Check out Takumi’s NEW English youtube channel 🎵
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https://www.youtube.com/@takuway

I met a professional golfer.

Yumi Sasahara YUMI SASAHARA

笹原優美 / Yumi Sasahara (@yumi_sasahara_official)

When I heard what she is focusing on right now, my eyes just about popped out of my head!

What she is studying right now is fascinating.

Troubled by injuries,

troubled by nerves,

by results, by changes to the rules…

The teacher she is studying under right now is

“Sensei Iso.”

The scenery around you that you see.

The sounds around you that you hear.

Not going out to look at it,

but scenery that arrives at your eyes.

Not going out to listen for it,

but sound that arrives at your ears.

Then your breathing drops into your belly,

the tension drains out of your body,

and you enter “safety mode.”

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Why is “safety mode” such a good thing?!

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People perform at their absolute best when they are in “safety mode.” What is the surprising reason why?

“A pinch is precisely a chance.” “It’s the pressure that gives you superhuman strength.”

We have been taught this for years. And it’s true that many people have had the experience of adrenaline kicking in under the wire and clearing the task in front of them in one go.

But that is only “energy for short-term survival.” To produce genuinely creative ideas, to bring out every last bit of the talent you have, and to keep delivering results over the long term, it is absolutely essential that your brain and body be in “safety mode.”

So why is it that people perform at their best in safety mode? There are three broad reasons.

1. Because the brain’s “brakes” come off and your field of view widens

When a human being senses danger or pressure (= fight-or-flight mode), the amygdala takes over and the “survival brain” kicks in to protect your life.

In this state, the brain narrows your field of view drastically, trying to focus you only on the enemy or the problem right in front of you — what is known as tunnel vision. At the same time, blood flow to the frontal lobe (the region governing logical thought, creativity, and flexible problem-solving) drops.

In other words, in the middle of anxiety and tension, the brain is putting the brakes on its own peak-performance functions.

Conversely, when your mind recognizes “I am safe, I can relax here,” the parasympathetic nervous system takes over and the frontal lobe starts running at full speed. Your field of view widens, and unique ideas you’ve never had before, along with solutions from many angles, start surfacing one after another.

2. Because the “fear of failure” disappears and the bar for taking on a challenge drops

The fear and pressure of “I mustn’t fail,” “I might get told off,” “I have to live up to expectations” become enormous noise for the brain.

The greatest benefit of safety mode is having a safety net in your heart — psychological safety — that says “even if I fail, I will still be accepted”.

It is precisely because there is no fear of failure that a person can try new methods and make bold decisions.Being able to put your foot down without fear of failure is what leads, in the end, to overwhelming results and growth.

3. Because your energy shifts entirely from “defense” to “creation”

Carrying constant anxiety and pressure is, in effect, fighting a permanent defensive battle inside your own mind. Most of your energy gets spent building tolerance to stress and on pointless tension aimed at cancelling out your worry.

But once you enter safety mode, that defensive energy is no longer needed. Every bit of the energy you free up can be poured into creative activity — the pure enjoyment of what is in front of you, making things, communicating with people, expressing yourself.

Picture the excess load being lifted off an engine so its real horsepower comes through smoothly.

Tips for creating “safety mode” in everyday life

So how do we go about cheerfully creating this “safety mode” for ourselves?

Say out loud, “Ah well, it’ll work out somehow.”
Make time to breathe deeply and let the stiffness out of your body.
Find ways to enjoy the process itself rather than the result.
Give yourself permission: “Even if I fail at this, my worth doesn’t drop by a single millimeter.”

Before you push yourself with “I’ve got to try harder!”, first let your mind and body breathe out: “I am safe. I’m allowed to relax.”

That, in fact, is the shortest route, even though it looks like the long way around. When you become your own greatest understander and build yourself a foundation where you feel safe, the real power you never imagined you had should come pouring out on its own.

Honda-san,

thank you so much

for yesterday!

Honda-san,

congratulations on your marriage and your pregnancy!

And the food was delicious!

I had the honor of running a staff training session!

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1. The true nature of “motivation” and “driven”

Motivation (the state of being made to do it):
- This refers to moving in a mode of “I have to,” rather than out of your own internal desire.
- When you act from this state, the sense of enduring something grows stronger, and it becomes easy to feel that a “sacrifice” has been made.
Driven (the state of not being able to help yourself):
- This is the state of “I look up and I’m already doing it,” “I can’t not see it through.”
- For a driven person, it is being unable to act that constitutes the “sacrifice” — the lost opportunity.
- The criterion for choosing: What matters is prioritizing the choice that expands your self-image and the possibilities of your life, not the choice that earns other people’s approval.

