Make no mistake here. To be sure, whether in the revival of Japan Airlines or elsewhere, elevating the mind helped to produce outstanding results. Even so, this is not a discussion of simply needing to have a pure mind. It is of course necessary for the manager to study the Philosophy, thereby elevating the mind, and becoming a better person. However, that is not all there is to business management. A gentle and pure mind by itself is lacking in the strong spirit needed to face the rigors of producing profit and dealing with economic downturns. Without such a strong spirit, growing and developing a corporation will be all the more difficult.

Being a genial person is therefore by itself not enough for management. You must have the tremendous spirit to do whatever is needed to raise sales and secure a profit, even in the midst of a grinding recession. This applies not just to managing a single enterprise, but equally to the revival of the Japanese economy, which has been beset by a sense of stagnation. To break out of the circumstances currently enveloping Japan and return to the path of growth, individual managers must possess an intensely combative mentality.

In particular, I urge you, as managers of small or medium-sized enterprises and members of Seiwajyuku, to be fired up with a combative mentality as you run your operations. You might ask, “Why?” Even amid the scorched earth that followed wartime defeat, business operators fired up with indomitable and undaunted spirit put every effort into developing their companies. Those founding managers, who dedicated themselves to reconstructing Japan's economy, all started out as managers of small and medium-sized businesses. With a fierce fighting spirit, they dragged their companies forward, striving at the leading edge of Japan's industries. Once more, Japan must create a vibrant society in which small and medium-sized enterprises produce many managers of such caliber.

Seiwajyuku students are aware of the need for a pure mind in management, and are striving day by day to make it a part of themselves. When you have such an intense and fiercely combative mentality, I believe a pure mind becomes a compass that can help you advance in the right direction.

The 20th Seiwajyuku World Convention (July 19, 2012) Summary