I am surprised. Fireflies exist in America too, and they are right in front of my house. Last night, around 8:30 p.m., I went home in a good mood after being invited to an employee’s house. Then, I noticed small lights flickering here and there on the lawn in front of my house. Upon closer inspection, they turned out to be fireflies.

How can it be, since there is no river nearby? Of course, there are no river snails, which fireflies in Japan feed on, so what are they eating? Countless questions arise, but in any case, fireflies are inhabiting the lawn in front of my house.

By the way, America is abundant in nature; not only fireflies but various creatures coexist with humans. It is a common occurrence to see squirrels in the backyard, and they would not run away unless you get very close. The other day, I saw a fox running down Hamilton Street in front of my house, even though it was quite busy with traffic. On top of that, a deer and its fawn boldly appeared in broad daylight in my yard. They did not run away even when our eyes met.

☆Is it a sin to do time-consuming work?

When I recall the story of Adam and Eve in Christianity, it says that “original sin was born in mankind when they took a bite of the forbidden apple.” The first human sin recorded is the sin of labor. Coming to America and working with the local staff, I felt there is a difference in our perception of labor.

It is not that they do not want to work, but when I see them cutting short their lunchtime by 30 minutes just to “go home early and cherish their personal time”, I can sense the difference between our attitudes. Also, while they want to do everything rationally, I see the inefficiency of systems like train conductors still coming to check tickets and issue different ones on the spot. Seeing this, it would seem like people in the West think, “Labor is a step down, so they have no intention of devising ways to improve efficiency, and it’s something for non-elites to do.”

Here, DASSAI is trying to make a breakthrough with the concept of “labor (time-consuming work)” that is commonplace in Japanese society. Will we succeed? I am supported by the fact that Japan before the Meiji era, which was inadvertently dragged into Western rationalization and ultimately a survival-of-the-fittest society, had built a peaceful society without wars for a long 300 years.

The realization of a peaceful planet without war is impossible without the concept of “labor (time-consuming work)”. “DASSAI will save the Earth.”