Why Take on Challenges?
Your challenges will surely become a beacon of courage and hope for someone.
There’s a reason I wanted to share such words with Japan today.
This country where we live was once a “land of security and stability” that supported rapid economic growth.
But now, that security has transformed into a sense of stagnation, and an atmosphere of fearing challenge and change has spread throughout society. Young people find it difficult to hold hope for the future, and adults are on the verge of giving up on challenges, thinking, “It’s too late for me now…”
However, I believe this:
Now, more than ever, precisely because we live in these chaotic times, the era of living true to oneself has arrived.
In the past, it was an era where the country or companies showed us “how to live.”
But now, it’s an era where we choose for ourselves “how we want to live.”
And that choice inevitably involves courage and internal conflict.
Even as I write these words, my own legs are trembling.
Saying “I was chosen for the cover” might sound glamorous.
But to get there, there were countless walls I had to confront within myself and overcome.
There’s something I can say now.
Taking on challenges is scary. But it’s precisely because you challenge yourself that life begins to move.
And that one step can sometimes gently push someone else forward.
From Being a Spectator to Becoming the “Creator of My Own Life”
When I talk about the “importance of taking on challenges,” many people might think, “Well, she can do it because she’s confident.” But I was by no means “a person full of confidence from the start.”
The emotional wounds from childhood, the expectations of others, societal values – I believe I protected myself by continuing to stand on stage with a smile, even while being crushed by these things. But when even that “acting self” reached its limit, I truly had no choice but to change myself.
That’s when I encountered what I personally named the “Sacred Tree Theory.”
If you compare life to a single tree,
true transformation won’t occur unless you face the roots – the depths of trauma and emotions – rather than just the visible branches and leaves.
From that point on, following the process of yin and yang, destruction and creation, I have lived my life anew, as if “redesigning” it.
From a life seeking approval from others to a life where I approve of myself.
When I transformed “acting” from an “escape” in life to “expression,” I realized for the first time that “I was the star.”
Challenges don’t necessarily mean “big things.”
It’s about facing your inner self and “taking responsibility for yourself.”
From there, the stage of life begins to move quietly, but surely.
The World Sees Not Your “Title,” but Your “Way of Being”
In March 2025, my keynote speech delivered in Paris, France, on International Women’s Day was recognized. Following this, in April of the same year, I was featured as a “Coach to Watch” by the international coaching media outlet ‘Life Coach Code.’ Then, in May, I was selected as one of the “Women Leaders Moving the Next Generation 2025” – chosen among 40 out of 142 global women leaders – by the India-based global lifestyle magazine ‘Passion Vista,’ and had the experience of being featured and gracing the cover.
Sharing the pages were female leaders active across the globe – from the US, Africa, Europe, the UAE, Australia, and more. They hailed from the business world, education, social entrepreneurship… This magazine is truly stylish and luxurious, often featuring TED speakers, globally renowned lecturers, Miss America winners, and young actresses and models from India on its cover. So, why was a woman from Japan – moreover, one who, far from hiding her age, was trying to be open about it – chosen among them?
Honestly, I myself wondered about it at first.
But I realized during the interview.
What they were looking at wasn’t the glamour of a career, academic background, or the number of achievements.
Rather, it was “how I had lived my life,” “what I feared, what challenges I took on, and what I believed in” – my very “way of being.”
The world isn’t seeking “perfection,” but “authentic human strength.”
When I realized this, I felt compelled to share it with many people in Japan.
It’s okay to fail. It’s okay to be lost or scared.
Nevertheless, the world pays respect to the effort of trying to live true to your core.
This recognition wasn’t a “goal” for me, but a “question.”
— How will I be from now on?
— How will I give back to society through this opportunity?
That is precisely why I am writing this now.
More than just being on the cover, it’s to ask myself “how to live out its meaning.”
My Legs Were Trembling, But I Decided to Move Forward!
