Hirokazu Kobayashi
CEO, Green Insight Japan, Inc.
Professor Emeritus and Visiting Professor, University of Shizuoka
Are you familiar with the “3Cs” from the 1960s? At that time, Japan was amid rapid economic growth, and color TVs, coolers (air conditioners), and cars were the objects of admiration among the common people. There are other expressions like this. “4Cs of marketing'': customer, cost, convenience, and communication. “The 4Cs of a diamond”: carat, color, clarity, cut. “The 4Cs of education”: critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity. In addition to “C”, there is also “K”. These days, "4K" refers to a resolution of 3,840 x 2,160, but it also means "3Ks of labor": harsh (“kitsui” in Japanese), dirty (“kitanai”), and dangerous (“kiken”).
It would be the greatest happiness to be able to earn money by doing what you love, which may be generated by your curiosity at the beginning. In other words, your hobby becomes your profession. Musicians, artists, writers, actors, and scholars are easy-to-understand examples. However, I do not think you should aim too high. This is because we know that the end result is that they get stuck and end up committing suicide. It is wonderful to find purpose in contributing to society as a doctor, politician, entrepreneur, civil servant, etc., and to find it enjoyable. My motto has always been “Curiosity and mistaken confidence." Also, I like the word "concentration." In March 2014, I sent these words to graduating students as written on a poetry card. Dr. Tasuku Honjo (1942-: 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine) was chairman of the board of directors at the University of Shizuoka from 2012 to 2017. During this time, I served as dean and vice president of the university. Dr. Honjo had written an essay titled “A Shortcut to Original Research: Aiming for the One and Only" on the Kyoto University website. The following were mentioned as important: curiosity, courage, challenge, confidence, concentration, and continuation. This is not a research result, but in the world of researchers, it is worthless if we do not announce it first. Although this point is unfortunate, I would like to say that if you start with “curiosity,” have “confidence,” and “concentrate” on the 3Cs that are useful in life, you should be successful.
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