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©Seiko&Mike, LLC 2021 1
Preface, “Seiko’s Story”
A Beautiful Life, an Autobiography
“I create my life as a work of art, one moment at a time.” Seiko’s
description her approach to life.
Preface, The Topics
P.1 Overview of the Preface
P.2 How the Creation of “Seiko’s Story” Began
P.3 Our Process for Creating “Seiko’s Story.”
P.4 Mike Continues After Seiko’s Passing in 2019
P.5 A Brief Note About “Bushido” and Samurai Training
P.6 Briefly, What Did “Seiko’s Way” Look Like
P.7 Mike Added Notes, Glossary, Bibliography, and Index
P.8 What Is in the Appendices
P.9 Hints Seiko Dropped About Who She Was
P.1 Overview of the Preface
“Seiko’s Story,” the story of an exceptional woman, is a sequence of
episodes that follow Seiko’s life from before her birth, September 1944, to
her passing, August, 2019. After a chapter describing her parents, each
episode is a situation where she either learned (gained experience) or she
played “games” to push her psychological, physical, and social boundaries.
She describes the situation, what she experienced, perceptions and
©Seiko&Mike, LLC 2021 2feelings, and her behavior as she “created her life as a work of art, one
moment at a time.” By describing how her beliefs and habits evolved over
the years, Mike wants to provide a path for others seeking a “way” to a
beautiful life.
To the reader: "Seiko's Story" stands alone; it is not necessary to
read this preface. You are invited to go to the Introduction where Seiko,
briefly, describes how “Seiko’s Story” unfolds from before her birth in 1944
through her experiences of samurai training in Japan during and beyond
the occupation by the American military following Japan’s surrender in
August, 1945. Her story continues through her teen years, and her 51-year
partnership with me, Mike, to her passing in 2019.
This preface provides background information for those who might be
interested. The preface is divided into six parts. After this brief overview,
the second part of the preface describes the conversation that initiated the
creation of "Seiko's Story."
P.3, describes our approach to construct the story of her life. Our
project continued for four years, 2013 through 2018, when she decided she
wanted to live the time she had left rather than reminisce about the past.
That leads to the fourth section where I describe my efforts to continue
after Seiko’s passing in 2019.
The fifth and sixth section are as titled, “P.5, A Brief Note About
‘Bushido’ and Samurai Training” and “P.6, Briefly, What Did ‘Seiko’s Way’
Look Like?”
Seventh, I describe the intent of the extensive "Notes and
References;" portion of the book: to support, clarify, and expand upon, the
contents of "Seiko's Story."
©Seiko&Mike, LLC 2021 3Section eight of this preface, briefly describes the content of each
Appendix.
And, in the last section of this preface, "Hints," I describe "hints" that
Seiko dropped during our 51-year partnership. Prior to our project to
document her life, she rarely spoke of her past or her skills. But, during our
51-year partnership, she did drop occasional hints or demonstrate behavior
that led Mike to track down records and historical references where he
discovered some of her amazing accomplishments. Mike will share many of
the hints, some obvious, and some not so obvious, that led to his discovery
of what she did.
P.2 How the Creation of “Seiko’s Story” Began
In January 2012, I stopped consulting and retired. I started creating a
game called "My Life is a Game; Play it to Win!" One morning I joined
Seiko, my life-partner and wife of 43 years, in the sunroom of our Southern
California home and I told her about my game. Seiko was interested. I
described a game with ten core skills and ten levels of proficiency in each
skill. Seiko began to ask questions.
Seiko: How would you know that a person is winning the "Game of Life?"
Mike: I'm not sure that I could tell from outside.
Seiko: Why not?"
Mike: The "Game of Life" has many dimensions; winning in one or two
areas may not mean winning the game of life.
Seiko: Isn’t there an indicator of winning overall?
©Seiko&Mike, LLC 2021 4Mike: I see where you’re going. If someone was like you, I might conclude
that they were winning their "Game of Life."
Seiko: You think I’m winning the game of my life?