2. “Self-knowledge” — knowing yourself deeply

Why self-knowledge matters:
- People who understand their own instruction manual — their triggers — tend not to be swept along by waves of emotion, and tend to succeed.
Digging deep into emotion:
- When your mood drops, don’t stop at a surface reason like “it’s because of what someone said.” Write it out on paper and dig thoroughly into why your heart swayed so much at that particular point.
- Keep up this analysis and you stop being tossed around by pointless joy and pointless sorrow, moving closer to mental stability — a state of equanimity.
Quantifying and testing the process:
- Just as companies test their improvement processes (verifying patterns of success and failure, as Google does), treat your own condition and behavior patterns as data and manage them like an experiment run on yourself.

3. A system for managing energy and sustaining performance

Delicate care of mind and body:
- Motivation is not always high; it is an extremely delicate thing, so it needs careful tending rather than being forced along by willpower.
- Treat lack of sleep and poor condition as “mistakes by an athlete,” and build deliberate rest and changes of pace — switching channels — into your schedule.
Task management (using external tools):
- Rather than relying on memory, give top priority to your capacity for absorption — your ability to enter a flow state — and outsource the management of what needs doing to apps (timer and alarm functions such as TOKI) and to a task manager.

4. The structure of happiness (having) and success (not-having)

Success = not-having (filling in what you lack):
- It is the act of aiming at what you do not yet have and closing the gap.
Happiness = having (cherishing what you already hold):
- It is the capacity to be grateful for being alive and for the ordinary things of daily life.
Integrating the two:
- Chase only success and happiness disappears from view; settle for the status quo and growth stops.
- What matters is being conscious of the meeting point — the opportunity — in “the very fact that I’m in a position to take on a challenge like this is lucky,” and deliberately holding both having and not-having at once.
Releasing mental blocks (trauma):
- The blocks standing in your way often originate in your own errors of perception or in misunderstandings from childhood; becoming aware of them and removing them turns you into someone for whom challenge is welcome.

5. Breaking free of others’ evaluation and pursuing your own satisfaction

The relativity of public opinion:
- Just as even the great stars and famous figures who defined an era can go unrecognized once the generation turns over, there are moments when you notice the fleetingness of living with one eye on public evaluation.
Ownership of your life:
- Choosing a life in which you can genuinely satisfy yourself — “that was great,” “well done” — rather than living for “public evaluation,” for how others see you, becomes the true source of motivation.

Shusai Wataru

06-6213-5789

https://www.instagram.com/shusai._wataru/

[Japan’s best-ever silver medal]

Jeremy Koga (Juntendo University), who broke the U20 Asian record in the semi-final, takes silver with a sub-13-second run — a remarkable feat [U20 World Athletics 2026 / Men’s 110m Hurdles Final]

So happy———

Rin Kubo took fifth as well.

Taiju Goto, fourth.

I think he can go further.

後藤大樹/Taiju Goto (@tai_gottya_05)

SoftBank World 2026 — Masayoshi Son Special Keynote

1. What a leader needs most is “a clear vision and strategy”

For an executive or a leader, the most important thing is not everyone getting along (valuing harmony) but firmly holding a clear vision — a goal — of what the future will look like, together with a strategy [01:02].
Not vague words like “AI is going to be an amazing era,” but drawing a vision with a sharp outline, with deadlines and numbers in it — that is the starting point for everything [02:18].

2. The importance of “the first twenty years,” learned from the history of the internet revolution

When the internet revolution began in 1995, there were people who doubted it: “Japanese manufacturing is the real soul,” “the net is some virtual world nobody understands” [03:10].
But when the lid came off, internet-related companies came to occupy the top of the world economy, and the world changed completely [03:41].
When a new technology — a revolution — begins, there is a harsh reality: a company that fails to seize a top position within the first twenty years never wins afterwards either [04:33].

3. A vast forecast for AI (ASI), looking ahead to 2040

The evolution of AI has only just begun, and we need to picture, clearly and in numbers, the world of 2040, fifteen years from here [05:03].
By 2040, the economy of “ASI” — artificial super intelligence, far beyond human intelligence — will have arrived [05:28].
Its scale is forecast to be roughly 20% of world GDP — about 7,000 trillion yen a year — making it one of the largest industries in human history [06:08], [07:27].
On the other hand, the remaining 80% of industry (eating a hamburger, going to the park) will not change much from how it is now [06:37].

