Fuurin Kazan Blog (May 28, 2007)

Translated by: gekka_no_neko (@LJ)

Please do not copy, take, redistribute, retranslate or repost this translation without my permission. Thank you~

5/28 Nagao Kagetora (Uesugi Kenshin) Gackt

A stoic way of life

We filmed the scene where Kagetora burns cedar-sticks and chants the mantra at the altar of the Bishamon[1]. Even though it's on a studio set, when I see the figure of the Bishamonten in front of me, my back immediately straightens. And I can truly understand the feeling Kagetora had when he faced the Bishamonten "in order to discipline (him)self." It's because, every day, I live a stoic lifestyle.

Why is it that I discipline myself. It's because I understand my own "careless side and weak side". Being fearful and cowardly, I was afraid that those parts of me would come out, and to prevent the carelessness and weakness from coming out, I imposed rules on myself. Living my life by conforming to those rules every day is my style of living. For example, eating habits. My rule is one meal per day, and to severely restrict the amount of carbohydrates. In particular, I haven't eaten rice in close to ten years. Also, I generally sleep two to three hours a day. I sleep at night at 1 a.m., and wake up in the morning at 3 or 4 a.m. My staff arrives at my house and we train for about three hours before heading off to work.

There are people who ask if I'm destroying my body. However, I've continued to live like this (for years), and there hasn't been one time where it's been bad for my body. Instead, my body has gotten even better. More so than being something I can continue to do with willpower, I believe it's something that can truly be done through training of the body and the mind. If you discipline (yourself), then your mind and body will be able to follow in proportion to that discipline.

As humans age, they tend to start feeling sluggish. I'm also afraid that I will start feeling sluggish. For that reason, I want to continue stoicly disciplining myself so that I can constantly sharpen and hone my senses.

Notes:
[1] Bishamon(ten) (毘沙門天): the Buddhist god of war and warriors. Kenshin was known to revere this god, who was usually portrayed wearing armor and holding a spear. He used the first character of bishamonten, “bi” (毘), on his battle standard. 
[2] darashinai (だらしない): slovenly; grungy; messy; sloppy; slouchy; untidy; slipshod; lax; loose; careless.

Source: NHK blog (May 28, 2007)

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