MONDAY: DAY OFF

Monday was our day off :) it’s quite amusing because it feels like mission has barely started and we have a day off!:)

We are really grateful for Mr and Mrs Maruyama, Saeko-san and Tatsuki-san (one of the young men from Hiraoka church who speaks English because he completed pilot training in Adelaide) who took us sightseeing at the chocolate factory, the Korean barbecue and to this place called… a hill with something to do with sheep :D They were so enthusiastic even when we were so touristy and took funny photos with absolutely everything!

WILLIAM CLARKE

At the Sheep Hill, there was William Clarke’s statue with his famous quote: ‘Boys be ambitious!’. You can still see many of these statues and reminders all over Hokkaido University/Kita Hiroshima, especially on some random souvenirs.

William Clarke was a Christian who came to Japan’s agricultural college in Hokkaido as a teacher/headmaster when it first began. He said that he did not come as a missionary but wanted to run the school with Christian principles.

The story goes that when the first year ended, the first students came out with really bad marks. The director was really mad at them but Clarke asked him if he could be given one term or one year to do bible studies with them. As a result, many students came to faith and some of the students who graduated with Clarke as their teacher went on to be some of the most famous evangelists in Japan.

As Clarke was leaving on horseback, some students came along to farewell him, as is the custom in Japan to see people to their point of departure. Clarke’s parting words were, ‘Boys be ambitious for Jesus Christ!’

Unfortunately, the most important words have been severed and forgotten. Many Japanese use it as motivation at universities and even for company morale boosting (Japan Rail (JR), who are renowned for their trains that run precisely on time, apparently used it as their slogan).

Maybe we can ask someone about whether they know the origin of this phrase :) what do you think, FMZero team? :D