Between the part of me wishing to show myself taking on challenges, and the part whispering, “I’m scared, I want to stop” – I was constantly torn between these two voices.
When I wrote “I was chosen for the cover,” how many people would think, “Wow, that’s amazing”?
But how many would mutter inwardly, “Is she bragging?” “Who does she think she is?” “Acting like that at her age?”
Honestly, the internal conflict about revealing my age, in particular, remained until the very last moment.
Being a woman. The gaps in my career path.
The atmosphere in Japanese society where I had somehow internalized the idea that “getting older equals losing value.”
And I realized I had bought into that myself somewhere along the line.
But, at a certain moment, I thought:
“I’ll convey this very conflict.”
“Perhaps my current self, with trembling legs, is what might resonate with someone on a real level.”
“The next challenge isn’t showing a ‘cool me,’ but standing as ‘This Is Me’.”
At that moment, something inside me quietly settled with determination.
More than being chosen for the cover,
“how to live as my true self” through this experience held far greater meaning for me.
So, I moved forward on trembling legs.
If there’s anyone reading this article who holds similar conflicts, I want to tell you this:
“Being hesitant isn’t weakness.”
It’s proof that you are honestly facing yourself.
And the step that lies beyond that is what will change your life.”
“Life is a Stage, and You Are the Star” – It’s Not Just a Catchphrase
When facing a challenge, what you might lose often comes to mind before what you might gain.
“What if I fail at this age…?”
“Maybe I’ll embarrass myself, people thinking ‘acting like that at her age’…”
“What if I get criticized… It’s scary.”
This anxiety exists in everyone. Of course, I had it too.
But by trying, I learned something.
Through challenging myself, I didn’t “lose something”;
rather, I rediscovered my “true self.”
✅ The belief in my own potential
✅ The courage to express myself in my own words
✅ A heartfelt desire to genuinely cheer on others’ challenges
✅ The resolve to anchor myself in my own “truth,” not everyone else’s “right answer”
✅ Pride in myself for “giving my all,” more than just the results
These feelings and sensations were things I couldn’t gain from any seminar or self-help book.
There are no right answers or guarantees within a challenge.
But that’s precisely why the feeling of “carving out your own life” exists there.
Not a life given to you by others, but a stage you create yourself.
As an expressive artist, I have stood on stage for 40 years.
But the biggest “stage” has always been life itself.
That is why I want to convey this:
“Life is a Stage, and You Are the Star” – this is not just a catchphrase.
It is the very way of life I discovered through my own challenges.
And even at this very moment, I am in the midst of living it.
Taking on a challenge is the act of breathing life into the “fire of your soul.”
When you ignite that fire, those around you also begin to be enveloped in light.
You Are the Star of Your Life
There’s only one reason why I continue to take on challenges.
“By showing myself living as the star of my own life, I hope to inspire someone to think, ‘I can stand on my own stage too.'”
The methods I’ve developed, my speaking engagements, my coaching – at the root of it all lies the desire for “people to reclaim the ‘expression’ needed to live their authentic selves.”
Just as an actor “gets into character” on stage, people, on the stage of life, are meant not to “act out” their way of living, but to “live it to the fullest.” I named this the “Shuyaku Kaika®︎ Method” (Protagonist Blooming Method) and have shared it with many.
But what I want to convey at this very moment is not a theory or a technique.
It’s a single, simple, yet profound message:
The moment you become the star of your life, you become a light that illuminates someone’s future.
The era of “living by seeking someone else’s permission” is over.
From now on, it’s an era where each individual creates their own life.
Age, past, or circumstances – none of these should be a reason to stop you from standing on your “stage.”
Even if your legs tremble, your voice wavers, or everything seems dark before you.
First, take one step.
That single step you take will quietly become a light for someone, somewhere in the world.
I stand here now as living proof of that.
And it is precisely the sight of us adults taking on challenges that becomes the greatest education for our children.
コメント