On June 25 the Mission Department sponsored a convention which commemorated the 20th anniversary of Hinokishin School. Since its establishment in 1985, Hinokishin School has offered a variety of programs in which missionaries acquire knowledge and techniques useful for responding to social needs and thus promoting their missionary work effectively in their local communities. Those who finish the one-day preliminary course may advance to specialized courses that focus on such areas as caring for the elderly and the disabled and counseling. So far more than 48,000 people have enrolled in the preliminary course and a total of 12,000 studied in the specialized courses.
Approximately 800 people attended the meeting on June 25, which featured a commemorative ceremony and a keynote address followed by a symposium. The keynote address was given by Emeritus I Professor Hayao Kawai at Kyoto University, a renowned psychologist who used to teach at Tenri University and is currently director general of International Research Center for Japanese Studies. The following is a summary of his speech entitled “It is truly difficult to be helpful to others.”
Today marks the 20th anniversary of Hinokishin School. As it is said that ten years make an epoch, the fact that the school has continued for 20 years is a wonderful thing.
I have been involved in the school since its early years. By that time, I had been teaching at Tenri University for many years and, in this connection, I was asked by the late professor Hachiro Haseyama at Tenri University, “How about delivering lectures at the Counseling Course of Hinokishin School?”
How delighted Professor Haseyama would be if he were alive now and saw the present Hinokishin School which has become so enriched!
Though counseling has become known to the public nowadays, there were few who knew about it when I came to Tenri University in 1955. Professor Haseyama recognized the significance of counseling at that time and encouraged me by saying, “Counseling is so important that the course should be opened at Tenri University.” Such being the case, I have a lot of memories of him and I cannot forget him.