A Study of the Philosophy of Educational Gerontology in Bushido Context of Future in Japan

Department of Health and Welfare Science, Faculty of Sport Science, Sendai University 2-2-18 Funaokaminami, Shibata machi, Shibata gun, Miyagi ken, 989-1693 Japan

Corresponding Author: Takahashi Ryo, Sendai University 2-2-18 Funaokaminami, Shibata machi, Shibata gun, Miyagi ken, 989-1693 Japan, E-mail: [email protected] Received: October 07, 2020 Published: November 13, 2020

ABSTRACT

The purpose of Educational Gerontology is existed for people with well life. Genealogy work is a part of Gerontology. Shugend? is continued to Budo, which has had a very broad meaning including living philosophy. Even nowadays, Budo is still used in a broad way, in that there is still a tendency for it to be used to define a culture of spirituality and moral values. It is said that Educational Gerontology is not only the interdisciplinary study, but also the international and inter-professional study of aging among various culture. However, in current academic education from K-12 and higher education, the concerned with the inter-professional approach to address aging issues in societies has not been enriched. Because of this, we must develop and implement collaborative learning that is inherent in Educational Gerontology.

Introduction: It is important to recognize roles and philosophy of Educational Gerontology and Geriatric by digging up ancient wit and wisdom for culture and history. Man is not the only biological existence, but also mental, intellectual, spiritual, and culturally eternally progress and grows for leading education of the world. This paper explains that Educational Gerontology is not only the interdisciplinary study, but also the international and inter-professional study of all aging process which can be learned from the past for the future in advance.

Method and Materials: The main method used in writing this study was literature review of online and offline media sources, assisted by qualitative research methodology through interviews. A review and summary of important research sources, articles, reports, and books on the topics was undertaken, as well.

Conclusion: Educational Gerontology is applied for school teaching and learning within Positively Aging Curriculum. Shugend? is a highly syncretic religion that originated in Heian Japan. Shugend? evolved during the seventh century from an amalgamation of beliefs, philosophies, doctrines and ritual systems drawn from local folk. Budo has had a very broad meaning. Even nowadays, Budo is still used in a broad way, in that there is still a tendency for it to be used to define a culture of spirituality and moral values in various educational setting in Japan. It is said that gerontology is not only the interdisciplinary study, but also the international and inter-professional study of aging. However, in current academic education, the business network concerned with the inter-professional approach to address aging issues in societies has not been enriched. Because of this, we must develop and implement educational collaborative learning that is inherent in advanced gerontology

KEYWORDS: Bushido; Education; Gerontology; Philosophy; Shugendo; Zen

INTRODUCTION

In ancient Egypt, the soul after death was thought to undergo eternal life, but as the dead entered the nether world. Horikawa has hypothesized that a pyramid was symbolized the temple of God where ordinances of salvation was proceed for having eternal life through his scriptural study (the Book of Abraham 1:23-24 V23 The land of Egypt being first discovered by a woman, who was the daughter of Ham, and the daughter of Egyptus, which in the Chaldean signifies Egypt, which signifies that which is forbidden; V24 When this woman discovered the land it was under water, who afterward settled her sons in it; and thus, from Ham, sprang that race which preserved the curse in the land) and excavating studies in Egypt [1]. Ancient people also have been searching how to have longevity life without death. A purpose of Educational Gerontology is to find out a purpose of life such as where we are from, why we are living, where the life will go after death. The terms “gerontology” and “Thanatology” are derived by Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov (1845-1916) in the book “The Nature of Man: Studies in Optimistic Philosophy” Mechinikov reported that the basis of research is the real life and scientific objectives when it is taken a comprehensive approach to research based on various languages and cultures, including religious and philosophical fundamental ideas from various perspectives so that people can become one towards one ideal [2]. "Chirico (2016) wrote Spiritual well-being in the 21st century by reviewing the current WHO’s health definition. Chirico reported that over 60 years, some critics argue that the dimension of spiritual well-being was missing from the World Health Organization’s (WHO) definition of health. This issue has never been adapted, yet. Spiritual well-being should be the most prioritized with psychological well-being through lifelong span developmental educational setting. Therefore, spirituality, personal beliefs and religiousness should not be synonymous [3]. This paper is focused to search about Spirituality within the Philosophy of Educational Gerontology through Bushido and old Japanese Cultural Perspectives [4].

