved
ones. I had hoped that the burning of incense and the recitation of “Namu Amida Butsu” or a
moment of meditation would bring comfort and peace to my workers, just as I had felt comforted
when I was in America. The beneficial effects of this rite came to increase gradually. The
employees’ faces became peaceful, and the number of people who quit decreased. Manufacturing
micrometers is a very precise task, so a worker could easily omit some necessary but tiresome
step if he wanted to. It is difficult to detect such careless work. Such careless and lazy workers
would be the cause for losing public confidence and gaining a bad reputation for our products.
Through this ancestral rite, I could succeed not only in reforming some bad characters but also
assure my products’ value and achievement. I believed that making fine characters and fine
products are the same.
Another important point is to realize that a pure-minded person needs to have beautiful working
conditions. I have made efforts to plant as many trees and flowers as possible around thebuildings of my company. Though I have very few things to be proud of, I can say with pride that
the Mitutoyo Corporation has received first prize in a national contest for having the mostbeautiful landscape and the most flowers surrounding its buildings.
In this way, I have always walked with Saint Shinran at my side. I have been able to live a long,safe life, and to have a chance to do as I wanted. Therefore, I can’t help thanking the Lord
Buddha. Although I was born into a temple family and I had many chances to learn Buddhism, I
didn’t have any special studies or unique virtues that could have enabled me to become a priest.
I cannot be like the wonderful King Ashoka, who had protected Buddhism in India many
centuries ago. Nevertheless, I would like to try to follow his good example and to do as much as
possible. As a non-clerical “protector” of Buddhism, I would like to continue my work in serving
society. I will endeavor to do my best as long as I live.
This poem by Lady Takeko Kujo shows my present state of mind.
“The blossoms which will soon be gone are at their most beautiful at this moment.”
Thank you very much.
(Transcript from the Buddhist Culture Lecture Series – Sensoji Temple, October 1975)