4. Throw out the old common sense and act by working backwards from the future

What is coming is an ultra-future era humanity has never experienced, where “100 trillion agents” and “one billion humanoids” are at work [01:04:57].
It is not a world where past experience, or what your seniors have always said, still applies as-is [01:04:33].
That is exactly why it is absolutely necessary to seriously imagine what the world looks like fifteen years out, then calculate backwards from there to work out what to do now, and prepare [01:02:19].

Link to the video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTO-tYqZOZg

Is the yen about to strengthen?!

The weak-yen scenario wavers — will a game change happen? (Reuters)

Here is why that would happen!

Stage 1: Until now, “the weak yen continues” was the base scenario

Japan’s interest rates are low; America’s and others’ are high.

So investors think:

“Better to sell the low-interest yen and hold high-interest dollars instead.”

That is the reasoning.

As a result,

more people sell yen → the yen’s value falls → the yen weakens

and that flow kept going.

On September 1st it was around 160 yen to the dollar.

Stage 2: But then the mood changed

One of the big triggers was the G20.

US Treasury Secretary Bessent made remarks that went quite far into Japanese monetary policy.

On top of that, BOJ board member Takata said, in effect,

“We will not cling to the pace the market has assumed until now; if necessary we will raise rates flexibly.”

That was the thrust of his remark.

From here the market began to think:

“Might the BOJ raise rates faster — and by more — than we thought?”

That is where it started.

Stage 3: Why a “rate hike” strengthens the yen

This is the heart of the article.

Japanese interest rates rise
↓
the advantage of selling the low-interest yen shrinks
↓
investors who had been selling yen buy it back
↓
the yen strengthens

In fact, dollar-yen went from around 160 to the 156 range in only about two days.

Stage 4: The “yen carry trade” may unwind

One of the big trades that has supported the weak yen is the “yen carry trade.”

Put simply, it is this method:

raise yen at low interest, sell that yen, and invest in assets with higher interest.

That is how it works.

But when Japanese interest rates rise, that trade gets less appetizing.

So investors may stop doing this:

sell yen
↓
buy overseas assets

and start moving the opposite way:

sell overseas assets
↓
buy back yen

That reversal may begin.

If that happens on a large scale, the yen can strengthen sharply all at once.

Stage 5: Investors’ “feelings” are starting to change too

This is the important part.

Previously, when the dollar fell and the yen strengthened, there were people who said,

“It’ll go back to a weak yen anyway. Let’s buy dollars while we can.”

That is what they thought.

This is called “buying the dip.”

But now that dollar buying is getting weaker.

And in the options market too,

“the yen might strengthen from here”

— trades pricing in that caution are increasing.

In other words, it is not just the actual exchange rate; investors’ way of thinking itself is starting to change.

Stage 6: This is why “game change” is drawing attention

The “game change” this article refers to

is not the weak yen pausing temporarily.

It is the market’s underlying assumption — “basically, a weak yen” — shifting to

“from here it might be a strong yen.”

That is what it means.

We cannot yet declare that it has shifted that far.

Importing companies are still buying dollars, and it is not settled whether the BOJ will really raise rates substantially.

So the current situation is easier to grasp

not as the weak-yen trend having ended, but as the stage where cracks have started to appear in the assumption that “a weak yen continuing is the natural order”

— that is the way to see it.

Stage 7: The next big fork in the road is September 18th

The BOJ announces the results of its monetary policy meeting on September 18th.

What the market is watching is not only

“will they raise rates?”

More important than that is

“how fast a pace do they intend to raise rates from here?”

That is what counts.

The article introduces the view that if the BOJ signals a strong tightening stance, the “reason to sell yen” weakens.

In particular, Citi points out that if a large hike of 50bp — 0.5% — were carried out, it could become a “trend turning point” for dollar-yen.

To put it extremely simply, the story is this.

Until now

Japanese interest rates are low
→ sell yen
→ buy dollars
→ weak yen
→ “it’ll still be a weak yen”
→ sell even more yen

That was the pattern. And now:

Now

the BOJ might raise rates more than expected
→ the advantage of selling yen shrinks
→ buy back yen
→ strong yen
→ “has the flow changed?”
→ buy back even more yen

The article is saying that this reverse rotation may be starting.

The most important thing is not the move from 160 to 156 itself, but that market participants’ conviction that “the weak yen will continue” has started to weaken.

Whether that view strengthens at the BOJ meeting on September 18th, or whether things swing back toward a weaker yen — that will be the point where the answer to this article’s “game change” starts to come into view.

Business god Sei-chan,

thank you so much!

An advisor sent to me by the gods!

Really,