Mike: Absolutely! You’re always happy, usually joyful, no matter what you
are doing. And, often, excited! You are consistently successful, both
on keeping our partnership ground rules and in everything else you
do. But Seiko, the things you did when you were young and the
things you do now require a unique way of thinking. I wouldn't know
how to turn your approach into a structured game.
Seiko: You may be right. But if we share what I did, it may help others to
get create a path to win their own "Game of Life." But, if we do, my
path must clearly include "when Seiko held the book;" that's when
"Seiko" woke up. If someone wants to follow or understand, my path
must be awake (conscious).
P.3 Our Process for Creating “Seiko’s Story.”
Many nights, from mid-2012 to February 2019, Seiko sat and
described her path through the years. Her story is “weighted” to the front
end of her life, to about 30 years old, with fewer episodes and greater time
intervals between episodes as she described those that occurred later. The
reason was the way our “sessions” worked. After a session, Mike wrote
what Seiko described in his own words and brought his interpretation to a
session a few days later. Seiko would further elaborate on that episode
before going on to describe another later episode. And, of course, Mike
would bring back the earlier episode for another review and further
elaboration.
©Seiko&Mike, LLC 2021 5By 2018, Seiko felt karma (“my clock is ticking”) approaching and
focused on what she felt were crucial episodes. Seiko did not want any
episode to be incomplete. She wanted to describe episodes clearly,
including conversations and what she was thinking as the situation
unfolded (or after it was over). In many episodes she describes her
thoughts during and after to illustrate how she rationalized prioritizing
different elements of her evolving belief sets to choose how to handle
situations. Her thoughts were usually after the fact because, in the moment,
“Seiko” made almost instantaneous decisions from among alternatives.
These decisions are occasionally surprising but seemed to work out well.
Usually, Seiko vividly recalled details, including her thoughts and
feelings. As she was “dictating,” she sat against the headboard of the bed
with her eyes closed or looking down. She spoke carefully, with many
pauses, as she remembered details.
P.4 Mike Continues After Seiko’s Passing in 2019
After Seiko passed away in 2019, I invested many hours reading
hundreds of books (see bibliography) and researching many subjects.
Where possible, I unearthed records to verify elements of “Seiko’s Story.”
There were no computerized record systems in the 50’s and rarely in the
60’s. Records were kept in logbooks written in Japanese kanji. Areas I
researched included the devastation, anguish, and turmoil of the post-
World War II years, September 2, 1945 through May, 1952 under the
occupation by American forces; Japanese tradition, culture, schooling, and
“everyday life” in Japan during the years from 1920 through the 1950’s and
1960’s; anthropological, sociological, and psychological studies of
©Seiko&Mike, LLC 2021 6Japanese versus western (American) concepts of "self" (including
communication with others, adjustment to a foreign culture, and the mind-
body dichotomy); marriage and land inheritance laws and traditions; martial
arts; calligraphy; tea ceremony; ikebana; Noh, Kabuki, Shinto, Tao, Yoga,
Chan Buddhism, Confucianism; and the western based philosophies of
phenomenology, existentialism, and feminism (Seiko studied at university).
These, and many other subjects, enabled me to more accurately represent
the situations she described including background, locations, and
representative, and hopefully, realistic dialogue.
As I assembled the content of “Seiko’s Story,” I switched from a third
person narrative to a fantasized autobiography. The episodes in "Seiko's
Story" occurred, but her descriptions lacked detail on the settings
(background, room arrangements, etc.), dialogues in the episodes, and
detailed description of her thoughts. I consistently focused on being faithful
to her purpose for the book; provide a path that a reader could use to
create their own “beautiful life as a work of art, one minute at a time.” I
wrote and sequenced the episodes to clearly describe the evolution of her
beliefs, attitudes, and skills.
P.5 A brief Note About “Bushido” and Samurai Training
A word about “bushido,” the so-called “way of the warrior.”
(The following descriptions are elaborated in the body of “Seiko’s
Story,” the associated notes, and Appendix B.) Seiko’s parents,
descendants of the warrior class of Japanese society, were, like all
members of the warrior class, warrior (“samurai”) trained.
