The student platoon of the 4th Technical School of Japan Air Self-Defense Force was stationed in Kumagaya City in Saitama prefecture. I graduated from the student platoon in 4 years and started working at the base. Afterwards, I also worked at Iruma Base and other locations in the same prefecture. That was when I noticed many motels lined close together from Kumagaya to Hanno. They must be making a lot of money, I thought. So I decided to give it a try.

I asked around, and after a meeting with one of the motel’s manager I was hired. Due to my time in the Japan Self-Defense Force, I was accustomed to making beds and cleaning, as well as doing the laundry, plus I was quick in taking care of tiresome jobs, like repairing air conditioners and boilers. None of this could even begin to compare to the intense training in the Japan Self-Defense Force. I was soon in the good graces of the owner after working for a while. They probably also imagined I wanted to branch out on my own in the future. One day, the owner asked me if I was interested in managing a motel. Also, they asked how much money I had. Although I only had 2 million yen remaining from the shares I sold, I lied and said that I had about 2 to 3 million. The manager nodded happily, and asked if I wanted to buy the first motel he built for 3 million yen. The six story motel had a revenue of 100,000 yen on weekdays and close to 200,000 yen on holidays. I also spent time working there, so I was convinced it would be a bomb. I was also really thankful to the owner who was trying to support my independence. But the real issue was me lying about the million yen.

Nowadays, I would have thought of having a bank finance me. But for a 20 year old who just recently retired from the Self‐Defense Force, that kind of thought had never occurred, nor would it even be possible. Looking back, I always regret lying. In the end, I went home to my mother and asked her for help. By this time she had paid off the debts and had some extra money.
When she heard about my situation, she said she will give me the million yen, but added. “No matter what happens, succeed or fail, you have no place in this house any more. I did not raise you to be a motel manager.”
It must have been her way of scolding me for my immature decision. This was my mother. She lost her husband when I was three to a traffic accident, my mother, who stayed up night after night to repay the debt. I could not see her cry. At that point, the deadline to make the deal had passed. Not only that, I didn’t even have the decency to properly decline the offer to the motel owner.

<<National Bar Examination>>

My mother’s words made me rethink everything. Operating a motel wasn’t bad, it was just the fact that I was immature and had jumped at the chance of getting rich without thinking. I should have thought of something bigger if I was to risk my life. That was when a senior colleague from the Japan Self-Defense Force said something that pushed me forward. “Now you should do what you can, to the best of your ability!”

So what could I do? To do the best of my ability at that time? And, was there any great purpose, worth risking my life through which I could help others? That was when I came up with the idea of the incredibly difficult National Bar Examination. During my time in the Japan Self-Defense Force I had passed the University Entrance Qualification Examination and was taking correspondence courses at Chuo University. This university was known for achieving a high score at the National Bar Examination. So instead of being a fighter pilot, I decided right then and there that I would become either a judge, a prosecutor or a lawyer as a way to contribute to the society. So from then on, I started living everyday towards achieving this goal. The million yen lie had shown a new way forward in life.