One of my staff members asked me why MindSeeds Inc. is named as such, and I thought, “now you ask?!” But this may be a good opportunity to explain what I meant by it.
I have always been interested in committing to human resources development, but the words “mind seeds” were taken from a French poem titled Rondel de l'Adieu.
Rondel de l'Adieu (Song of Farewell)
Partir, c’est mourir un peu, (To part is to die a little)
C’est mourir à ce qu’on aime : (To die to what we love)
On laisse un peu de soi-même (We leave a part of ourselves)
En toute heure et dans tout lieu. (In every hour and in every place)
This poem was written by Edmond Haraucourt. In Japanese translations, the first sentence is often interpreted as “to part is as if you die a little” but this is not correct. The poem is not saying that parting is like dying but parting is dying a little. The late Ms. Kyoko Kaneko who used to be my French teacher at Athénée Français (the oldest French school in Japan located in Tokyo) used to hum along to this song.
C'est toujours le deuil d'un vœu, (It is always the mourning of a wish)
Le dernier vers d'un poème ; (The last verse of a poem)
Partir, c'est mourir un peu, (To part is to die a little)
C'est mourir à ce qu'on aime. (To die to what we love)
Et l'on part, et c'est un jeu, (And we leave, and it’s just a game)
Et jusqu'à l'adieu suprême (And until the final farewell)
C'est son âme que l'on sème, (It is in one’s soul that we sow)
Que l'on sème à chaque adieu : (That we sow at each farewell)
Partir, c'est mourir un peu… (To part is to die a little)
I took the words “mind seeds” from the line “It is in one’s soul that we sow” of this song. An encounter is a momentary thing. What one can do in that moment is to sow a seed in the person’s soul. I don’t want to try to impose my thoughts and values on someone else and create another copy of me. The interaction of my soul and someone else’s soul will sprout something new; that’s all I wish, because I believe it is that “something new” that drives us forward in society and as human beings.
I’ve read a story somewhere that there was a student in the Meiji Era, who wished to study in France and visited the head of a zaibatsu (conglomerate) to beg for money. The zaibatsu’s head (I think it was the Iwasaki Family) welcomed this young man who he had never met before and said:
“I don’t mind if you eventually take the opposite side of me. Study hard and become a person who devotes oneself for the betterment of Japan.”
And he gave him financial support. I always tell the same to my own staff. I tell them not to learn for the company but for their own sake. And I tell them that I don’t mind if they oppose my opinion and what I do, but they should grow themselves to do good in society.
Our company’s creed is 一燈照隅 (Itto Shogu: to illuminate a corner).
A small lamp can light up a corner, and many such lamps, when gathered, will illuminate the entire country. Human resources development is a steady effort that involves tedious work, and there is no assurance as to whether or when the effort becomes tangible. However, the goal of a nation must be to educate, because the quality of its citizens is shaped through education and culture. I believe that good morals and manners are cultivated by guiding and positively influencing each other.
In “伝家宝 (Denka ho)” written by Shi Tianji of the Qing dynasty, there is a chapter “家宝連瑾 (Kaho renkin)” in which the following line is found:
“Sow a heart and an industry will fruit, then its profit will bring beautiful houses and good fields.”
This is another beautiful expression that helps interpret the meaning of “MindSeeds.”
We need to sow the seeds of a good heart before cultivating a business. An industry becomes successful only when cultivated through good hearts, turning to a fruitful crop field and a beautiful house. MindSeeds Inc. devotes itself to nurturing good hearts. We value the individual’s will to develop his own life with his own actions. Knowledge and skills are useful, but only secondary elements.