©Seiko&Mike, LLC 2021 7The social structure pre-1868 Japan had three major divisions. At the
top was the emperor. The second level, comprising about seven percent of
the population, was the warrior class (the nobles). The subdivisions of the
warrior class, from highest to lowest, were shogun, daimyō (landholders),
samurai, and ronin. Finally, comprising about 93 percent of the population,
the lowest group included, peasants, craftsmen, and merchants.
Each level was loyal to the level above. The daimyō had the income
producing land and paid taxes and fees to the shogun. The daimyō
retained warriors, samurai, as required for defense of their land. The
samurai’s only income was the pay they received from the daimyō. All
members of the nobility/warrior class were “samurai trained” because, in
earlier days, each level was “loyal” to and supported the next higher level in
military matters. Seiko’s parents, both samurai trained descendants of
daimyō, were trained to be successful members of society of 1920’s Japan.
Their training was to be successful in a different world than the mythical
“bushido” of the pre-Tokogawa “warring states” period of Japan. And
Seiko’s “samurai training” was significantly different than the “popular”
American perception, incorrectly called “bushido,” but very relevant to the
evolving Japan and the modern world of the twentieth and, now, the
twenty-first century.
P.6 Briefly, What Did “Seiko’s Way” Look Like
"A game is the voluntary attempt to overcome unnecessary
obstacles" (Suits 43).
©Seiko&Mike, LLC 2021 8Seiko lived in the moment, experiencing her world as she created it.
Her choices were usually “pre-reflective.” In other words, Seiko’s choices
and decisions were often made “here and now” without consciously
thinking before acting. (If you are not familiar with what a person could do
with years of zen [childhood conditioning, daily meditation focused on
“without thinking,” and constant life practice], you will have an opportunity
to observe as Seiko “does who she is.”) She usually does not provide a
reason for her behavior; the reader can infer what is happening as she
demonstrates her habituated behavior and skills. In “Seiko’s Story,” she
occasionally explains the “probable” reason for her choice of what to do in
a situation. But, when she does, her descriptions identify several possible
alternatives. Recalling Suits’ definition of a game (above); some might say
pre-reflective action is not voluntary. But she had habituated behavior and
a game concept before she was six years old. She automatically, pre-
reflectively, saw an opportunity to play a game in almost any situation and
began to play.
Seiko begins to “play games” (challenge herself) starting when she is
three and a half years old. Many games are not intentional; she plays
based on “instinct” in a situation, then handles consequences. (again, see
Suits’ definition of a game.) As Seiko grows into and through her teens, the
games become more aggressive and even dangerous. Her games push
psychological, physical, and social boundaries.
If Seiko knows a “choosing” situation is ahead, she identifies
alternatives in the episode before the situation. But, when the situation
comes up, she “automatically,” non-reflectively, chooses an alternative
based on what she is experiencing in the moment. An example of such a
pre-situation analysis of alternatives and consequences is in Chapter XX
©Seiko&Mike, LLC 2021 9when Seiko is scheduled to meet a Yakuza (Japanese “mafia”) boss. She,
13 years old, wants to convince the boss to allow her to become a
professional player in his Shinjuku, Tokyo mahjong parlor.
P.7 About Notes, Bibliography, Glossary, and Index
All notes are identified by superscript (chapter number – note number
in that chapter) in-line in the text of Seiko’s Story.” References are
identified in-line with the applicable note and are listed in the Bibliography.
The “Notes and References” section provides background social,
political, cultural, psychological, and philosophical information relevant to
Seiko’s experience and behavior in the episode. Mike included this section
based on the extensive research he did to ensure the accuracy of the
details he included to add realism to the situations she described. Some
sources are recent, but I selected them because they, sometimes
extraordinarily vividly, describe the Seiko I knew and loved. The notes
usually reference, and occasionally quote, primary sources, western and
eastern. Notable western sources that were most descriptive of “Seiko’s
Way” (Seiko’s approach to life) included Aristotle (habituating virtue),
Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty (phenomenology), and Simone Beauvior
(feminism and autonomy). Eastern sources most descriptive of “Seiko’s
Way” include the “Tao Te Ching” and “Nei Yeh” (reality and “wu-wei” [not
doing]), Shinto (“the way of the Kami”), Confucius “Analectics” (social
structure, harmony, and duty), Dōgen (meditation, impermanence, time),
Lebra (Japanese tradition, behavior, social interaction), and Soko and
Kasaya (“bushido” vs. Japan’s tradition and culture).
