黙 (Damaru) means “silent.” The top of this character represents a wild dog or animal, and the bottom lines indicate the four legs of the animal.

許 (Yurusu) means “forgiveness.” The left side of the character represents speech, while the right side represents a divine altar. Together, it expresses the idea of people asking Kami (God) for forgiveness.

力 (Chikara) means “power.” This character symbolizes the strength of a person’s arm.

This story took place during World War II. Mr. Tokunaga was a kind and beloved elementary school teacher. One day, he told his class, “We’ll be doing a handicraft project tomorrow. Please bring a knife for the activity.” The next morning, one student — let’s call him Student A — approached Tokunaga and said, “I bought a new knife yesterday and brought it to class this morning, but now I can’t find it.” Tokunaga immediately suspected who had taken the knife. He believed it was Student K, a boy who struggled academically. K’s older brother was very intelligent and the top student in his class, and K was constantly compared to him by their parents. As a result, K was not treated well at home. Perhaps his parents were unwilling or unable to buy him a knife.

Tokunaga calmly asked all the students to go outside and play in the playground for a while. He searched K’s desk and found the missing knife. Then, he quietly went to the store, bought a knife identical to the one Student

A had lost, and placed it in A’s desk. When the students returned, Tokunaga said to A, “Can you take another look in your desk?”
A joyfully exclaimed, “I found it!” At that moment, K silently looked at Tokunaga, his eyes filled with tears. Time passed, and the students graduated. As they finished high school, the war intensified.

Some of them, including K, joined the kamikaze attack corps.

Before leaving for his mission, K sent Tokunaga a farewell letter: “I am leaving tomorrow. I want to thank you, my teacher, Mr. Tokunaga. Since the knife incident, I have wanted to become someone like you. If you ever have another troubled student like me in your class, please take care of them the way you took care of me. I deeply appreciate your unconditional kindness and love.”

Soon after, K died at the young age of 19. Mr. Tokunaga sometimes visited K’s grave and offered flowers for his spirit. What do you think of this story? If I were that teacher, I might have blamed the student for his wrongdoing. If we could forgive others like Tokunaga did, perhaps the world would be a different place. Of course, the reality of life is not always so simple. There are situations where forgiveness is difficult. It depends on the circumstances. Still, I am deeply moved by Tokunaga’s unconditional kindness and compassion for his students. I hope I can have a heart like his.

Rev. Masato Kawahatsu is a minister at the Konko Church of San Francisco and Konko Center of South San Francisco, who teaches shodo (Japanese calligraphy). He can be reached at konkosf2@sbcglobal.net or (415) 517-5563. The views expressed in the preceding column are not necessarily those of the Nichi Bei News.

Rev. Masato Kawahatsu, Nichi Bei News

Nichi Bei News columnist Rev. Masato Kawahatsu is a minister at the Konko Church of San Francisco and Konko Center of South San Francisco, who teaches shodo (Japanese calligraphy). He can be reached at konkosf2@sbcglobal.net or (415) 517-5563. The views expressed in the preceding column are not necessarily those of the Nichi Bei News.