Priest Danjo: Elementary school was ten kilometers from home, but the journey there was incredibly enjoyable. As I grew older, my perspective broadened, and while I'm gradually forgetting my elementary school days, the joy and ways of playing from my childhood remain vivid in my memory.

I attended local public schools for middle and high school. My high school was especially close, just about a five-minute bike ride from home. Everyone in my family, including my older brother, had gone to that high school.

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Jakusui: I see. So, the heart of that boy who connected with nature remained. But once you entered high school, with entrance exam studies and all, didn't you lose that kind of freedom?

Priest Danjo: Even back then, I sensed this atmosphere of comparison – that kids who did well in studies were great, while those who didn't were no good. Even when entering high school, I understood there were options like aiming for top-tier high schools or university-affiliated high schools.

But for me, that kind of thing didn't matter at all. I've always been the type to go against the grain since childhood. My studies might have been somewhat decent, though. When I focused intensely on something I liked, I'd dive right in and forget about everything else.

In high school, I liked math. I also liked English and Japanese, but I wasn't really into physics or chemistry.

I wrote my own stories and even started a theater troupe for the school festival. I thought the school song was a bit old-fashioned, so I wrote my own song, played guitar, and sang it. Thanks to that, I made a lot of friends back then and had a really fun time.

Looking back now, I didn't study much in high school. For university, I entered the Economics Department at a private university in Kyoto. Why that university? Because it had the lowest tuition among the private universities. My family wasn't particularly well-off, so I wanted a school I could attend even while working part-time.

The tuition was about one-fifth of other private universities in Kyoto. I think it was under 100,000 yen. That allowed me to pay my tuition while working part-time. Also, going to university meant I made lots of new friends, especially music friends, which really broadened my world.

While studying in Kyoto, I worked part-time at an okonomiyaki restaurant, small eateries, and gas stations. When I turned eighteen, I bought a used Daihatsu Fellow Max, which was popular back then. Commuting in that car made me feel rich all of a sudden.

I also worked part-time at a daikon radish shop in Kyoto's Central Market. The Central Market is new now, but back then it was a chaotic mix of fishmongers and produce vendors.

My job was loading daikon radish onto the trucks of buyers who came to purchase. I'd wake up at 2:30 AM, work until just before 7:00 AM, and then head to school.

For me back then in Kyoto, it was like a new world bathed in light, everything sparkling and shining. Every day was fun, and I felt truly alive. Of course, the change in environment was part of it too. Coming straight from the mountains of Hiroshima into the big city of Kyoto, I got to experience the civilization and culture of a new metropolis. Plus, there were so many temples, and everything I saw was so new and exciting.

Looking back now, when I graduated from the university, it was right after the oil crisis, and finding a job was incredibly difficult for everyone. But I had absolutely no anxiety or worries. I never had any intention of joining a top-tier company to begin with.