Aniversario kaneko ikeda biography

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A Conversation with My Wife

(From an essay published in the March 5, 2005, issue of the Seikyo Shimbun, the Soka Gakkai's daily newspaper1)

One morning, I heard my wife softly singing to herself--a song at once familiar and at the same time completely fresh to my ears:

Like flowers of the field,
tossed by the wind.
Like flowers of the field,
delighting all who see.

"What's that song?" I asked.

"It's quite famous," she replied.

It was "Flowers of the Field,"2 a beautiful melody that had been made popular by the Japanese husband-and-wife duo Da Capo.

Smiling, my wife continued:

Like flowers of the field,
beaten by the rain.
Like flowers of the field,
soothing all who see.

"What a nice song," I said.

2024 message to the women and young women from sgi honorary women's leader kaneko ikeda

"It captures the heroic spirit of ordinary people." Hearing it set me quietly contemplating.

* * *

"Flowers of the field"--the name of no specific flower is mentioned in the lyrics. This might be a good thing.

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