©Seiko&Mike, LLC 2021 10The glossary defines or elaborates on words and expressions in
“Seiko’s Story.” This includes English terms as used in “Seiko’s Story”
where the term may have more than one definition. The definition
applicable to Seiko’s Story” is provided. For non-English terms (mostly
Japanese, but a few Chinese, French, or German) the meaning explicit to
“Seiko’s Story” is provided.
“Seiko’s Story” includes a two-part bibliography, a cross-reference
glossary, and a cross-referenced index. The two-part bibliography includes
part 1, all sources, and part 2, sources grouped by topic (for those
interested in a specific area). For example, the Martial Arts subtopic has
General (martial arts in general), sources related to historic application of
martial arts, then specifics: Aikido, Judo, and Kendo.
Also, many of the items in the notes were identical (or nearly so)
across multiple sources. For example, the records of historical events were
the same. My procedure there was to list the sources alphabetically in the
reference section called out by that note.
P.8 Description of the Appendices
Appendices provide some material that may be of interest to the
reader. In Appendix A, “Seiko’s Way,” I integrated Seiko’s path into a
cohesive, linear description; the description refers to episodes in “Seiko’s
Story.”
Appendix B, “Chronologies,” provides: (B.1) timeline of Seiko’s Life;
(B.2) on overview of relevant Japanese history, political and social, from
1868 to her trip to America in 1968, and (B.3), a very condensed timeline of
©Seiko&Mike, LLC 2021 11Japanese history from the mythological birth of Japan almost 3000 years
ago to 1868.
P.9 Hints Seiko Dropped About Who She Was
During our 51-year partnership, Seiko rarely spoke of her past, her
skills, or her habituated behavior patterns. But there were occasional
“hints”.
“Seiko’s Way” Her responses to situations were habituated and real.
She was “always “aware”, “in the moment,” and “doing the right thing.” The
concepts of impermanence of reality and transience were implanted in her
very being. And she felt emotional and physical pleasure as she created
each moment as her work of art.
Gaman. (endure discomfort or pain with dignity. Do not disturb the
peace or pleasure of others with sounds or expressions of your pain or
discomfort.) This was demonstrated often during out 51-year partnership
and described in “Seiko’s Story.”
Sincerity, The unintentional cornerstone of “Seiko’s Way.” Seiko was
what she did, period. There was no subterfuge, hidden agenda, or duplicity.
This is shown repeatedly in “Seiko’s Story.” I believe that her behavior
exemplified the Dao concept of “wu-wei.”
Honor (Honor is internal and best represented by silence about one’s
achievements. Honor bestowed by others is meaningless.) Seiko rarely
said anything about her accomplishments or background. After we moved
in together, in 1968, I pressured Seiko to explain the source of her intensity
with respect to keeping commitments. For the several days, she described
©Seiko&Mike, LLC 2021 12what she did from age seven to about nine. And then, of course, the source
of much of the material for this book was recounted from 2012 to 2018.
Juggling. Easter Sunday, boys were still young. She set up an Easter
Egg hunt in the yard of our home. When the eggs had been gathered, she
took six eggs from the basket on the dining room table and proceeded to
juggle them to the delight of the children and their parents.
Aikido. When we were watching an early Steven Segal movie, there
was a preliminary trailer showing Segal demonstrating Aikido in a dojo in
Japan when he was younger. Seiko reached over, gripped my arm, and
said, “I used to do that.”
Kendo. Seiko told me that she watched a fencing class at a local
junior college. She went to watch because she “used to do that when she
was young.” After the demo, she said that fencing was not anything like
what she used to do and she was not interested. She did not sign-up.
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