Rin genase no gotoshi (ringen aseno gotoshi) [Kō Mori]

Shin Kō's Profile

Economist. Affiliated with a think tank (United States). Specializes in exchange rate policy, monetary policy, macroeconomic policy, and financial regulation. Interacts with market participants, financial authorities, and policy makers, and analyzes currency trends from multiple perspectives.

As 2020 comes to the end of March, a quarter of the year has already passed. If you convert it to fractions, it feels as though the days and months pass by quickly.

The United States has had a milder winter, but when it is cold, one wants to curl up in a blanket and stay warm. And since the author is also human, during cold times there are more opportunities to run indoors on a treadmill. Usually, he runs 5 to 8 miles, but when viewing how many miles he has run, the finish line always seems just out of reach. Therefore, he counts the distance run in fractional units to keep track. Remarkably, as a result, the remaining distance feels much shorter, and he can run with a light mood.

By the way, dear readers, are you familiar with the maxim “Linen-tongued words become like sweat” (ringen-ase no gotoshi) (*). This maxim means that once a ruler has spoken, the words cannot be corrected or revoked.

＊ The eunuch tried to appeal to the former emperor about the autocratic behavior, but beforehand the matter leaked out, and he was imprisoned. While in prison, he wrote a document advising the emperor with the weight of words, saying “as in the Book of Changes, commands should be like sweat, and sweat cannot be withdrawn,” so that the emperor would recognize the seriousness of his words. This is the origin of the maxim.