1. Last time, I discussed Takehiko Inoue’s manga Vagabond, featuring Takezo Miyamoto, also known as “vagabond.” This represents the ultimate artistic expression of the inquiry-based learner (agent) that SHS’s co-education (共育) aims to cultivate. That was the point I made last time. Actually, it’s not just Vagabond and the Musashi (Vagabond) depicted within it that are relevant to SHS. The historical Miyamoto Musashi, and Eiji Yoshikawa’s novel Musashi, which is the original work for Vagabond, also play significant roles in SHS’s co-education. (I will refer to the historical Miyamoto Musashi as Musashi, Yoshikawa’s Musashi as “Musashi,” and Inoue’s Musashi as Vagabond.) First, there’s The Book of Five Rings (circa 1645), written by Musashi. The principles discussed in this book have something in common with Robert Rasmussen’s “Rasmussen Vision School” (hereafter, RVS), the underlying philosophy of LEGO Serious Play (hereafter, LSP) developed by Rasmussen, as well as Seymour Papert’s “constructivism,” on the basis of which RVS was formed. Both The Book of Five Rings and LSP are “thinking tools for shaping strategy.” (Robert Rasmussen, Thinking Tools for Shaping Strategy, hereafter, Thinking Tools). What clearly illustrates the similarity between the two is the concept of “Emptiness” discussed in the final chapter of The Book of Five Rings. According to Alexander Bennett, the translator and commentator of The True Translation of The Book of Five Rings: Overcoming Yourself, Mastering the Way (hereafter, True Translation), Musashi’s “Emptiness” is close to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s “flow state.” (True Meaning, p. 228) LSP also presupposes entering Csikszentmihalyi’s “flow state.” And LSP is the most suitable “practice” for becoming an inquiry-based learner = agent, in other words, a Vagabond. I will elaborate on this point later. 2. According to Csikszentmihalyi, “flow” is “the feeling of being completely engrossed in whatever one does under adequate circumstances.” “When you enter “flow” and “concentration intensifies, feelings of ecstasy and clarity emerge, and a clear sense of what one wants to do next arises, along with immediate feedback.” This is exactly the state I am in when I write. I cannot write anything that satisfies me unless I am in this state. It is exactly the same state as a young child engrossed in LaQ blocks, drawing, or playing house. Or, the state of high concentration during sports where everything you do goes well. This is a prerequisite for conducting inquiry-based learning as a Vagabond. Therefore, SHS’s co-education, which aims to “become a Vagabond,” begins with calligraphy under the guidance of a certified facilitator. Musashi was not only an unparalleled swordsman but also a calligrapher whose name is etched in history. SHS students learn “flow” through their bodies through the “construction” of “writing calligraphy,” and based on this, they begin their inquiry-based learning. 3. Calligraphy is an art form that originated in China. Besides calligraphy, Japan has learned various things from China, especially until around the 7th and 8th centuries. However, the current state of Sino-Japanese relations in various aspects resembles the eve of the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945). Putting ourselves in the opposite position. Reading Walter LaFeber’s The Clash: A History of U.S.-Japan Relations makes me feel this way especially strongly. The situation surrounding Taiwan and the South China Sea is just like Manchuria (present-day Northeast China) at that time. If we face the same outcome as last time, the construction of “D” will be out of the question. In order to avoid a repetition of the pre-war era and to construct “D,” cooperation with China is indispensable. Of course, this also applies to the United States, which is currently engaged in a tariff war with China. Let’s imagine the Satsuma and Choshu domains of the late Edo period as present-day China and the United States (we won’t consider who corresponds to whom for now), and let’s say SHS mediates between the two, encouraging them to work together to construct “D.” In that case, SHS would be comparable to Sakamoto Ryoma in Ryotaro Shiba’s Ryoma Goes, and the construction of “D” could be compared to the overthrow of the shogunate and the subsequent construction of modern Japan. This is, of course, based on Shiba’s fictional world, which differs from historical facts. In any case, making the construction of “D” the ultimate goal in the current situation means that SHS will become Sakamoto Ryoma (hereafter, “Ryoma”) as the protagonist of Ryoma Goes, and contribute to the realization of a “modern Satsuma-Choshu Alliance” in a global context. When each Cowa member strives to become closer to a “Vagabond,” SHS approaches “Ryoma.” And the world will avoid a repetition of the pre-war era and move closer to “D.” 4. To transcend the global conflict centered on the “clash” between China and the United States, and to contribute to a situation where everyone currently in opposition collaborates to construct “D.” That is what it means to “become Ryoma,” and it is the ultimate goal of SHS and Cowa as a whole. To achieve this, first, each Cowa member must become a “Vagabond.” A person who “recognizes their own role in achieving Cowa’s unique goals, cultivates the necessary abilities and qualities to fulfill that role, and actually fulfills it”– That is a “Vagabond.” The path to becoming a “Vagabond (inquiry-based learner)” begins with “flow.” In other words, striving towards the goal of transcending conflict and constructing “D,” by training the “mind, emotions, will, and body”—that is, “disciplining oneself”—begins with making the training a “hard fun” activity that is so absorbing you lose track of time, both challenging and enjoyable. For this to happen, first and foremost, one must experience and physically understand what “flow = hard fun” is. At SHS, this is done through calligraphy. On the other hand, facilitators must construct a curriculum where the “path to Vagabond (discipline = inquiry-based learning)” becomes something that is “hard fun.” To achieve this, SHS will introduce LSP and AI into as many subjects as possible. For example, as will be discussed in detail next time, in the home economics class (“Basic Home Economics”), which, along with calligraphy, forms the “core” of SHS’s curriculum, when designing “my own path to Vagabond,” students will first express it with LEGO blocks and then explain it in the form of a report. Furthermore, at SHS, a subject called “Let’s Become Friends with AI!” will be compulsory. This is a subject where students will undergo training to hone the “skills” to literally make AI a friend (a companion runner) who will walk “my own path to Vagabond” together. Both LSP and AI originated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), one of the world’s leading universities. SHS will collaborate with people from MIT to construct and implement one of the world’s most hard-fun curriculums suitable for a society coexisting with AI. (To be continued)