Japanese Wisdom – Seesaw Statue in Japan

 

 

“Your size is not the true weight of the fat in your body,

but the size of the thought in your mind”

 

Very tickling, isn’t it? That is the first impression I got when I saw the picture above. That is photograph of a statue built in Japan. The statue itself named character sculpture, it made from glass fiber reinforced resin and the like stone Copper. There is nothing special about the character sculpture or the material of the statue. At first glance, surely we will laugh not believe and assume that the maker of the statue must be kidding.

But, if you pay a closer attention and be more open, you will be able to guess the message and the purpose of the statue. In the picture above, two people of different sexes, different ages, and different body weights are sitting on seesaw toys with opposite position. As we can see, the little ponytailed girl who stared at the men with a smile in her face turned out to be heavier than the adult men with big body. How could it be? “little girl can lift a man with a weight about 4 or 5 times heavier than her body” look at what the man is holding and look at the stack of books next to the little ponytailed girl. That is why.

There is an extraordinary paradox, not about the little one who managed to lift the big one. But look at what is contained in the opposite. If I try to interpret the message of this unique statue, it is more or less like this, “Your size is not the true weight of the fat in your body, but the size of the thought in your mind”. What I mean is by reading someone will be more open to the horizons of his thoughts. Through reading, one has the opportunity to reflect and meditate, so that the reading culture is more directed towards the intellectual culture of being just a superficial entertainment culture. That a person's quality is not determined by the weight and size of his body, if further it can also be interpreted not from his age, not from his wealth, not from his appearance, not from his rank, not from his gender, but from his knowledge. And we will get this knowledge from the books we read. So this is the urgency we read. 

Reading is fun. Reading is powerful. The more you read, the more benefits you'll gain from the books, and thus, the more mind-expanding ideas you'll be able to apply directly to your life. Emaa Gulliford stated “Reading a good book is like taking a journey”. Even in Islam, God first commands to the prophet is “Iqra”, many people translate this command as “Read!” whereby the implied concept is as if someone reads a book for his personal information and knowledge. 

According to the picture above, it is common knowledge that reading seems to have become the lifestyle of Japanese people. Reading is even like being part of the daily needs of Sakura's citizens. In our homeland, the reading culture is still fairly minimal, especially among teenagers or productive ages. But in Japan, reading habits have been taught and accustomed from an early age. So no wonder, if we see Japanese people often use their free time to read, including when on a train, hanging out in a cafe, or relaxing in a mall. So…. What you waiting for? Let’s read J

 

“SHE IS A GREAT READER, AND HAS NO PLEASURE IN ANYTHING ELSE.”

−Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice−