Message from the Principal

"Do what you have to do, when you have to do it, and do it properly!"

The words I heard from Principal Gustav Voss as a student in my first year of junior high school were extremely strict and became a theme throughout my life. Life at Eiko Gakuen, where students ask themselves the question, "What should I do now?" is a laborious and never easy life. There were many times when I couldn't find the answer and felt lost, and even when I could see the path, I became lazy.

It is important to rest when we are tired, and play is also an important task in life. However, in the same way, we cannot make full use of our talents without "gyo" (discipline and training) to improve and train ourselves. Interestingly, when people discover what they really want to do, they begin to enjoy the gyo of working toward that goal.

I have never run a marathon, but I think that for people who want to run 42.195km, training to run that distance can be both painful and enjoyable. When they complete their run, they will feel joy that cannot be expressed in words.

Moreover, there is no greater joy than the joy of acting for and feeling together with someone you live with. "Men for others, with others" is a phrase that accompanies that great joy. Eiko Gakuen has continued to hope that those who gather at the school can fully demonstrate their talents and live vibrantly with others. That is the "great glory of God."

The students who gather at Eiko Gakuen are truly unique. One of the major challenges they face is to discern whether the "gyo" they are about to undertake is really the "gyo" imposed on them, and to find the wisdom, or sophia, for discernment.

Eiko Gakuen will do its utmost to support each student so that they can receive the blessing of God's illumination, find their own path, and spend six years working hard on their own "gyo" with their friends.

AMDG

Principal Osamu Yagishita