METHODS AND MATERIALS

The main method used in writing this study was literature review of online and offline media sources, assisted by qualitative research methodology through interviews, as well. A review and summary of important research sources, articles, reports, and books on the topics was undertaken. Primary sources are supplemented by interviews with some participants in the academic world through online conference. Most historical sites have been visited and local resources were collected by the author, as well.

RELATIONSHIP EDUCATIONAL GERONTOLOGY & BUSHIDO

The author’s work of Philosophy of Gerontology is found on the Google at the top of the lists [5-7]. Philosophy of Gerontology is the same as a way of living with quality of life though various educational experiences. Japanese has deeper meaning which is called Ikigai. Iki means life, and Gai means value or worth, so that Ikigai means essentially about finding your purpose in life. In Japan we can find such a way of living within Bushido. Bushido means "the way of warriors”. In other words, Bushi is called Samurai. Samurai, usually referred to in Japanese as Bushi was the military nobility of medieval and early-modern Japan. "In Japanese, the Kanji character Samurai was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany persons in the upper ranks of society. This original term in Japanese is saburau. In both countries the terms were nominalized to mean "those who serve in close attendance to the nobility. The earliest reference to the word "samurai" appears in the KokinWakash?, in the first part of the 10^th century. Yamaoka Tessh? (1836-1888) had developed philosophy of bushido as Yamaoka Tesshu "Twenty rules of morals" as follows: 1) Don't lie 2) Don't forget your gratitude 3)Don't forget the gratitude of your parents 4) Don't forget your teacher's gratitude 5) Don't forget the gratitude of neighbors 6) Do not ruin the gods and Buddha and the elders 7) Don't underestimate young children 8)Don't ask others what you don’t want 9) Angry is not on the road 10) Don’t rejoice in people’s misery 11) Do your best to the best of your ability 12) Don't just look after others and do your own good 13) Every time you eat, you should remember a hard time in agriculture even if it is a plant, earth and stone, it should not be poor 14) Let's decorate the kimono or make a surface know that things are cloudy 15) Do it be polite 16) Be aware that you will be in contact with guests no matter how many times you are in contact with them 17) Whatever you don't know should be good interest, you should learn with humble heart 18) Shouldn't do academic arts for showing pride, but it is for growth 19) All people are good and weak. Don't laugh at such matter 20) Don’t let the proud person know your good deeds. You should do everything in your heart [8]. Yamaoka studied the art of swordsmanship thoroughly until March 30, 1880, at the age of 45, when he became enlightened while in meditation. From this point on, Yamaoka worked to maintain a dojo for his style of combat known as "no-sword" The point in which a samurai realizes that there is no enemy and that purity of the style is all that is needed. He is famous for his range of Zen art works [9-11]. Very basic principle of Zen: can be learned from Yamabushi. The above is a part of philosophy of Educational Gerontology, as a way of all process of life.

WHAT IS YAMABUSHI?

Bushido’s philosophy was originally from Yaamabushi’s life. Yamabushi (one who prostrates himself on the mountain) are Japanese mountain ascetic hermits. According to traditional Japanese mysticism, Yamabushi are believed to be endowed with supernatural powers. Shugend? (literally "the way of shugen, or”en-practice") is a highly syncretic religion that originated in Heian Japan. Practitioners are called Shugenja or Yamabushi (literally "mountain prostrate"). Shugend? evolved during the seventh century from an amalgamation of beliefs, philosophies, doctrines and ritual systems drawn from pre-Buddhist mountain worship. The seventh-century ascetic and mystic En no Gy?ja is widely considered as the patriarch of Shugend?, having first organized Shugend? as a doctrine. Shugend? literally means "the path of training and testing" or "the way to spiritual power through discipline". The Meiji government, which separated Shinto and Buddhism, ruled out Shugend? as unacceptable because of its amalgamation of the two religions and officially forbade it in 1872. With the advent of religious freedom in Japan after World War II, Shugend? was revived. That means a power of spirit was taken off from living religion. However, there are still very few masters of Yamabushi are existed. For example, Naofumi Hoshino, a famous Yamabushi of Mt. Haguro, the home of Shugendo, is the home of the trainees called "Daishobo" at the foot of Mt. Haguro in Yamagata prefecture. Mr. Hoshino is a pioneer Yamabushi and is also the 13th generation host of Daishobo, which has continued for 400 years. Mr. Hoshino said, "Shugendo is a study that you can learn with your body". It is said that it is just to throw away the background knowledge and experience it with the body [12]. The main purpose of Educational Gerontology is to grow spiritually and mentally through body and mind exercise.

