I still remember it to this day. There was one time during elementary school, when we stole tomatoes from a neighborhood farm with my friends. I was thinking, “everybody else is doing it, so why can’t I?” My mother was working without sleep to repay the loans, my sisters and I were working to make money while going to school. I also thought this could contribute to our dining table.

Nobody saw us, and none of my companions told. But for some reason, my mother saw through everything. “Kiyoshi! What is this tomato? You brought it from that house! “Do you think that if everyone else is doing it, you could do it too?” I was scolded so much that day.

My mother, who never really fussed over small details, said what was needed whenever she saw fit. She most likely noticed that I stole the tomato from my demeanor at that time. At the end, she hit me with the line, “Whatever you do, heaven, hell, and you will know!” Even if you think that “nobody was watching and you won’t get caught,” the memory will remain, and the guilt you felt will never disappear. This is a lesson I hold dear until this day.

<<Keeping True to My Mother’s Lesson to This Day>>

It was 1973 when I entered the workforce. Unfortunately, there were people in the fishery industry that took part in receiving kickback. In cases when quality of fish was questionable, these would be accepted at the usual price in exchange for some kind of payback. Plus, when there were good quality fish, these clients would be prioritized with sourcing. It was an unwritten rule to make the sourcing with a particular supplier smooth, that would help the company. But that meant the end customer purchased lower quality fish at the same price. It must be wrong the final customer is at a loss.

There were even times when older colleagues were asking why I didn’t take this kickback money. But luckily, my mother’s words, “Heaven, hell, and you, will know!” always resonated in my soul. Through my experience of working hard as a child to repay the debt, I have realized that the customers need to be provided with quality fish in exchange for the money they decide to pay. If I were to have accepted the kickback, I could never have insisted that it was impossible to pay a certain amount for certain fish. That is why I never took part in such deals. Instead, I wanted to earn trust through the quality of my products and my work ethic.

<<My Dreams Pushed Me Forward>>

My mother also had told me that working hard to earn money was a good thing. But also reminded me to never believe that “money was power.” She was a person that would never earn money by deceiving people or through easy means. Due to her strong stance on morals, she also could be quite bold sometimes. Since my future dream was to be a fighter jet pilot, she supported me ever since I was little to build a better sense of balance. I think this happened in my first year of elementary school. When I said that I wanted to ride a bike, she got me to ride a small one and held it from behind until it moved just a little, and then she let go. This was repeated until I was finally able to ride. Now that I look back on that memory, we lost our father in a traffic accident, so it’s rather incredible she would let us do that.