![A Japanese Samurai](https://sb-drops.s3.amazonaws.com/drop/rmopt-6627a89f3898f-923183000-1713875103.webp)
Introduction
*The target readers are those who will make a speech or presentation in Japanese.
It is very likely that your audience will have difficulty concentrating on your speech at the beginning. If you go straight to your main point without getting the audience’s attention, you may not get the results you want. You need a hook in your Japanese script. One of the best ways is to quote great leaders. Because you are a foreigner to Japanese people, you may really impress them if you are able to quote great leaders in Japanese. You may have them thinking, “Wow, how do they know such a historical word?” or “Their preparation is really impressive!” Spicing up your speech will better your chances at winning.
6 Quotes from Japanese Great Leaders For Your Japanese Script
世の人は我を何とも言わば言え。我がなす事は我のみぞ知る。-坂本竜馬
Translation: Whatever people may say about me, I know what I'm doing.
Meaning: People may criticize or not understand what you are doing, but if you have faith in yourself that is all that matters.
Note: 坂本竜馬 (January 3, 1836 to December 10, 1867) made prominent contributions to the Meiji revolution. He constantly broke the mold with new ideas, but not everyone understood at the time.
人の一生は、重荷を負うて遠き道をゆくがごとし。-徳川家康
Translation: Life is a journey with a burden
Meaning: In your life, you have to experience both good and bad things. If you are able to withstand the bad, you will reach your goal eventually.
Note: 徳川家康 (January 31, 1543 - June 1, 1616) was the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate which ruled Japan for approximately 250 years. He established this quite late in his career, as he was 62 years old at the time. The founder of the Ashikaga shogunate was 30 years old when he established it.
おもしろきこともなき世をおもしろく。-高杉晋作
Translation: Live an exciting life in the not-exciting world.
Meaning: The world is what you make it.
Note: 高杉晋作 (27 September 1839 - 17 May 1867) was a Samurai from Choshu Domain in Japan and significantly contributed to the Meiji revolution. He led a revolutionary military, which was formed with people from various social statuses (At that time, only Samurais were allowed to have weapons, generally speaking).
天は人の上に人を造らず、人の下に人を造らず。-福沢諭吉
Translation: Heaven does not create one person above or below another.
Meaning: We are all born as equals.
Note: 福沢諭吉 (January 10, 1835 - February 3, 1901) established the first university in Japan. This phrase is quoted from his publication: Encouragement of Learning and the phrase continued in this way;
Nevertheless, as we broadly survey the human scene, there are the wise and the stupid, and the rich and poor. The reason is clear. In the Jitsugo-kyo, we read that if a man does not learn he will remain ignorant, and such an ignorant man is stupid. Therefore the question of the difference between wise and stupid is traceable to the degree of learning.Quoted from- Encouragement of Learning
医者は生活の安定を約束していた。しかし、僕は画が描きたかったのだ。-手塚治虫
Translation: Being a doctor has secured a stable life. However, I wanted to draw pictures.
Meaning: -
Note: 手塚治虫 (3 November 1928 - 9 February 1989) is called the God of Comics in Japan. He had a chartered doctor license, but decided to become a cartoonist. He succeeded in pioneering Japanese Story Manga and Japanese animation.
チャレンジして失敗を恐れるよりも、何もしないことを恐れろ。-本田宗一郎
Translation: Don’t fear failure. Fear doing nothing.
Meaning: -
Note: 本田宗一郎 (November 17, 1906 - August 5, 1991) was an engineer and the founder of Honda which is the biggest vehicle manufacturer in the world.
How to Use the Quotes in Your Japanese Script
You can use one of them depending on the content of your speech at the beginning as a hook. For example, if you make a speech concerning global inequality, your Japanese script could go like this; 「天は人の上に人を造らず、人の下に人を造らず」、福沢諭吉の言葉です。皆さんは、世界の人々は皆平等であると思いますか?私はそうは思いません。世界を見渡せば、貧困に苦しむ人がたくさんいます。そして、この「貧困をどのように解決していくのか?」、これが今日皆さんに私がお話することです。 “Heaven does not create one person above or below another.” This phrase was said by Yukichi Fukuzawa. Do you think that everybody is equal in the world? I don’t think so. If you look at the world, there are a lot of people suffering from poverty. And, how we will solve this issue is what I would like to talk about with you today. If you only directly say ”今日は世界の貧困問題についてお話します -I would like to talk about global poverty today”, the difference is significant.
Conclusion
If you would like to put a hook in your Japanese script, quoting great leaders is one of the best choices. On the other hand, if you misunderstood the meaning of the quote or make a mistake when reading it, you will not make as a profound of an impression. That’s the double-edged sword of quoting great leaders. Thus, I recommend you to study about the phrase, the leader, their background, etc. before deciding if you want to use one or not. In addition, the saying must be related to your speech. If you follow this advice, I believe your speech will be successful.
Useful Phrases
「QUOTE」、NAMEの言葉です。
“QUOTE”, this was said by NAME.
NAMEはこう言いました。「QUOTE」と。
NAME said it in this way; “QUOTE”.
「QUOTE」、皆さん一度は聞いたことのある言葉だと思います。
“QUOTE”, I think everyone has heard this at least once.