VOX POPULI: Failure can be a step on the path to happiness

Insufferable bores and brags aside, "golden agers" have things to say about life that are well worth listening to. Whatever their backgrounds, they have lived a long time, and that in itself gives weight to their words.

Taki Hyosui (1684-1762), a haiku poet of the Edo Period (1603-1867) who lived to be nearly 80, penned many works that are didactic in nature. Here's an example: "In a rain shower / The ama professional woman diver/ Comes to the beach in a straw raincoat." The lesson here, as I understand it, is that we must always strive to do our best.

Shigehiko Toyama, a social critic, cites this haiku in his recently-published book from Kodansha Ltd., titled "Mainasu no Purasu" (The positive in the negative). He warns against the sort of negative mind-set that makes one say, "What's the point of trying? It's no use."

The 86-year-old Toyama notes: "It is noble to keep trying one's best until the very end of one's life ... . An ama diver who makes sure she goes into the water in top form invariably does a great job in the water." Chastising those who diminish their own potential by refusing to make an effort because "it's no use," Toyama encourages his readers to welcome "the negatives in life"--personal misfortunes and failures--as blessings in disguise.

A similar argument was voiced recently in the vernacular Asahi Shimbun by Otohiko Kaga, a novelist and the author of "Fukona Kuni no Kofuku-ron" (A discourse on happiness in an unhappy country) from Shueisha Inc.

"We've got to stop being obsessed with our own preconceived notions of happiness," warned the 80-year-old Kaga, who is also a psychiatrist.

According to Kaga, Japanese people tend to be acutely conscious of how they appear in other people's eyes, and would not think of veering off "the path to happiness" prescribed by society. This, he maintains, stifles individualism and deprives children of their ability to think for themselves.

Kaga preaches the importance of having a flexible mind if one is to understand that happiness can come in all forms. He also asserts that one needs to experience failures in order to become truly happy.

It is an interesting coincidence that two learned octogenarians have come up with the same advice.

Televised images from Vancouver show athletes "standing on the beach," so to speak, having done their best to prepare for their performances in the Winter Olympics. As I watched the opening ceremony with rapt attention, I thought of both the exquisitely sweet moment of triumph and the lingering bitterness of defeat lying ahead of each athlete.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Feb. 14

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.