Episode 9 Starting a business

I made up my mind, thinking “if we are all fools anyway…”
I want to bet on the possibility of computers.

It was the fall of 1978. I heard my wife, Hatsuko, talking on the phone about something.
She was talking to Yoshiko, Hatsuko’s grandmother in Tokushima City.

“I just talked to my grandma.”
Hatsuko hung up the phone and spoke to me. I remember sitting on the bed, listening to her story. According to Hatsuko, her grandmother told her that it was time for her to come back to Tokushima. As I mentioned earlier, her grandmother was the one who opposed our marriage until the very end.

Not only that, but she also told her that “computers would be widely used in Shikoku in the future.” Yoshiko, who grew up in a merchant family, had a sharp nose.

“Things aren’t always that easy,” said Hatsuko. She works for an office computer agency and sees up close the struggles of the salespeople. Hatsuko was just casually sharing the content of her conversation with her grandmother, but I had a thought on my mind.

“Maybe I’ll give it a try.”
“What? Why?”
Hatsuko asked me with a surprised look on her face. It seemed to be something completely unexpected to her. I recall that I answered in this way.
“Your grandma is right, and I am convinced that computers will be widely used in the future. I want to bet on that possibility.”
In fact, I have been thinking about this for a long time. Near Tokushima City, where Hatsuko’s parents live, is the mouth of the Yoshino River, a mighty river flowing through Shikoku. Standing on its banks, I had a thought.

“What is the mainstream of the times, as mighty as this river?”
My answer was computers. I was witnessing remarkable advances in semiconductors and other technologies. Computers are about to become more and more widespread, even among people who have never had any connection with them, and the time is coming when no one will be able to do without them. I am just at the beginning of such a great trend.

Then, why not take the plunge into the current? It doesn’t matter whether you are a good swimmer or not. If I just jump into it, some wood might flow to me. I will hang on to it at all costs. I will straddle that wood and paddle it with my hands. That way, I can go faster than the current of the times. Yes, my life is like the Yoshino River.

Such thoughts were in my mind. If I continued to work as a company employee in Himeji, one day I would regret it.
Another thing also crossed my mind. It was the summer vacation of my first year of university. Around when I first met Hatsuko, I visited her parents’ home, and joined the local university students to participate in the famous Awa Odori Festival, a Tokushima specialty. Hands flapping above our heads, we danced mindlessly to the music. That’s all there is to it, but it feels great. Speaking of which, the famous phrase from the Awa Odori song goes:

“Dancing fool, watching fool, all fools, so let’s all dance! “

That is absolutely right. If we are all fools anyway, why don’t we dance? Times are about to change drastically, and rather than remain a mere bystander, I should gather my courage to jump into the current. Hatsuko admonished me, saying “It’s a difficult job,” but I made up my mind.

When Hatsuko and I visited her parents’ home on New Year’s Day, Hatsuko’s father, who was a bank branch manager, invited us to a New Year’s party where local business owners gathered. When I asked them if they had adopted computers, about 80% of them said they had not, but were interested. I was convinced that I was right.
Thus, I left Nishishiba Electric after six years of service, to start my own business.

The author participating in the Awa Odori Festival (1990)