SPIRITUALITY GROWTH THROUGH REVEWING ONESELF

Jeremiah (probably after 650 – c. 570 BC) recorded as follows: Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord. (Book of Lamentations 3:40) in the Old Testament. This shows important to keep family history from ancient time. In Japan the Daijo-kan issued a proclamation saying, "The commoner's surname is allowed to be different from now on" on September 19, 1870 (Meiji 3). It is said to be "Last Name Day". Current research confirms that the majority of commoners had a surname before this time. However, it is known that the surname was not used in official places, but was used only in private places such as bookkeeping and letter signatures when visiting temples and shrines. It is important to learn oneself who we are as human beings. It is called family history.

Alma explained clearly how we can see miracle of our lives through searching the family history as follow: “and now alma began to expound these things unto him, saying: It is given unto many to know the mysteries of God; nevertheless they are laid under a strict command that they shall not impart only according to the portion of his word which he doth grant unto the children of men, according to the heed and diligence which they give unto him. And therefore, he that will harden his heart, the same received the lesser portion of the word; and he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full” (Book of Alma12:9-10) [13]. This work is applied for school teaching and learning within Positively Aging Curriculum at University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (Lichtenstein et al., 2001). This program has been prepared for an innovative set of interdisciplinary teaching materials that uses examples from geriatrics and gerontology to teach sixth through eighth grade curricular elements. This study was to determine if use of the Positively Aging® teaching materials by regular classroom teachers could change middle school students' images of elderly people [14]. Greenberg (1982) reported that searching his/her own family history which is called as Genealogy is very effective for keeping good memory for aging process through reminiscing about family histories with the creation of a product which can be shared with relatives [15]. The result is improved self-esteem and a feeling of accomplishment. Genealogy projects can also provide a means by which younger people can interact with and learn about older adults by helping them with research or by undertaking class projects in gerontology classes. This program could be applying for community-based older adults and institutionalized older adults, as well. Single session projects include using faces cut from magazines to create a family tree, mobile, or chart and making cloth dolls which resemble family members. Longer projects include: 1) moral wills; 2) family charts; 3) albums and booklets; 4) oral histories; 5) joint interviews; 6) collections of family documents; and 7) newsletters. Useful resources are libraries, genealogy societies, and reunions. Moreover, keeping our own journal is also a part of family history. We can learn from the John in the New Testament as follows: “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works” (Revelation 20:12-13).

CONCLUSION

Way of learning among master and disciple is called Keiko. Keiko means thinking, and the original meaning of the Chinese word rehearsal is "thinking about ancient times and examining the past and knowing exactly what to do now”. In Japan, since the middle ages, keiko has also been used to learn and learn performing arts and Budo, and it is often used in a sense other (Practice) than academics (Memorization). This concept has been learned from life of ShoinYoshida (1830-1859). Shoin sensei recorded that if he read a book and feel something about it; he should always make an abstract (in a notebook, etc.) and save half of the reading energy for the abstract. Shoin sensei proceeded to debate, as well. Nowadays, debate education has become commonplace, but at that time Shoin sensei was already doing it. Moreover, he was instructing those who don't have enough to say what they want to say from their own opinions which are called mind reading [16]. This may be bridging from meditation to thought graphical ability (Nensha) [17-20]. This study was introduced by Tomokichi Fukurai (Assistant Professor at the Tokyo Imperial University) and Wasaburo Asano [21-23]. Thoughtography is a paranormal phenomenon in which the ideas that come to mind are printed on photographic paper as images. It is a kind of so-called psychic power and research and experiments were conducted as parapsychology, however it was not acceptable in academy in Japan. As a result Dr. Fukurai was dismissed from the university. This power is also considered that is come from ancient bushido which is called Yamabushi exercise in Shugendo. Therefore, it is necessary to continue further research will be required.

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Copyright: Ryo T. ©2020. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Citation: Ryo T. (2020). A Study of the Philosophy of Educational Gerontologyin Bushido Context of Future in Japan. Geriatric. 2(1):02.