Dear zen friend

1)  There was a nest of a couple of phoebes a foot above my head in the woodshed.  

It was sunny with breezing air on 14th of June. 

When I entered the woodshed at around 1 pm,  4 baby phoebes flew away just before my eyes.

New lives were born. 

2)  Shohei Ohtani fever has not ended. Winning MVP last year seems not to be the best result for his baseball career. Not only Americans are watching his games, but also many Japanese fans are awake at night to watch his plays. All his pitching and hitting are reported to Japan through YouTubes instantly. 

Ichiro was one of the best Japanese baseball players Americans know. He was talented but not powerful due to his body size. Ichiro always faced his own limits on the field. Ohtani is powerful enough to win counter parts. He cannot be a Japanese. 

In a year of 1930s NY Yankees with Babe Ruth traveled Japan to play baseball games. At that time there was only one professional  team in Japan. Japanese challenged Americans forming all Japan team and or a local specialist team. Yankees won all games with big margin except one. 

At one game Sawamura, a high school student pitched. His pitching was almost perfect but lost 0-1. A solo home run was struck by Lou Gehrig. Sawamura, a loser pitcher became a national hero. I know a feeling of the era that Sawamura was the only hero for decades. We were far behind the US.

Japanese baseball team won gold medal at the last Olympics. Athletes must have studied theories of game, trained themselves, and improved all skills about the ball game. They have grown big as physical size and their playing technique has been highly refined, Ohtani is standing out among them.  

While Ohtani being a school boy, education department lowered requirements in public school. Knowledge learned at school was lessened to 70%.  The policy was seriously argued and some ministers resigned. Many people worried that the easy curriculum  would produce less knowledgeable adults, so Japan would decline. 

Athletes belonging to Ohtani’s generation have gained most medals at Olympics, have broken new records after another at many

competitions on fields and in the pools. Now people are not sure what good education is. 

On TV screen with a home run of Shohei Ohtani, children show full excitement and pleasure. Their joy may be a liberation from frustration of strict education. Adults look delightful freed from lock down.    

Regards.

Eishin Ikeda

Valley Zendo