JAPANESE HERITAGE VALUES
Sep
18
Doing What's Right Is Hard To DoWhen No-one Knows but "DOG" and You.
As a Dental Technician, he remade many bridges for free if the patient wasn’t happy. Many times it was the dentist’s fault. I implored Sam a time or two to state his opinion. His answer was, “I did my job and the dentist knows.” Sam didn’t always have to be right. He chose to work with people he respected and was clear they made mistakes, but the customer’s satisfaction was important. Therefore, Sam’s work is still highly regarded and his dental creations are in the mouths of many of our leading citizens. Some patients used to come from far corners of the world for their dental work.
All named societies have heritage values and the eight values of the Samurai Code are not unique to Japanese. Following is a list: Justice, Courage, Benevolence, Politeness, Sincerity, Honor, Loyalty, Self-Control.
The first code is “Justice”, which means “doing what is right”. It includes charging a fair price, providing the service and delivering the best product. Both Sam and Dr. Sproule, who was one of the creators of the U of W Dental School, prided themselves in providing dentistry considered the top of the field.
Sam and his colleagues demonstrated “Courage” with their ability to make decisions, sometimes quickly. Sam often came home and thought out loud about how he might - “BE INVOLVED IN MAKING THINGS BETTER”.
“Benevolence” was shown by their willingness to put in extra work and long hours until the product was the best the customer could have. It was known among all those of Japanese Heritage that one put in the long hours to strive to produce excellence in their particular fields of endeavor.
“Politeness” includes respect for how one dresses. Sam never wore jeans of short Bermudas to work or social gatherings. I think he had one pair of shorts for the beach. He was careful not to bring attention to himself, but was not shy about speaking up for what he thought was right with dignity and without loud words.
The meaning of “Sincerity” is to be free of pretense, deceit or hypocrisy. For sure, our children will vouch for the fact that Dad was an example of Sincerity. Kelly remembers a time or two when she was disciplined fairly harshly for telling a white lie. Occasionally, Sam was seen as rude because he let some people know the truth. One time, I thought I was doing our nephew a favor by buying their washer and dryer. Sam was clear, he didn’t like the color and didn’t want to pay that much for something second hand. He made me take it back. I was embarrassed.
“Honor” is what we feel about Dad after his passing. It’s the legacy he leaves for future generations and the Pacific Northwest community.
There was no question about “Loyalty”. After Dr. John Sproule died in 1980, Sam chose to work with Dr. David Branch who is several years younger. Sam said, “I promised to see it out until he sells his practice.” Sam was ready to retire , but waited until 2015 when he was 82-years-old.
The last value is “Self-Control”. This should be number one. The choices we have work better with learning and practice as we seek Fulfillment and Joy. In Japanese history, a commoner, Toyotomi, Hideyoshi, became a Samurai and is credited for the Edo Period in which there were no more Samurai wars and the Japanese society experienced almost 200 years of “peace”. Therefore, the arts and social manners flourished. The qualities related to the Samurai Codes were brought to a science with practice in the skills related to each of the areas with self-control and mastery.
Sam’s cartoon suggests humor for us with his Samurai stories. “INU”, the word for “DOG” in Japanese, spelled backwards becomes Uni or a Sea Urchin. Sam involves us, here in America, by reversing “GOD” to “DOG”.
Sam employed discipline, skills, philosophy and self-control to plan, design and draw weekly cartoons for the readers of the North American Post from September 2012 -September 2017. Sam’s cartoons will be in the book “SAMURAI SHIGERU - the art and wisdom of Sam Goto”.
