Knowledge Comes from Learning; Character Comes from Sports

There is a famous saying by Isoo Abe, known as the father of Japanese baseball: “Knowledge comes from learning; character comes from sports.”

When the fourth-generation proprietor was young, Goro Taniguchi of the Yomiuri Giants professional baseball team often visited the restaurant. One day, he said to the fourth-generation proprietor, “Hosu Tobita is at the Abe Dormitory for the baseball team now—let’s go and meet him,” and the two went to see him.

In the room of the dormitory manager, the fourth-generation proprietor ground ink, and Coach Tobita wrote a piece of calligraphy for him.

This is the item in the first photograph, bearing the famous words: “Knowledge comes from learning; character comes from sports.”

The fifth-generation proprietor also remembers this calligraphy, but apparently it was lost somewhere when Yahata Sushi was rebuilt.

What a shame.

The photograph dates from the early 1950s. The woman pictured is Kuniko, the fourth-generation proprietor’s younger sister.

Kuniko also seems to have been popular with Yahata Sushi’s guests.

And there is one more thing.

Just inside Yahata Sushi hangs a Chinese poem.

This, too, was written by Hosu Tobita, who inscribed it while drinking sake at the counter.

The poem is “Song of Liangzhou,” by Wang Han, a poet of China’s Tang dynasty.

For many years, we did not understand the meaning of this poem, but Professor Tran Van Tho of Waseda University translated it for us, allowing us to understand it for the first time.

This, too, is a precious treasure.

Lately, this blog has featured many stories from the past, but there are still many precious memories and items to share, so I will write about them again when the opportunity arises.