In Yonezawa City, Yamagata Prefecture, there was an Edo-period lord named Uesugi Yozan. He is known as the man who rebuilt the Yonezawa Domain from the brink of bankruptcy.
Inheriting a Domain Crushed by Debt
Yozan inherited the Yonezawa Domain in 1767, at the age of 17. At the time, the domain's debt had risen to 200,000 ryo, and things were so dire that there was serious discussion of returning the domain's land to the shogunate.
Yozan first issued a "Great Austerity Edict," cutting his own living expenses to one-seventh of what they had been. He limited his meals to one soup and one side dish, wore only cotton clothing, and led by example.
Not Just Cutting Back, But Creating
Frugality alone couldn't save the domain. Yozan pushed forward major projects like the construction of irrigation canals, and nurtured industries such as sericulture, textiles, ceramics, and washi paper-making. In the end, it was sericulture and the textile industry that supported the Yonezawa Domain. It survives today as Yonezawa weaving.
The saying "If you do it, it can be done; if you don't, nothing can be done. Whatever fails to be done is simply because a person didn't do it" is a phrase Yozan left behind.
Respected Even From a Distant Country
There's an anecdote that John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, once named Uesugi Yozan as a Japanese person he admired. He is said to have learned of Yozan through Uchimura Kanzo's English-language book, "Representative Men of Japan."
Start Small, and Keep Going
What stays with me about Yozan's approach is that before issuing any grand decree, he first changed his own meals and clothing. He started with what was within his reach, and kept going from there.
I, too, am growing my work as an artist little by little. I can't expect everything to change all at once, but if I sit at my desk every day and paint one piece at a time, the view will change after a few years. Yozan's story reminds me of that.
The commissioned artwork at Mermaid nao, too, aims to be the one piece that helps you take your first step forward.
[References]
Wikipedia (Uesugi Harunori)
Yonezawa City Uesugi Museum [Denkoku no Mori] (Yozan Theater)
Yonezawa Tourism NAVI (Uesugi Yozan)
Mynavi Agriculture (Uesugi Yozan, Admired Even by Kennedy — This Person, This Prefecture! Agricultural Greats Series: Yamagata Edition)
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/上杉治憲
https://www.denkoku-no-mori.yonezawa.yamagata.jp/yozan.htm
https://www.yonezawa-kankou-navi.com/person/yozan.html
https://agri.mynavi.jp/2018_06_21_29723/
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