Episode 3 Setouchi

Ranks top in middle school grades, but falls into pitfalls　Missed university requirements and went into electrical engineering

In fifth grade, I was fascinated by broadcast equipment and joined the broadcast club in junior high school. In the second grade, my female homeroom teacher pulled me into the chorus club, and I became a member of both clubs. I fell in love with music around this time.

It is a little embarrassing to say, but I did well studying, and my scores were always at the top of my grade. At Niihama-higashi Junior High School, names were posted in the order of scores after every test. I was always in the first place except for one time. Once in the second grade, I was in second place.

Perhaps it was because I loved machines since elementary school and was very good at math and science. I was not a studious student at all, but my scores were good. This became a pitfall when I entered high school……

What I devoted myself to in high school was not studying but the brass band club. I was in charge of the trumpet. The highlight for us was cheering for the baseball team, but the team was weak and the game was always over in a flash.

Despite the lack of opportunities to play, I devoted myself to practicing intensely. Even though living in a farming village, I always rode my bicycle to the sea because it would bother my neighbors if I played at home. I could see the Seto Inland Sea just one kilometer north of my house in Sawazu-cho, Niihama City.

Once you reach the coast, all you see is the vast expanse of Hiuchinada. There are few islands in this area for the Seto Inland Sea, and the clear blue of the sea spreads out and merges with the sky in the far distance. There, I can play the trumpet as I wish, without worrying about anyone else.

The notes from the golden trumpets, the birds singing overhead, and the gentle waves constantly lapping at us off the Seto Inland Sea–. These sounds are absorbed into the sky and the sea. For me, this is truly a scene coloring a page of my youth. Looking back, it was a sweet and luxurious time.

However, this did not come at the cost of my academic performance, as I was not at the top of my class as I had been up until junior high school. My wife and sister still tell me, “It was no good for you to be at the top of your grade without even trying until junior high school”. I was optimistic and thought, “I can go to the former imperial university,” but my confidence was unfounded.

Wanting to work in the video and music industry in the future, I took the entrance exam for the Kyushu Institute of Design (now the Faculty of Art and Design of the University of Kyushu). The examination was a combination of theoretical and practical tests. I failed the exam because I did not do well in the theoretical part.

After spending time as a ronin, I pondered. At that time, if you failed the entrance exam twice, you would no longer be eligible for scholarships. As I mentioned in the previous article, my father was often hospitalized for the illness, and my mother supported the family finances. Failure was not an option.

Of course, there is no room for unfounded confidence. I took the entrance examination for Ehime University because it was a national university close to my parents’ house.

Successfully I was admitted to the Faculty of Electrical Engineering in the Department of Engineering. I wanted to study music and electronics, but Ehime University at that time did not have a corresponding department. That was my assumption. In fact, the application guideline clearly stated that the Department of Electronic Engineering was to be newly established, but I had overlooked it.

“Oh, no!” I thought, but it was too late. Still, it was a twist of fate that I met my future wife at a club I joined to study electronics.

I devoted myself to the trumpet in high school