Photo: Mr. Tadao Furuichi became a golf pro at age 59 years, 11 months and 24 days.

Losing his shop and home in the earthquake and seeing the golf bag that remained, he felt a divine inspiration to “pursue the sport” and became a golf pro shortly before his 60th birthday. Was he naturally gifted or was it a product of immense and diligent effort? Mr. Furuichi said it is neither.

What then was the “miracle” that led him to become a professional golfer?


The earthquake disaster took away everything

The Takatori district in Nagata-ku, Kobe, is a beautiful town with trees and parks, barely leaving any trace of the ravages that the great earthquake brought 20 years ago.

As a Nagata native, Mr. Furuichi opened his camera shop Toyo Camera when he was 28 years old. With his wife and 2 daughters, he lived in the community, actively involved in volunteer firefighting for nearly 33 years. He was proud of being a 10-time champion in golf tournaments organized by the Daikoube Golf Club. His life changed dramatically when he was 54 years old with the Great Hanshin Awaji Earthquake.

Photo:Mr. Furuichi when he was running Toyo Camera Shop

Photo:With his family in front of the shop. The photo was taken to be used in his New Year greeting cards. A friend who received the card returned the photo to him after the earthquake disaster.

Although everyone in his family survived, he lost his home and his shop. The shopping district in his old neighborhood was gone without a trace. As a volunteer firefighter, he was frantic in the rescue effort and was able to save 11 people in 2 days.

Under such extraordinary circumstances, thoughts, emotions and even physiological functions are forgotten. You don’t feel a thing seeing people die or seeing your home burning down. That’s how much people change.

Photo:Takatori shopping district at 9:06 a.m., January 17

With everything burned down, Mr. Furuichi stood with his family in front of the rubble that used to be their home. He found a golf championship cup that had burned and discolored. He wasn’t able to think about his own life and that of his family. The only thought that filled his mind was “to do something to rebuild the community.”

He was then president of the local neighborhood association and was busy with so many duties to be performed, including joint community funerals, establishment of a council for community development and reorganization, study groups on community building, communication with administrative authorities, etc. He discussed with consultants and administrators and worked on winning the approval of citizens, sometimes battling in fierce debates. Slowly, progress was made in community restoration.

Takatori was historically founded on strong solidarity, commonly seen in downtown shopping districts. The community had held many events, such as Bon Odori dances and sports events. This led to community restoration in 6 years, the fastest of all the communities in Kobe.


The career path that started with the golf bag that survived the disaster

3 weeks after the earthquake, Mr. Furuichi realized that his car that had been in a parking area away from his home, and had survived the fire. When he created a new car key and opened the trunk of his car, he saw his golf bag with his golf clubs intact. That moment, he felt something like an electric shock run through his body. He felt he was called from above to “choose this path for your life ahead!”

Photo:Golf bag found in the trunk of his car. He did not usually leave his golf clubs in the trunk of his car.

He did not feel like playing golf for a while after the earthquake. It was finally 3 months after finding his golf clubs that he started to play, and that was once every 2 or 3 months.

It was in the year 2000, 5 years after the earthquake, that he was urged by his golf buddies to “try the golf pro qualifying test.” Until then, he had never thought of becoming a pro and had never practiced for such a goal. But something crossed his mind.

In the past, he thought that success was brought by talent, effort and luck. But with the earthquake disaster, he realized that there are more important factors. They are sympathy for others, a proactive outlook, courage, friendship and a sense of appreciation. While in the past he perceived golf as a common part of his life, he now had a great sense of appreciation for being able to play golf. He wasn’t able to make money when he was frantic to do so. However, working for other people led naturally to income. He thought that if he could become a professional golfer not because of effort or talent but with strength of will, he would be able to prove the importance of such strength, which he realized through his experience of the disaster.

Photo:“Golf is a battle of wills, and I wanted to prove it,” said Mr. Furuichi

Still, qualifying as a pro required that he compete against players who are 40 years younger than him in a qualifying test that lasts 13 days. In addition, the test fee was ¥1 million. When he told this to his wife for the first time, she rebutted it, calling it ridiculous.

It was a challenge that appeared improbable in everyone’s eyes. Notwithstanding, he became one of the 50 out of 1800 players to pass the test. He became a pro certified by the Professional Golfers’ Association of Japan (PGA) in 2000, at the age of 59 years, 11 months and 24 days.

