eSOM
The Road to D, or the Story of Singularity High School (SHS) and Cowa
2025.05.09
The Road to D, or the Cowa Story (1): Congratulatory Address from the Principal at the Singularity High School Entrance Ceremony
The official X account of Singularity High School (abbreviated as SHS) has been serializing “The Road to X, or the Story of SHS” under the “Articles” platform. This “The Road to D, or the Story of Cowa” (hereinafter referred to as “The Road to D”) is the “New Road to X, or the Story of Cowa.” The reason for changing “…or the Story of SHS” to “…or the Story of Cowa” is that this story encompasses the entire Cowa Group, including Singularity High School, the four certified centers for early childhood education and care (認定こども園), new domestic and international kindergartens scheduled to open in fiscal year 2025, eSOM Co., Ltd., and more. The first installment of “The Road to D” is the full text of the “Congratulatory Address” given by me, the principal of SHS, at the SHS’ entrance ceremony held on April 3, 2025. The new song “サクハナ (read as “sakuhana,” meaning “flowers in bloom”)” by HIPPY, mentioned here, serves as the school SHS’ school song and the theme song of the Cowa Group. Therefore, what is said here is directed to all members of the Cowa Group (children, students, facilitators, staff, etc.). Entrance Ceremony: Congratulatory Address from the Principal (Note: First, a congratulatory video message from HIPPY is shown, followed by “サクハナ.”) x.com/shinkoukouwa/s youtube.com/watch?v=w-LPcQ 1 To all the first-year students of Singularity High School (abbreviated as SHS), congratulations on your enrollment. To the parents, congratulations. The HIPPY’s song you just heard encapsulates everything I, as the principal, want to convey to you all. In this “Congratulatory Address” from me, I would like to provide an “explanation” of how this song embodies everything I wish to tell you. 2 Crucial to this “explanation” are the three HIPPY’s songs – “きんさいや (read as ”Kinsaiya,” meaning “Why don’t you come?” in the Hiroshima dialect), ”かあさんへ (read as “Kaasan e” meaning “To Mother”)” and “きっと神様は進めと言うだろう (read as Kitto kamisama wa susume to iu darou, meaning “Surely God Will Say Go Forward)” – which lyrics card we have distributed to you along with the lyrics of “Sakuhana.” My encounter with these three songs occurred at HIPPY’s live performance at Ueno Gakuen Hall on July 26th of last year, to which I was invited by an acquaintance. During the concert, I heard these three songs for the first time and, to my surprise, I was moved to tears. I was overwhelmed by the realization: “There is someone out there who shares these deep emotions with me …” The last time I felt such a strong emotion and cried so deeply was when I listened to Bank Band’s “to U,” led by Kazutoshi Sakurai of Mr. Children, after the tsunami and nuclear accident in my hometown of Fukushima on March 11, 2011. I consider both HIPPY and Sakurai to be poetic geniuses. Another song by Sakurai will appear again at the very end of this address, in relation to “Sakuhana.” In any case, it was the moment I heard “to U” shortly after 3.11 that I decided to resign from my university professorship and began working on establishing SHS. And now, the history of SHS is about to begin with “サクハナ,” a song created based on the three songs that moved me to tears just as “to U” did back then. 3 After the live performance at Ueno Gakuen Hall, I met HIPPY backstage for the first time. Around that time, I had just begun attending a training program organized by the city of Hiroshima to cultivate atomic bomb legacy successors. HIPPY had already taken the same training before me and continues to hold the “Atomic Bomb Survivor Testimony Session” on the 6th of every month. When I told him that I was also taking the same training, HIPPY smiled broadly and said, “Then you are my junior.” 4 This project of passing on the atomic bomb legacy by the City of Hiroshima involves each successor listening to the experiences and thoughts of a specific atomic bomb survivor and passing them on. HIPPY was told by the atomic bomb survivor he was assigned to, “Please continue to tell the story in your own way,” and thus, he continues to sing. In other words, all of HIPPY’s songs contain his various thoughts as an atomic bomb legacy successor – the “thousands of hopes” and dreams of the atomic bomb survivors. 5 I believe that HIPPY’s feelings as an atomic bomb legacy successor are embodied in the opening lyrics of the second verse of “きんさいや”: “Flowers bloomed in this desolate land, let’s protect and nurture them so they don’t wither. And for someone’s tomorrow, let’s burn passion and send love from Hiroshima.” It was upon my request to “make these lyrics the entire school song” that “サクハナ” was created. Therefore, the “dream” sung about in “サクハナ” is not only the dream of everyone here in this ceremony but also the dream of those who died in the atomic bombing. And it is also the “dream” of all those who died young, with their aspirations unfulfilled. 6 So, what is the “dream” that everyone here should share with the deceased? SHS, your school, is a place where all students and facilitators become “atomic bomb legacy successors” and together seek and realize the “dream” that is “サクハナ.” By the way, at SHS, “teachers” are called “facilitators,” and everyone, including the principal, addresses each other with the suffix “-san,” whether it’s between teachers, between teachers and students, or among students. Also, the term for “education” is not written as the usual “教育 (kyouiku)” but as “共育 (kyouiku),” which conveys the meaning of students and facilitators “learning and growing together.” 7 The path to “サクハナ = dream” that students and facilitators will try to grasp together through “共育” will likely be a joyful yet long and arduous journey. This “fun yet tough thing,” or “tough yet fun thing,” is what we at SHS call “hard fun.” On this ”hard but fun” path towards “サクハナ = dream,” “no one will be left behind” as HIPPY sings in “サクハナ.” The hard but fun path to a “dream” where “no one is left behind,” together with the “accompanist” called a facilitator, is also the “race that continues without victory or defeat” sung by Sakurai, a poetic genius alongside HIPPY, in the Mr. Children’s song called “Tomorrow Never Knows.” However, this “race” is not a “lonely race” as sung in “Tomorrow Never Knows.” Everyone should have someone close to them who evokes the feelings sung in “かあさんへ (To Mother),” not limited to their parents. You may not have realized it yet, though. Because there are many “mothers” around you, I believe that “Surely God Will Say Go Forward” on the ”hard fun” path to your “dream.” Together with the deceased who entrusted their “dream” to you. Welcome to Singularity High School. (To be continued)
