Great Construction

My Way of Maintaining Good Health 

     For the last chapter, I would like to write about the way I keep healthy. This year I will be sixty-eight years old. I am hale and physically put younger men to shame. I still hike mountain trails quite a bit, but because I have stronger legs than the younger people around me, I am continually having to slow down for them. They ask me if I am fatigued but to be honest, because I am not tired at all I am really in a quandary on how to answer them. Every night I go to bed at two thirty or three o’clock and rise at seven o’clock or seven thirty, so I get about four to four and a half hours of sleep a night. As for work, the members of my staff know very well that my labor is the equivalent of ten persons and the younger ones struggle to keep up. That is just the way it is and they have to put up with it.
     Aspects of my daily schedule that I have described are also a part of my way of maintaining good health, and since it is probably contrary to what most people do these days, I would like to describe it as reference for others.
     The rules for good health currently prescribed by the medical profession warn not to overdo, to get enough sleep, get plenty of nourishment, masticate food thoroughly, and not to overwork the brains, among other such measures, but my way of keeping healthy is to do nearly the opposite.
     First of all, I try to push myself. This is because human beings can improve their health to the extent that they try to strain themselves. But, because I overexert myself, it can be uncomfortable or physically painful so I do adjust myself accordingly. The amount of sleep required varies by age, but for me, four or five hours is just right. What I eat is an interesting topic because I am concerned that what I eat is overly nourishing. Many members of the church donate foodstuffs to my household, actually too much, but I try to partake as much as possible, even if in small amounts, of the love and sincerity offered by members, so you could say that I am a gourmet. I try to regulate my diet by apportioning what I eat throughout the day as follows. During the morning after breakfast, I eat sweet potatoes, and before going to bed at night, I make it a rule to eat boiled rice soaked in tea. Neither have I failed to eat one bowlful of Japanese red bean soup a day.
     Another aspect to eating is that foods have a yin, negative attribute, and yang, a positive attribute, and neither attribute should be overemphasized. Yin is represented by vegetables and yang by meat and fish. I try to moderate my diet so it leans to neither extreme. Everyday I try to eat about seventy percent yin and thirty percent yang at breakfast; at lunch I try to eat about one half of each; and at dinner, seventy percent yang and thirty percent yin. There is also a yin and yang to the Japanese style of pickled foodstuffs. Yin comprises the pickled vegetables and yang, the root plants like the white-colored Japanese radish daikon. I try to keep the percentage of pickled foods I eat to about half of each attribute.
     Among other practices I follow is not to emphasize mastication. I swallow my food after I have chewed it only by half. This is because overly chewing food will eventually weaken the stomach’s functions. Another practice is not to rest or take naps after eating but immediately rise from the table and get on with activities. This is a way to improve the constitution of the stomach. I had success in healing my own stomach condition this way. Nor do I ever set limits on how much to eat. The principle of my nutritional method is to eat as much of what I want when I want. In the course of my daily life, however, I am not able to be so self-indulgent, but I do try to eat as reasonably and as appropriately as possible.
     Here I would like to introduce another habit you may find unexpected. It is good try to try to use your head and brains as much as possible. Actively using your head is one way to maintain good health, and those who do so live longer. But the head should be not used to worry. The head and brains should be used for interesting, pleasant matters. Herein lies another point where the value of faith can be shown. If something occurs that could cause worry, you can leave the matter in God’s hands so your worries are greatly decreased. In other words, you have God take over the burden of worrying. This may seem truly impudent, but it is this kind of impudence that pleases God.
     For a long time now, I have made it a point to get out of the house at least once a day. I never miss a day, whether it is raining or the wind is blowing. At these times, I also make it a point to walk as much as possible. I understand that this is the secret of those who get healthier as they age. As far as alcohol is concerned, I do not drink more than three small cups of rice wine, or one glass of beer, and I smoke the average* amount of cigarettes a day.
     The above illustrates my way of keeping healthy. Germs, of course, do not concern me in the least, so members of the general public may think I am unhygienic, but this is, in truth, the appropriate way to think of hygiene. If people were to follow my way of health, they too would become healthier. I do recommend that you follow these methods without anxiety and guarantee that you will not become like some pasty-faced egghead.

The Divinely-Inspired Approach to Health, Jikan Library,
    Volume 10, page 69, April 20, 1950
translation by cynndd

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*Although unconfirmed, one source puts the amount at “four or five a day.”

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“Watashi no Kenkôhô,” the last essay in the book Shinji no Kenkôhô, Jikan Sôsho, Daijippen, page 69, has previously appeared once in translation. The citation is given below for reference.

“My Health Plan,” True Health, 1987, page 38.