Mr. Furuichi’s test rounds were being watched by the nonfiction writer Yuzuru Hirayama. His experience of the Great Earthquake until he became a golf pro became a book titled “Kanreki Rookie: Rokujussai de Puro Gorufa” (Turning Golf Pro at Age 60; written by Y. Hirayama, Kodansha, 2001) and later into a manga production on Business Jump magazine (“Kanreki Rookie: Nigetara Akan” (Rookie at Age 60 - Don’t Run and Hide), by Saburou Ishikawa) and into a motion picture (“Arigato” (Thank You) with actor Hidekazu Akai playing the leading character; 2006).

His story was also featured in a TV documentary program titled “Ningen Document (Human Documentary)” by NHK, leading to a continuous flow of requests for lectures and interviews.

Photo:Mr. Furuichi has written many golf books


Teaching the importance of appreciation to children as well

In addition to his work as professional golfer, Mr. Furuichi is making appearances today as speaker across Japan. The number of such lectures has exceeded 530. He is receiving requests from other countries as well. Not only that, he has served as the head of the local community association for 20 years, making morning rounds in the neighborhood, cleaning up commuting routes for schoolchildren and organizing communication events called “Fureai Kissa” (Interaction Tea Salon) for senior citizens and children on Sundays at the local civic hall. He doesn’t miss the monthly Wakataka volunteer firefighter drills either.

I want everyone to want to build a community resistant to natural disasters through community cooperation, rather than depending on the firefighting service, police or the Self-Defense Forces. We need to build a community that pays attention to everyone, in which disaster prevention, social welfare and the community function well, and in which everyone participates, from children to the elderly.

In stating his conviction, he said he has one big dream.

I feel that the social issues of bullying among children, crimes, suicides and many others come from problems in family discipline and school education. School teachers and parents say that “dreams can come true if you work hard.” The concept itself is good, but most people aren’t able to make their dreams come true. That is why grown-ups must work together with children. We must instill in the children the realization that they are able to work hard only because they have the support of their parents and other people around them. People who have a sense of appreciation of others do not bully, commit crimes or kill themselves. They greet others warmly and without hesitation.

The greater your appreciation and gratitude, the more likely it is that miracles will occur. That is why I continue to work for the local community and take part in community volunteer activities even after becoming a professional golfer. As a pro, it is quite normal to think that I should be practicing if I have time for such activities. However, I want to win tournaments by devoting time to my community rather than to practice. I want to prove that appreciation and gratitude create miracles.

Photo:I want to create a society free of suicides and bullying of children

Mr. Furuichi continues to speak on the importance of a sense of appreciation at his lectures. His ties with other people are spreading and growing stronger. Although he has written books on golf, after the Great East Japan Earthquake, in 2011 he published a book titled “Mouichido Tachiagari, Mae wo Mukutameni Tsutaeteokitai” (What I Want People to Know to Stand up Once Again and Look Forward; 2011, Golf Digest), looking to communicate his message to all people in Japan, including victims of disasters.

There is a young man who was moved by the book and came to visit him from Rikuzen-takata City in Iwate Prefecture. He is working on the restoration of traditional festivals that had continued until the earthquake disaster, and takes part in activities aimed at community restoration. Mr. Furuichi is cooperating with him, along with his friends in Takatori, making donations and assisting him in creating paper ornaments for the festivities. Since the Great East Japan Earthquake, Mr. Furuichi and his wife are making donations of ¥100 per day.

I am also urging my friends to make similar donations. I plan to continue making donations for 10 years. Although I would like to send substantial sums at once, I hope to visit the Tohoku region with significant donations. I am also hoping to attend the festivities. Although there is much to be done for restoration in the region, I believe that the problems will eventually be overcome if everybody joins hands and cooperates.

Although the sorrow and sense of loss of people who have passed away in the disaster will never go away, Mr. Furuichi believes that a sense of appreciation for the support provided by others and realization of the importance of strength of will will create miracles. “There are things that you cannot do on your own. It is people coming to your aid that leads to miracles,” says Mr. Furuichi. He is convinced that there are people who are encouraged by such “miracles” and are beginning to move forward into the future.


(Interviewed & written by Noriko Yoshimoto)
This article was created with the cooperation of greenz.jp.