＜prologue＞
I started a blog called “The Baby Boomer Generation’s Miscellaneous Blog”（Dankai-sedai no garakutatyou:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳） in July 2018, about a year before I fully retired. More than six years have passed since then, and the number of articles has increased considerably.
So, in order to make them accessible to people who don’t understand Japanese, I decided to translate my past articles into English and publish them.
It may sound a bit exaggerated, but I would like to make this my life’s work.
It should be noted that haiku and waka （Japanese short fixed form poems） are quite difficult to translate into English, so some parts are written in Japanese.
If you are interested in haiku or waka and would like to know more, please read introductory or specialized books on haiku or waka written in English.
I also write many articles about the Japanese language. I would be happy if these inspire more people to want to learn Japanese.
my blog’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳 | 団塊世代が雑学や面白い話を発信しています
my X’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多帳（@historia49）さん / X
In February 2019, the space probe Hayabusa 2 landed on the asteroid Ryugu and successfully collected rock samples. The previous space probe, Hayabusa 1, landed in the summer of 2005 and collected rock samples from the soybean-shaped asteroid Itokawa.
Itokawa was named after Dr. Hideo Itokawa, known as the “father of Japanese rocket development.”
When I was in high school, he often appeared in educational magazines. I remember being surprised when he wrote, “I’m currently studying ballet (Western dance),” despite being quite old.
1. About Dr. Hideo Itokawa
Dr. Hideo Itokawa (1912-1999) was an aeronautical engineer. After working as a design engineer for fighter planes such as the Hayabusa at Nakajima Aircraft Company, he served as a professor at the University of Tokyo from 1948. In 1955, he successfully test-fired Japan’s first solid-state rocket, the “Pencil Rocket,” and is known as the “Father of Japanese Rocket Development.”
He retired from his position as a professor at the University of Tokyo in 1967, founded the Institute of Tissue Engineering, and became its first director. His book “Reverse Thinking,” published in 1974, became a bestseller and a popular catchphrase.
“Reverse thinking” means “looking at how things should be from the exact opposite perspective.” It is an idea that turns a crisis into an opportunity by thinking in the exact opposite way about events that would conventionally be seen as shortcomings, disadvantages, or failures.
My own speculation is that, like the “Egg of Columbus,” he was seeking “flexible thinking” and “thinking outside the box.”
In Japan, education encourages people to conform to the opinions of the majority, and if you’re the only one with a different opinion, you could be treated as an eccentric. As a result, I don’t think I often questioned what I was taught in school or accepted common sense, or thought for myself.
I’ve recently had some free time, so I’ve started writing this blog. When it comes to things that interest me, such as Japanese history and world history, I’ve been trying to clear away any preconceived notions I had up until now, rethink and organize my thoughts. By doing so, I feel like the truth is starting to become clearer.
2. Dr. Hideo Itokawa’s Quotes
(1) When old ideas persist in our minds, they reject new information, preventing us from receiving new messages. This is problematic. Be aware of the times. To sharpen our sense of the times, we must clear our minds of outdated products.
(2) Humans are aging creatures. That’s why it’s important to constantly revisit and ruminate on past events and acquired knowledge. This expands our imagination and fuels our creative endeavors, even in old age.
(3) Realizing dreams is a step-by-step process.
(4) What’s important in life is a history of failure.
(5) Life is more enjoyable when we continually challenge ourselves to do what the world wants, rather than what we can do.
(6) My first encounter with Verne’s work came around 1954, when I began rocket research at the University of Tokyo. Moreover, I didn’t read the original text; it was the Czechoslovakian film adaptation of “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.” I was utterly amazed and fascinated by his brilliant imagination, and have been reading Verne’s novels ever since. I believe this has had a major influence on my future work in marine development.
3. Dr. Hideo Itokawa’s Hobbies
(1) Ballet
At the age of 60, he joined the Kaitani Ballet Company. Apparently, he was also passionate about Shakespeare, Greek philosophy, and theater in junior high school, so perhaps that influence lingered.
(2) Astrology
Astrology may seem a bit odd for a scientist, but in 1985 he published a book titled “Hideo Itokawa’s Detailed Astrology: A Method for Calculating the Fates of ‘100 Million People’.”
(3) Violin
After the war, during a period when aircraft and rocket research was completely restricted by the GHQ, he pursued his hobby of violins and spent many years building a violin from an acoustic engineering perspective.
(4) Cello
Like the violin, playing the cello was also a hobby of his.
At first glance, these “multiple hobbies” may seem unrelated to rocket research, but I suspect that even while immersed in such hobbies, he sometimes felt some kind of “inspiration.”