Quotes by Japanese authors

See the complete list of authors from Japan

"I never had the chance to consider what or how I wanted to be"

Namie Amuro, Musician

"I guess you could say I'm cautious, or a coward"

Namie Amuro, Musician

"Until now, I was insecure and I believed what the people around me said in regarding what I should sing"

Namie Amuro, Musician

"Aside from my work, in my everyday private life, I'm not a very adventureous person. I don't look for change"

Namie Amuro, Musician

"If I don't think about anything, and start with a clean slate, in terms of what I have to do, a lot of different ideas come up, and I can think about things more openly"

Namie Amuro, Musician

Hideki Tojo

"To advocate a New Order was to seek freedom and respect for peoples without prejudice, and to seek a stable basis for the existence all peoples, equally, and free of threats"

Hideki Tojo, Soldier

Hideki Tojo

"Throughout that period, Japan had made honest efforts to keep the destruction of war from spreading and, based on the belief that all nations of the world should find their places, had followed a policy designed to restore an expeditious peace between Japan and China"

Hideki Tojo, Soldier

Hideki Tojo

"From the point of the view of the nation's power, it was obvious that while we were fighting the Sino-Japanese war, every effort was to be made to avoid adding to our enemies and opening additional fronts"

Hideki Tojo, Soldier

Hideki Tojo

"Even military ministers have no more than a certain amount of control. It is customary that they have the right and the power to participate, from a political and military point of view, in the planning of actual operations"

Hideki Tojo, Soldier

Hideki Tojo

"At the Imperial Conference on December 1, it was decided to make war against England and the United States"

Hideki Tojo, Soldier

Hideki Tojo

"I would point out that Japan's proposal at the Versailles Peace Conference on the principle of racial equality was rejected by delegates such as those from Britain and the United States"

Hideki Tojo, Soldier

Hideki Tojo

"However, even during the preparations for action, we laid our plans in such a manner that should there be progress through diplomatic negotiation, we would be well prepared to cancel operations at the latest moment that communication technology would have permitted"

Hideki Tojo, Soldier

"The heart of a human being is no different from the soul of heaven and earth. In your practice always keep in your thoughts the interaction of heaven and earth, water and fire, yin and yang"

Morihei Ueshiba, Athlete

"The art of Peace I practice has room for each of the world's eight million gods, and I cooperate with them all. The God of Peace is very great and enjoins all that is divine and enlightened in every land"

Morihei Ueshiba, Athlete

"One does not need buildings, money, power, or status to practice the Art of Peace. Heaven is right where you are standing, and that is the place to train"

Morihei Ueshiba, Athlete

"In extreme situations, the entire universe becomes our foe; at such critical times, unity of mind and technique is essential - do not let your heart waver!"

Morihei Ueshiba, Athlete

"Create each day anew"

Morihei Ueshiba, Athlete

"Loyalty and devotion lead to bravery. Bravery leads to the spirit of self-sacrifice. The spirit of self-sacrifice creates trust in the power of love"

Morihei Ueshiba, Athlete

"If your heart is large enough to envelop your adversaries, you can see right through them and avoid their attacks. And once you envelop them, you will be able to guide them along the path indicated to you by heaven and earth"

Morihei Ueshiba, Athlete

"A good stance and posture reflect a proper state of mind"

Morihei Ueshiba, Athlete

Hideki Tojo

"The reason was the failure of both Japan and China to understand each other and the inability of America and the European powers to sympathize, without prejudice, with the peoples of East Asia"

Hideki Tojo, Soldier

Hideki Tojo

"On October 18, 1941, I suddenly received a mandate from His Majesty to form a new cabinet. This was completely unexpected, and when I was summoned to the Imperial Palace I thought I would be questioned on the army's point of view"

Hideki Tojo, Soldier

Hideki Tojo

"Therefore, if one were to consider that there was virtually no possibility of success through the US-Japan negotiations, the military and economic pressures would only force Japan into further crisis if time were allowed to pass in vain"

Hideki Tojo, Soldier

Hideki Tojo

"Justice has nothing to do with victor nations and vanquished nations, but must be a moral standard that all the world's peoples can agree to. To seek this and to achieve it - that is true civilization"

Hideki Tojo, Soldier

"Those who are possessed by nothing possess everything"

Morihei Ueshiba, Athlete

"It is necessary to develop a strategy that utilizes all the physical conditions and elements that are directly at hand. The best strategy relies upon an unlimited set of responses"

Morihei Ueshiba, Athlete

"Do not look upon this world with fear and loathing. Bravely face whatever the gods offer"

Morihei Ueshiba, Athlete

"To injure an opponent is to injure yourself. To control aggression without inflicting injury in the Art of Peace"

Morihei Ueshiba, Athlete

"Progress comes to those who train and train; reliance on secret techniques will get you nowhere"

Morihei Ueshiba, Athlete

"Opponents confront us continually, but actually there is no opponent there. Enter deeply into an attack and neutralize it as you draw that misdirected force into your own sphere"

Morihei Ueshiba, Athlete

"Everyone has a spirit that can be refined, a body that can be trained in some manner, a suitable path to follow. You are here to realize your inner divinity and manifest your innate enlightenment"

Morihei Ueshiba, Athlete

"Economy is the basis of society. When the economy is stable, society develops. The ideal economy combines the spiritual and the material, and the best commodities to trade in are sincerity and love"

Morihei Ueshiba, Athlete

Hideki Tojo

"With options thus foreclosed, in order to protect and defend the nation and clear the obstacles that stood in its path, a decisive appeal to arms was made"

Hideki Tojo, Soldier

Hideki Tojo

"The main American naval forces were shifted to the Pacific region and an American admiral made a strong declaration to the effect that if war were to break out between Japan and the United States, the Japanese navy could be sunk in a matter of weeks"

Hideki Tojo, Soldier

Hideki Tojo

"I would point out that the cultural advance of these people has been suppressed in the past and continues to be suppressed in the present by policies designed to keep them in ignorance"

Hideki Tojo, Soldier

Hideki Tojo

"Despite Japan's desires and efforts, unfortunate differences in the ways that Japan, England, the United States, and China understood circumstances, together with misunderstandings of attitudes, made it impossible for the parties to agree"

Hideki Tojo, Soldier

"There are no contests in the Art of Peace. A true warrior is invincible because he or she contests with nothing. Defeat means to defeat the mind of contention that we harbor within"

Morihei Ueshiba, Athlete

"The purpose of training is to tighten up the slack, toughen the body, and polish the spirit"

Morihei Ueshiba, Athlete

"Study how water flows in a valley stream, smoothly and freely between the rocks. Also learn from holy books and wise people. Everything - even mountains, rivers, plants and trees - should be your teacher"

Morihei Ueshiba, Athlete

"All the principles of heaven and earth are living inside you. Life itself is truth, and this will never change. Everything in heaven and earth breathes. Breath is the thread that ties creation together"

Morihei Ueshiba, Athlete

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